Ki-46 III Kai

[Pooh21]

I was looking at my book Kampfflugzeuge des II. Weltkrieges this morning when I shoulda been working and I noticed the Ki-46 Dinah in  there, she looks quite good. She is armed with 2 20mms plus a shräge musik 37mm. I want one! Only problem is the slow bomber like climbing speed of 24,000 ft in 18 min

[Duedel]

One of the best looking airplanes!!! But:

"The Ki-46-III Kai proved a disappointment. Its poor rate of climb made it hard for the improvised fighter to catch up with the high-flying Boeing B-29 Superfortresses that were beginning to pound Japan. When it did catch the American bombers, the lack of armor and self-sealing tanks left the Ki-46-III Kai highly vulnerable to the B-29's heavy defensive armament. When the B-29s shifted to low-level night raids in May 1945, the Ki-46-III-Kai became almost useless as it had no radar. "

From

http://www.vectorsite.net/avdinah.html

[Pooh21]

That just means its not a dweeb ride, so only us uber-pilots would fly it and murder lancs and nikis with it;)