Nakajima Ki-44
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The Nakajima Ki-44 ''Shoki'' (鍾馗, " Devil Queller") was a single-seat fighter-
interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...
which was developed by the
Nakajima Aircraft Company The was a prominent Japanese aircraft manufacturer and aviation engine manufacturer throughout World War II. It continues as the car and aircraft manufacturer Subaru. History The Nakajima Aircraft company was Japan's first aircraft manufacture ...
and operated by the
Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
from 1942 to 1945 during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Its official designation was Army Type 2 Single-Seat Fighter (二式単座戦闘機) and its Allied reporting name was Tojo. The design and development of the Ki-44 differed greatly from that of other Japanese fighters of the time, incorporating speed and rate-of-climb in preference to maneuverability.Millman, 2011, pp.1–8 This was a result of a need for a
heavy fighter A heavy fighter is a historic category of fighter aircraft produced in the 1930s and 1940s, designed to carry heavier weapons, and/or operate at longer ranges than light fighter aircraft. To achieve performance, most heavy fighters were twin-eng ...
aircraft that followed a more offensive doctrine and the Ki-44 is often classified as an Air Defence Fighter.Bueschel, 1971 Its development ran almost in parallel to its predecessor, the lighter and nimbler
Nakajima Ki-43 The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon", "Army Type 1 Fighter" ) is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Oscar", but it was o ...
, and yet the two aircraft differed. The Ki-44 had a higher landing speed but was less maneuverable. These were concerns for pilots who would compare it to the Ki-43 or Ki-27 which were far more agile and responsive. As a result, the Ki-44 was first restricted to pilots with at least 1000 hours of flying time due to its tricky handling characteristics. However, it was later found that younger pilots who had not been instilled with the extensive aerobatic training of earlier cadres could manage the aircraft perfectly well, so the restriction was removed. Nonetheless, the Ki-44 was the fastest climbing Japanese fighter at the time. It was the Imperial Japanese Army's only interceptor type when the USAAF's
B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...
es began bombing the Japanese mainland in June 1944. While there were performance restrictions at high altitude, it was superior to the Ki-43 in that it was capable of matching Allied aircraft in climbs and dives, giving pilots more flexibility in combat and greater pilot confidence than the Ki-43; the basic armament of four 12.7mm machine guns or two 12.7mm guns and two 20 mm cannons (or, in a few aircraft, two Ho-301 40mm cannons of limited range) was far more powerful than the older Ki-43's two 12.7mm machine guns. Production of the Ki-44 was terminated in late 1944 in favour of the more advanced
Nakajima Ki-84 The is a single-seat fighter flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in the last two years of World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Frank"; the Japanese Army designation was . The Ki-84 is generally considered the best Japanese ...
, and when the war ended, only three
sentai In Japanese, is a military unit and may be literally translated as "squadron", " task force", " division (of ships)", "group" or "wing". The terms "regiment" and "flotilla", while sometimes used as translations of ''sentai'', are also used to ...
units were still equipped with them.Francillon, 1979, p.221 No examples survive today.


