The was a basic
training aircraft
A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...
of the
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 ...
built by
Tachikawa Aircraft Company Ltd
was an aircraft manufacturer in the Empire of Japan, specializing primarily in aircraft for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. It was based at Tachikawa, in Tokyo Prefecture.
History
Tachikawa Aircraft
In November 1924, Ishikawajima Shipyar ...
in the 1930s. It was known to the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
under the nickname of ''Cedar'' 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 ...
.
Design and development
The
Ki-9 was originally planned to be manufactured in two versions using the same basic
airframe
The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system.
Airframe design is a field of aerospa ...
, but with different engines for service as either a primary or intermediate trainer. However, when the lower-powered form proved to be unsuitable due a
center of gravity
In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weight function, weighted relative position (vector), position of the distributed mass sums to zero. Thi ...
issue, design of a new airframe was ordered for the basic trainer version, and was given the new designation of Ki-17.
Compared to the Ki-9, the Ki-17 had
equal-span wings, a slimmer
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
and a revised
tailplane
A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...
. It was powered by a
Hitachi Ha-13
() is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...
a radial engine. The first prototype flew in July 1935.
The only major change made to subsequent production aircraft was the deletion of the upper-wing
aileron
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
s to eliminate oversensitive control inputs.
Operational history
The Ki-17 was introduced to service as the Army Type 95-3 Basic Grade Trainer Model A under the former aircraft naming nomenclature system. Tachikawa manufactured 560
Ki-17s between 1936 and 1943 and the type saw service with the Army Air Academy and flight training schools.
Operators
* Kumagaya Army Flying Training School
* Mito Army Flying Training School
* Tachiari Army Flying Training School
* Utsonomiya Army Flying Training School
*
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Academy
The was the principal officers' training school for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. The classrooms of the academy were located in the city of Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo. An airfield was added in 1937 and used by the IJA ...
(Rikugun Kōku Shikan Gakkō)
*
Royal Thai Air Force
"Royal Thai Air Force March"
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 9 April 1937 (Royal Thai Air Force Day)
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles ...
Specifications (Ki-17)
See also
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
* (new edition 1987 by Putnam Aeronautical Books, .)
{{Allied reporting names
Biplanes
Ki-17, Tachikawa
Ki-17
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1935