TYPE: Fighter, fighter bomber

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Kawasaki Ha-140 liquid-cooled engine, rated at 1,500 hp

PERFORMANCE: 373 mph at 19,685 ft

COMMENT: The Kawasaki Ki 88 was designed as a fighter aircraft and inspired by the Bell P-39 Airacobra. Work on the design began in 1942 and by 1943 a full-scale mock-up was completed. The engine was mounted behind the cockpit, driving a tractor propeller via an extension shaft. Proposed armament comprised a 37 mm cannon in the propeller shaft and two 20 mm cannon in the lower section of the nose. Calculation suggested no great improvement on that of the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien already in production, and so the project was abandoned during 1943 (Ref.: 1).