Design and development

Nakajima began development of the Ki-44 in 1940 as a pure
interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...
with emphasis being placed on airspeed and rate of climb rather than maneuverability, a departure from the usual Japanese standards. The Japanese Army Air Force specification called for a maximum speed of 600 km/h (370 mph) at 4,000 m (13,130 ft), to be attained in five minutes. A set of Ki-43-like "butterfly" combat flaps was fitted for improved maneuverability. Armament consisted of a pair of 7.7 mm (.303 in) and a pair of 12.7 mm (.50 in)
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s. The engine selected for the new interceptor was Nakajima's Ha-41 (a development of the
Nakajima Ha-5 The Nakajima Ha5 is a twin row, 14 cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine built by the Japanese Nakajima Aircraft Company. The engine was a development of earlier single-row Japanese engines, the Kotobuki and Hikari, which had combined feat ...
) 14-cylinder double-row
radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric), a line * Radius, adjective form of * Radial distance, a directional coordinate in a polar coordinate system * Radial set * A bearing f ...
, originally intended for bomber aircraft. Although the Ha-41 was not the ideal choice due to its large-diameter cross section, the design team was able to marry this engine to a much smaller fuselage with a narrow cross section. At 1,260 mm in diameter, the Ha-41 was 126 mm larger in diameter than the 1,144 mm
Nakajima Sakae The was a two-row, 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine used in a number of combat aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II. Design and development The engine was designed by Nakajima Air ...
(used in the
Mitsubishi A6M The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was ...
"Zero" and
Nakajima Ki-43 The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon", "Army Type 1 Fighter" ) is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Oscar", but it was o ...
"Hayabusa"). However, the Sakae was only 27.8L in displacement and 1,000 hp, while the Ha-41 was 37.5L and made 1,260 hp (1,440 in the later Ha-109 version). In any case, since the Sakae wasn't powerful enough, the only alternative available was the Mitsubishi Kinsei, which was slightly smaller than the Ha-41 in diameter, five liters smaller in displacement, and was less powerful. Unfortunately, this was already in demand for many other aircraft, so the Ha-41 was chosen as the best powerplant. In order to achieve its design goals, the wing area was relatively small leading to a high
wing loading In aerodynamics, wing loading is the total mass of an aircraft or flying animal divided by the area of its wing. The stalling speed of an aircraft in straight, level flight is partly determined by its wing loading. An aircraft or animal with a ...
and a comparatively high landing speed that could be daunting to the average Japanese pilot, who was more used to aircraft with a low wing loading like the Ki-44's predecessors, the Ki-43 and Ki-27. With an all-metal structure, the Ki-44 was metal-skinned except for the control surfaces, which were fabric covered. Relatively small wings gave the aircraft a high wing loading and consequently a high landing speed, which many pilots disliked. The first Ki-44
prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
flew in August 1940 and the initial test flights were generally encouraging, with handling considered acceptable considering the high wing loading. Problems encountered included a high landing speed and poor forward visibility during taxiing due to the large radial engine. A second pre-production batch of 40 aircraft were ordered, which featured four 12.7mm machine guns, a relocated air cooler and main gear doors.


Operational history

The Nakajima Ki-44 at one point equipped 12 ''
sentai In Japanese, is a military unit and may be literally translated as "squadron", " task force", " division (of ships)", "group" or "wing". The terms "regiment" and "flotilla", while sometimes used as translations of ''sentai'', are also used to ...
'' ("
groups A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
/
wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
") of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force: ''9, 22, 23, 29, 47, 59, 64, 70, 85, 87, 104'' and ''246'' ''Sentai''. The
Manchukuo Air Force The Manchukuo Imperial Air Force (') ( was the air force of the Empire of Manchuria, a puppet state of Imperial Japan. The air force's predecessor was the Manchukuo Air Transport Company (later renamed the Manchukuo National Airways), a parami ...
also operated some Ki-44s. Pre-production Ki-44 aircraft and two of the prototypes were turned over to the Army for service trials on 15 September 1941. The type commenced operations when nine aircraft were received by an experimental unit, ''47th Chutai'' "''Kawasemi Buntai''" ("Kingfisher
Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
, 47th Squadron"), commanded by Major Toshio Sakagawa at
Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
, Indochina in December 1941. The Ki-44 also saw significant action with ''87th Sentai'' in the air defense role, while based at
Palembang Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...
,
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
. Other units equipped with the Ki-44 during the early part of the war were stationed in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
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, the
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and
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. Later in the war, the type saw action in an air defense role over the home islands – mainly around Japan's large industrial cities. ''47 Chutai'', after it was transferred to air defense roles in Japan, was expanded to become ''47 Sentai''. The Ki-44-II ''Otsu'' (also known as the Ki-44-IIb) could be armed with a Ho-301 40 mm autocannon. While this was a relatively high-caliber weapon, it used caseless ammunition with a low
muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...
and short range, which was effective only in close attacks. Some of these aircraft were used against USAAF bombers by a special ''Shinten Seiku Tai'' (
air superiority Aerial supremacy (also air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of c ...
unit), comprising at least four aircraft, that was part of ''47th Sentai'', based at Narimasu airfield in Tokyo. Pilots from such units attempted to shoot down B-29s and, once their ammunition was expended, to
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them – effectively a suicide attack. While the concept appeared straightforward, ramming a B-29 at high altitudes was difficult to achieve in practice. By the end of the war, Ki-44 variants were being replaced by the
Nakajima Ki-84 The is a single-seat fighter flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in the last two years of World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Frank"; the Japanese Army designation was . The Ki-84 is generally considered the best Japanese ...
''Hayate'', which was regarded as vastly superior – in aspects other than maintenance and reliability. During 1946–49, both sides in the Chinese Revolution operated Ki-44s surrendered or abandoned by Japanese units. Air units of the
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
obtained aircraft formerly belonging to ''22'' and ''85 Sentai'', which had disbanded in Chosen. Some of these aircraft were reportedly flown by Japanese veterans. Within the
Republic of China Air Force The Republic of China Air Force, retroactively known by its historical name the Chinese Air Force and unofficially referred to as the Taiwanese Air Force, is the military aviation branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces, currently based i ...
18th Squadron (12th Fighter Group) was equipped with Ki-44s formerly of ''9th Sentai'', which had disbanded in Nanking, and ''29th Sentai'', which had disbanded at
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and they saw action in . Following the retreat of the Nationalists the
People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...
(formed in 1949) used the Ki-44 until the early 1950s.


