Kawasaki Ki-100 Go Shiki Sen

Le KI-100 vu sur Wikipedia version de langue anglaise :

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The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Ki-100 was a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] used by the[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The Japanese Army designation was "Type 5 Fighter".

The emergency measure of adapting a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] fighter to carry a Mitsubishi radial engine resulted in an excellent fighter-[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], one of the best used by the Army during the entire war. Missions began in March 1945;
from the first engagements the Ki-100 showed its good qualities against the USAAF [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] at high altitudes, and showed itself equally effective against U.S. Navy carrier fighters.

A new variant, the Ki-100-Ib, was constructed during the last weeks of the conflict to equip five [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for home defense.

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Design and development


In mid-1944, the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was one of the best fighters of the IJAAF.

It was the only production Japanese fighter to have an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] powerplant (the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], a Japanese adaptation of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engine) during World War II, as well as the first one with factory-installed [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

It also had respectable performance, more in line with contemporary American and European designs of the time, with a focus on speed and rate of climb instead of manoeuvrability and range.

It was an effective design, but suffered from engine shortages and reliability problems.

These problems as well as the performance advantage of enemy fighters, especially the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], led to the development of an improved model, the Ki-61-II (later Ki-61-II-KAI), powered by the new 1,120 kW (1,500 hp) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engine, which was unfortunately heavier than the Ki-61-I-KAIc it replaced.

Maximum speed increased from 590 km/h (370 mph) to 610 km/h (380 mph) and general performance (except rate of climb) improved as well.

However, it was never able to perform as planned due to the continued degradation of quality of the engine's assembly line, with far fewer engines produced than were required, while many of the engines that were built were rejected due to poor build quality.

At this point of the war, the IJAAF was in desperate need of effective interceptors to stop the enemy bomber raids over the Japanese mainland, so in October 1944 it was ordered that a 1,120 kW (1,500 hp) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-II (Kinsei ["Venus"] 60 series), a 14-cylinder, two-row [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] should be installed in those airframes.

The need for the re-engined fighter was made yet more urgent on 19 January 1945, when a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] raid destroyed the engine's production plant, leaving some 280+ finished Ki-61s without a powerplant.

Moteur Mistubishi Kinsei

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The Mitsubishi Ha-112-II some 54 kg (120 lb) lighter than the Ha-140 and produced the same power more reliably.

After the study of an imported [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], an example of an aircraft in which a wide radial engine had been successfully installed in a narrow airframe, three Ki-61-II-KAI airframes were modified to carry this engine and to serve as
prototypes.

Three engineers, Takeo Doi, chief engineer and head of project, his assistant Makato Owada and head of engine systems at Kawasaki [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], Tomio Oguchi, worked through several concepts for redesigning the Ki-61 airframe to accept the new engine before, settling on a solution in which a second skin [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was riveted to the fuselage, to smooth out the airflow behind the adjustable cooling flaps and multiple exhaust stubs of the new engine [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

At first, there were problems with the aircraft now being found to be very tail-heavy, but the removal of a large
lead counterbalance, which had been placed in the Ki-61-II-KAI's rear fuselage to balance the increasingly heavy Ha-140 engine, restored the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (cg).

As a result, on 1 February 1945, the new model was flown for the first time. Without the need for the heavy coolant [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and other fittings required for a liquid-cooled engine, the Ki-100 was 329 kg (725 lb) lighter than the Ki-61-II, reducing the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] from 189 kg/m² (38.8 lb/ft²) to 175 kg/m² (35.8 lb/ft²).

This had an immediate positive effect on the flight characteristics, enhancing landing and takeoff qualities as well as imparting increased manoeuvrability and a tighter turning circle.

The army general staff was amazed by the flight characteristics of the plane, which surpassed the Hien's in all but maximum speed (degraded by a maximum of 29 km/h/18 mph by the larger area of the radial engine's front cowling), and the model was ordered to be put in production as the Goshikisen
(Go = five; shiki = type; sentoki = fighter) or Army Fighter Type 5.

The company's name was Ki-100-1-Ko.
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All of the airframes were remanufactured from Ki-61-II Kai and Ki-61-III airframes; the integral engine mount/cowling side panel was cut off the fuselage and a tubular steel engine mount was bolted to the firewall/bulkhead.

Many of the redundant fittings from the liquid-cooled engine, such as the ventral radiator shutter actuator, were
still kept.

The first 271 aircraft, or Ki-100-1-Ko, with the raised "razorback" rear fuselage were rolled out of the factory between March and June 1945.

A further 118 Ki-100 I-Otsu were built with a cut-down rear fuselage and new rear-view canopy from May through to the end of July 1945.

This version also featured a modified oil cooler under the engine in a more streamlined fairing.

The engine was reliable in contrast to the mechanical nightmares of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] that kept many aircraft grounded.

Although slow in level flight for 1945, Ki-100 could dive with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (unlike most Japanese fighters) and hold the speed on pullout.

The armament was two fuselage-mounted [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], each with 250 rpg.

These were complemented by two wing-mounted 12.7 mm (.50 in) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] with 250 rpg.

Improvement of the basic model lead to the Ki-100-II, with a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engine for high-altitude interception of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], but only three examples were built, and it never saw combat.

Specifications (Ki-100-1a/b Goshikisen)

Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
  
• Length: 8.82 m (28 ft 11 in)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 12.00 m (39 ft 4 in)
  
• Height: 3.75 m (12 ft 4 in)
  
• Wing area: 20 m² (215 ft²)
  
• Empty weight: 2,525 kg (5,567 lb)
  
• Loaded weight: 3,495 kg (7,705 lb)
  
• Powerplant: 1× [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-II [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 1,120 kW (1,500 hp) at take off
  

Performance

• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 580 km/h (313 kn, 360 mph) at 6,000 m (19,700 ft)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 400 km/h (217 kn, 249 mph)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 2,200 km (1,189 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 1,367 mi)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 11,000 m (36,090 ft)
  
• Climb to 5,000 m (16,400 ft): 6 min
  

Armament

• Guns: 2 × [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] fuselage-mounted [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and 2 × 12.7 mm (.50 in) wing-mounted [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
  

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