The Tachikawa Ki-55 was a Japanese advanced trainer.

Design and development

The excellent characteristics of the

Tachikawa Ki-36 The Tachikawa Ki-36 (named ''Ida'' in Allied reporting code) was a Japanese army co-operation aircraft of World War II. It was a two-seat, low-wing monoplane with a single piston engine and fixed, tailwheel-type undercarriage. Design and deve ...

made it potentially ideal as a trainer. This led to the development of the Ki-55 with a single machine gun. After successful testing of a prototype in September 1939, the type was put into production as the Tachikawa Army Type 99 Advanced Trainer. In all 1,389 Ki-55 were constructed before production ended in December 1943 with Tachikawa having built 1078 and Kawasaki 311. Both the Ki-55 and the Ki-36 were given the Allied nickname 'Ida.'

Variants

;Ki-36 : Army co-operation aircraft. ;Ki-72 : An evolved version with a

Hitachi Ha38 () 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 ...

engine and retractable undercarriage. Not built.

Operators

; * Imperial Japanese Army Air Force * Kumagaya Army Flying School * Mito Army Flying School * Tachiarai Army Flying School * Utsonomiya Army Flying School ; *

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 ...

; Reorganized National Government of China * National Government of China Air Force received several from the Japanese. ; * Republic of China Air Force operated captured aircraft. ; * People's Liberation Army Air Force operated more than 30 captured aircraft at the end of 1945. These Ki-55s were used until the last 14 retired in 1953. ; * Royal Thai Air Force Francillon also mentions delivery to the Japanese satellite air force of Cochinchina, the southernmost third part of present Vietnam

Specifications (Ki-55)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* (new edition 1987 by Putnam Aeronautical Books, ); 3rd edition 1987, Putnam Aeronautical Books. .) * {{Allied reporting names Ki-55 Ki-55, Tachikawa Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1939