Survivors

No complete surviving examples of the Ki-44 exist. However a wing center section is preserved at the
Northwestern Polytechnical University Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU; ) is a national key public research university in Xi'an, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The university is a Chinese national Class A Double ...
Aviation Museum, at
Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...
in China.


Variants

; Ki-44: First prototype (s/n 4401) with Ha-41 engine with a complex cooling system, unique for the first prototype. ; Ki-44: Nine pre-production aircraft (s/n 4402-4410), the first of which were quite different than the later ones. These aircraft were used for combat evaluation with the 47th Independent Fighter Chutai at the start of the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
. Their armament consisted of two 7.7 mm (.303 in)
Type 89 machine gun Type 89 refers to two unrelated Imperial Japanese Army aircraft machine guns. Its Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service, Imperial Japanese Navy counterparts are the Type 97 aircraft machine gun, Type 97 machine gun (fixed), and Type 92 machine gun, ...
s in the nose and two 12.7 mm (.50 in)
Ho-103 machine gun The Type 1 machine gun (Type (designation), signifying its year of adoption, 1941) was a Japanese aircraft-mounted heavy machine gun widely used during World War II. It was also known as the Ho-103. The weapon itself was largely based on the Ame ...
s in the wings. Type 89 telescopic gunsight protruding through the windscreen. Provision for a single
drop tank In aviation, a drop tank (external tank, wing tank or belly tank) is used to describe auxiliary fuel tanks externally carried by aircraft. A drop tank is expendable and often capable of being jettisoned. External tanks are commonplace on modern ...
under the fuselage centre line or two drop tanks under the wings. Recognisable by their pointed spinner caps. ; Ki-44-I: Powered by a 930 kW (1,250 hp)
Nakajima Ha-41 is a Japanese name. It is also sometimes romanized as Nakashima and sometimes written as . It may refer to: Places * Nakashima District, Aichi, former district in Japan, now part of Inazawa, Aichi. * Nakajima, Ehime, former town in Japan * Nakaj ...
engine with annular oil cooler, with a maximum speed of 580 km/h (363 mph). Armament and gunsight were unchanged from the pre-production models. Provision for two drop tanks under the wings. Rounded spinner caps with provision for
Hucks starter A Hucks starter is an auxiliary power unit, almost always a lorry or truck, that provides initial power to start up piston aircraft engines. Invented by Royal Flying Corps Captain Bentfield Hucks, for whom it is named, the device served as a m ...
. Late models had external fuel coolers. Forty produced (s/n 111-150). ; Ki-44-II Ko (Ki-44-IIa): Powered by a 1,074 kW (1,440 hp) Nakajima Ha-109 engine with external oil cooler and a top speed of 604 km/h (378 mph). Armament, gunsight and drop tank provision as for Ki-44-I. Rectangular cockpit access doors replaced the rounded version of earlier models. 355 produced (s/n 1001-1355). ; Ki-44-II Otsu (Ki-44-IIb):Standard armament reduced to just two 12.7 mm (.50 in)
Ho-103 machine gun The Type 1 machine gun (Type (designation), signifying its year of adoption, 1941) was a Japanese aircraft-mounted heavy machine gun widely used during World War II. It was also known as the Ho-103. The weapon itself was largely based on the Ame ...
s in the nose. Optional provision for two 40 mm (1.57 in)
Ho-301 cannon The Ho-301 was a Japanese 40 millimeter caliber autocannon that saw limited use during World War II, on Japanese Army Nakajima Ki-44 and Kawasaki Ki-45 KAI aircraft. It was unusual in using caseless ammunition. Although the effective range of t ...
s in the wings. These were not always installed due to disappointing combat results and were sometimes replaced with two 12.7 mm (.50 in)
