Show Me The Shoki!!!!!!!!

[funked]

OK, enough ugly planes.  I just saw the Typhoid err Typhoon screenshot and I just about puked.  How about one of the purtiest thangs ever to grace the skies:

     

 

Nakajima Ki-44-IIb

Powerplant: One Nakajima Ha-109 (Type 2) fourteen-cylinder air-cooled radial rated at 1520 hp for takeoff, 1440 hp at 7055 feet, and 1320 hp at 17,220 feet.

Performance: Maximum speed 376 mph at 17,060 feet. An altitude of 16,405 feet could be reached in 4 min 17 sec. Service ceiling was 36,745 feet, and the maximum range was 1056 miles.

Weights: 4643 lbs empty, 6094 pounds loaded.

Dimensions: Wingspan 31 feet 0 1/16 inches, length 28 feet 9 7/8 inches, height 10 feet 8 inches, wing area 161.458 square feet.

Armament: two fuselage mounted 12.7-mm Type I (Ho-103) machine guns and two wing mounted 12.7 mm Type I (Ho-103) machine guns.


[This message has been edited by funked (edited 03-01-2000).]

[Vermillion]

Agreed Funked, I am with yah  

Not only is it time for a nice Japanese Plane.

But for a nice Russian plane like the Yak-3 or Yak-9U, both very nice looking aircraft.

Would like to see them in the same release as the next fighters.

Enough with those ugly American, British, and German aircraft!!!

------------------
Vermillion
**MOL**, Men of Leisure,
"Real Men fly Radials, Nancy Boys fly Spitfires"

[This message has been edited by Vermillion (edited 03-01-2000).]

[Rufus]

Enough of all the Typhoon bashing...I think it's a very nice looking aircraft. But then again, I'm British.  

I agree that your Japanese Ki-44 is ver y nice as well Funked.

[Pyro]

I got your shoki right here.  



------------------
Doug "Pyro" Balmos
HiTech Creations

"If it's stupid but works, it's not stupid."

[juzz]

What about the Ki-44-IIc with four Ho-3 cannon? Or even the extra-low velocity 40mm's!  

[Citabr]

be careful what you ask for, just cuz its IJA dosnt mean it was the worlds greatest T&b a/c  

its fast, powerful and turns like an oceanliner with those tiny wings  

[funked]

Citabr, I know what I'm asking for.  Wingloading is higher than other IJAAF planes but still low by US standards.  Climb rate, dive acceleration, and roll rate are the sweet points of this plane.  

[Nashwan]

How about THE prettiest thing ever to fly?
 
Spitfire XIV with bubble canopy.

[combat23]

Hi Funked,

Was wondering about the choice on the 44 with the current late war plane set?

It was fast for a Jap plane in its day but was out run and out climbed by later IJN & IJA planes.

It did,not do to well over the home Islands aginst late war U.S. army or navy fighters.

Then again I don't realy know to much about it. Stuff I've read from the CBI point at the frank as the jap plane of note. Followed by the Ki 100.

It is a good looking plane though. And I'll fly anything

see ya on line

[mx22]

 

Originally posted by Nashwan:
How about THE prettiest thing ever to fly?
   
Spitfire XIV with bubble canopy.

Agreed Nashwan.

We should start an all out 2 men war for this plane to be the next one to be modeled (after of course those that are already in process of being made)

mx22

[funked]

Combat23:

Well none of the IJNAF or IJAAF planes had a very good record, so I would throw that criterion out the window post-haste.  

The Ki-84 had great performance, but I have read that the engine was notoriously unreliable and the performance in the field was often worse than the Ki-44 due to manufacturing and maintenance problems.

The Ki-100 did not offer higher performance than the Ki-44, except maybe in flat turns.  The main advantage of the Ki-100 over the Ki-61 was that it eliminated the very unreliable engine of the Ki-61.  And don't forget that very very few Ki-100 ever made it into combat.

[ra]

The Ki-44 weighed only 6000 lbs loaded?  That's not much heavier than a Zeke.  I smell a paper plane.    

--ra--

[funked]

No, check out the dimensions.  It's a tiny, dense, plane.

[Spritle]

funked,

Not to steal any thunder away from the Shoki but the Hayate (Frank) was a better aircraft in pretty much every regard.  And yes the Frank was plagued with maintenance problems just like every Japanese fighter late in the war.  After all school children were putting the things together because everyone else was gone.  Production aircraft including prototypes for the Frank exceeded 3,500.  (Pretty small compared to typical American fighters).  The Shoki production just topped 1,200 aircraft.  

Climb rate for both aircraft is the same: 5 min 54 sec to 16,504 ft.  Top speed for the Frank is listed at 397 mph while the Shoki is 376 mph.  Wing loading for the Shoki is listed as 37.7 lb/ft^2 and only 35.1 lb/ft^2 for the Frank.  

I don't think that HTC is modeling engine reliability or overall aircraft quality so the Frank would be the better aircraft IMHO.  Still I am a big fan of the Japanese aircraft and any fighters are really appreciated.

All aircraft stats are from "Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War" by Rene J Francillon.  

ISBN: 0-87021-313-X

This book is pretty much the definitive guide to all Japanese aircraft and you can still get it at Amazon.

[funked]

You have a good point.  The only thing the Ki-44 has going for it vs. the Ki-84 is that the Shoki saw combat from 1942 onward.  Also a friend who speaks Japanese has read a lot of the Japanese literature on the two planes and concluded that the Ki-84 was a lemon.  

P.S.  Francillon's book is listed by Amazon as "out of print", but you can still get copies directly from the Naval Institute.

[This message has been edited by funked (edited 03-10-2000).]