Ki-61 tips

[BugsBunny]

Fly it like a p51

[Krusty]

Nah, fly it like a c202, but a c202 with CANNON!

It turns better than a p51, it's in a totally different speed bracket as well. I'd fly it like a spit, almost. Just keep in mind it doesn't have UFO-Power (TM) like the spitties do.

[Squire]

They developed the Ki-61 from their own plans, coupling it with the Daimler Benz engine.

It was misidentified by a "few" Allied pilots early on as a Bf 109, but that was quickly kyboshed by intel.

The Ki-61 was regarded as one of the tougher opponents by the USN, and the USAAF, as it was both faster than the Zero, but could also dive at high speeds. It suffered from mechanical and supply difficulties in New Guinea, and not as many were encountered as could have been the case. Claims of it being cannon fodder is without basis. It was a respected enemy fighter.

Never heard anything about it not being able to roll or turn to the right because of torque, it had a better roll rate than a Zero did at high speeds, and pre P-38Ls did not have high speed roll rates either. I beleive the recomendation was an aileron roll at 300-400 TAS+ vs Japanese fighters generally,  since many of them had heavy ailerons at higher speeds, and that wasnt just a tactic for P-38s.

Im not sure what version of AH you guys have, but I think it dives awesome in the game, and holds E very well.

[Ack-Ack]

This what McGuire wrote about the Ki-61.

Tony - The usual armament of this plane is two 12.7 mm. machine guns, synchronized through the prop with one 12.7 mm. machine gun in each wing. (Later models have one 20 mm in each wing). With heavier armor and a fair quality of self-sealing tanks, this plane does not have the tendency of the OSCAR and ZEKE models to explode or burn unless a very good hit is scored. An in-line fighter like our P-40’s, the TONY is not an altitude fighter but makes up for this by being faster than the ZEKE in level flight and extremely fast in a dive. A successful evasive tactic against this plane is, if in a dive, to make a diving turn to the right. At high speeds the TONY handles very poorly to the right and the Japanese pilot has trouble turning in that direction. If you are pursued from the rear and on the level, a very high-speed, shallow climb will keep you out of range and eventually you will draw way.

One pilot found out about this the hard way. He was returning from a strike at Wewak when he was jumped by three TONYS. He was at 20,000 feet at the time and went into a shallow dive which ended up on the deck one hundred miles farther south, with the TONYS right behind him. Forced to alter his tactics, the pilot began a high-speed, shallow climb and soon lost them. His was the original experience of this sort with the TONY and his pioneerings saved many from falling into the same error.

If you are on the deck, a very sharp turn to the right at high-speed, may do as an emergency maneuver, but it is definitely a last resort and at best will only keep the enemy pilot from holding his lead on you.

As for the cannon fodder remark, that has been my experience when running into the Ki-61 vs. P-38.  It just has too many weaknesses for me to exploit and is one of the easier rides to fight against but that's just my opinion from my experience in fighting against the Tony...YMMV.


ack-ack

[Krusty]

Flying the Ki61 is like flying the C202, or flying the 109E (not counting the similar engines). You know you're outclassed by many planes that you WILL encounter. There's a good chance that your meager strengths will be overshadowed by your towering weaknesses. It makes it more interesting (at times) to try outflying the better planes.

Of course, this means if you meet a semi-decent pilot in any better ride, you're toast.

Good news is that "semi-decent pilot" and "MA" don't go together too often!

[J_A_B]

If the Ki-61 suffered as badly in the newer versions as some indicate, it must be a pretty poor performer these days.  Even when I still subscribed to AH, I considered the Ki-61 a close match for a P-40E and distinctly inferior to something like the F4U-1.  The P-38G should also be superior in most aspects to the Tony.

If you're flying it in the MA--then or now--it's best to have a sense of humor and accept that nearly everyone will be flying a better plane than you are.   By MA standards, it's slow, climbs poorly, and doesn't turn that well.  The longer a fight lasts, the more likely you'll lose--try to kill your target sooner, rather than later.

It can perform quite well when matched up against its historical adversaries; at least, it's better than the Zeke.



The Ki-45 "Nick" had similar performance to the Me-110C.


J_A_B

[Squire]

Certainly could have been that if you pushed it to the limit in a right hand diving turn, that the Ki-61 would be left behind eventually. As with most comments from aces they are part genuine and part the quagmire of "anectdotal evidence". Certainly almost all the comments from the P-38 pilots seems to indicate it was the hardest type to shake off from a determined pursuer, when comparing it to the Ki-43 or Zero.

[Ack-Ack]

Actually, McGuire's write up is part of his Combat Tactics in the Southwest Pacific Area manual that was given to all new members of the 475th FG.  The excerpt about the Tony was not "anectdotal evidence", it was taken from pilot debriefings and from flight testing captured Japanese planes.  


ack-ack

[Squire]

All thats fine, but I point out the volume of aces comments and veteran pilots comments that disagree with each other. Pilot X saying Y is not irrefutable FM data. Look at the threads that go on forever on the BB. That was my point. Not saying that Mcguires comments were not probably close to the mark, but they are vague, offering no exact speeds or even what model of P-38 he's reffering too.