Ho-103 machine gun The Type 1 machine gun (Type (designation), signifying its year of adoption, 1941) was a Japanese aircraft-mounted heavy machine gun widely used during World War II. It was also known as the Ho-103. The weapon itself was largely based on the Ame ...
s. This variant retained the Type 89 telescopic gunsight as standard. 394 produced (s/n 1356-1749). ; Ki-44-II Hei (Ki-44-IIc):Standard armament of four 12.7 mm (.50 in)
Ho-103 machine gun The Type 1 machine gun (Type (designation), signifying its year of adoption, 1941) was a Japanese aircraft-mounted heavy machine gun widely used during World War II. It was also known as the Ho-103. The weapon itself was largely based on the Ame ...
s, two in the nose and two in the wings. Type 100 reflector gunsight mounted as standard. 427 produced (s/n 1750-2176). ; Ki-44-III: A single prototype built, powered by a Ha-145 two-row 18-cylinder engine of 1,491 kW (2,000 hp). ; Ki-44-III Ko (Ki-44-IIIa): Proposed variant with an armament of four 20 mm
Ho-5 cannon The Ho-5 (Army Type 2) was a Japanese aircraft autocannon used during World War II. Developed from the Ho-103 machine gun, it was a version of the American Model 1921 Browning aircraft machine gun. It replaced the Ho-1 and Ho-3 (Army Type 9 ...
s. ; Ki-44-III Otsu (Ki-44-IIIb): Proposed variant with armament of two 20 mm Ho-5 cannons and two 37 mm (1.46 in)
Ho-203 cannon Ho-203 was a Japanese autocannon that saw considerable use during World War II. It was a long-recoil automation of the Year 11 Type direct-fire infantry gun. It was fed by a 15-round closed-loop ammunition belt. It was operationally used only as ...
s. Total production: 1,227


Operators

;Wartime: ; *
Manchukuo Air Force The Manchukuo Imperial Air Force (') ( was the air force of the Empire of Manchuria, a puppet state of Imperial Japan. The air force's predecessor was the Manchukuo Air Transport Company (later renamed the Manchukuo National Airways), a parami ...
; *
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ja, 大日本帝國陸軍航空部隊, Dainippon Teikoku Rikugun Kōkūbutai, lit=Greater Japan Empire Army Air Corps) was the aviation force of the Im ...
*No. 9 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 22 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 23 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 29 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 47 Dokuritsu Hikō Chutai IJAAF/Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 59 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 64 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 70 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 85 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 87 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 104 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *No. 246 Hikō Sentai IJAAF *Akeno Army Flight Training School *Hitachi Army Flight Training School ;Post-War: ; *
Chinese Nationalist Air Force Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
operated some captured aircraft ** No. 18 Chungtui (中隊 ~ Squadron) CNAF October 1945 – August 1946


Specifications (Ki-44-II Otsu)


See also


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * (new edition 1987 by Putnam Aeronautical Books, .) * Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Three: Fighters''. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961 (seventh impression 1973). . * Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. ''WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: Japanese Army Fighters, Part 2''. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1977. . * * * "Nakajima Ki.44 (Ni Shiki Tansen Sentoki Shoki)" (in Japanese). ''Maru Mechanic'' No. 9, March 1978. {{Authority control Low-wing aircraft Ki-044, Nakajima Ki-044, Nakajima Ki-044 Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1940