TYPE: Interceptor fighter. Project
ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only
POWER PLANT: BMW 003A-1 turbojet, rated at 800 kp
PERFORMANCE: 536 mph at 26,250 ft (estimated)
COMMENT: Design of an interceptor fighter from mid 1944, forerunner of the Bv P.211.02, that was submitted for the “Volksjäger” (Peoples fighter) competition. Winner was the Heinkel He 162 “Spatz”.
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).
TYPE: Interceptor fighter. Project.
ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only
POWER PLANT: One Kawasaki Ha-40 liquid-cooled engine, rated at 1,175 hp
PERFORMANCE: 370 mph at 15,950 ft (estimated)
COMMENT: The Nakajima Ki-62 was a light fighter designed in 1941 to compete with the Kawasaki Ki-61 “Hien”. Although this design appeared to be promising, its development was discontinued to enable Nakajima to concentrate on production of their Ki-63 “Hayabusa” and Ki-44 “Shoki” fighters. Later, the Ki-62’s data and design features were incorporated in the Nakajima Ki-84 “Hayate” design (Ref.: 1).
TYPE: High-altitude interceptor fighter
ACCOMMODATION: Pilot in pressurized cockpit
POWER PLANT: One Nakajima Ha-44 radial engine, rated at 2,200 hp
PERFORMANCE: 439 mph at 36,090 ft (estimated)
COMMENT: The Nakajima Ki-87 was developed in response to American Boeing B-29 “Superfortress” raids on the Home Islands. It followed up on earlier research by Nakajima and the Technical Division of Imperial Army Headquarters into boosting a large radial engine with an exhaust-driven turbo-supercharger, which had begun in 1942, well before the B-29 raids began. The efforts of the Technical Division of Imperial Army Headquarters eventually culminated into the Tachikawa Ki-94-I, while the Nakajima Ki-87 was developed as a fall-back project, using less stringent requirements. Nakajima started in July 1943 with the construction of three prototypes, to be completed between November 1944 and January 1945, and seven pre-production aircraft, to be delivered by April 1945. The Technical Division of Imperial Army Headquarters made itself felt during the development of the Ki-87 prototype when they insisted upon placing the turbo-supercharger in the rear-fuselage, and from the sixth prototype the Nakajima fighter was to have that arrangement. The Ki-87 had a rearward folding undercarriage to accommodate the storage of ammunition for the cannons, which were mounted in the wing.
Construction was delayed due to problems with the electrical undercarriage and the turbo-supercharger, and the first prototype was not completed until February 1945; it first flew in April, but only five test flights were completed, all with the undercarriage in the extended position. Production of 500 aircraft was planned, but the war ended before any more than the single prototype was built.
A further variant, the Nakajima Ki-87-II, powered by a 3,000 hp Nakajima Ha-217 (Ha-46) engine and with the turbo-supercharger in the same position as the USAAF Republic P-47 “Thunderbolt”, never went further than the drawing board (Ref.: 24).
TYPE: Long-range fighter
ACCOMMODATION: Pilot and navigator
POWER PLANT: Two Mitsubishi Ha 211 Ru (Ha-43) radial engines, rated at 2,070 hp each
PERFORMANCE: 438 mph at 32,180 ft
COMMENT: The Mitsubishi Ki-83 was designed as a long-range heavy fighter. The design was a response to a 1943 specification for a new heavy fighter with great range. The first of four prototypes flew on 18 November 1944. The machines displayed remarkable maneuverability for aircraft of their size and carried a powerful armament of two 30 mm and two 20 mm cannon in its nose. Despite the bomb-ravaged Japanese manufacturing sector, plans for the Ki-83 to enter production within were underway when Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945.
Both the existence and performance of the Ki-83 were little known during the war, even in Japan. It was completely unknown in Allied military aviation circles – as demonstrated by the fact that the Ki-83 had not been given a reporting name. Most early photographs of the type were taken during the post-war occupation of Japan, when the four prototypes were seized by the USAAF and re-painted with USAAF insignia. When they were evaluated by US aeronautical engineers and other experts, a Ki-83 using high-octane fuel reached a speed of 473 mph at an altitude of 23,000 ft (Ref.: 24).
TYPE: Long-range escort fighter. Project
ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only
POWER PLANT: One Mitsubishi Ha 203-II liquid-cooled engine, rated at 2,600 hp, driving three-bladed contra-rotating propellers
PERFORMANCE: 466 mph
COMMENT: During May 1943, Japanese authorities delivered a new requirement for a single-seat, single-engine long range escort fighter to protect bomber formations from interception by Allied warplanes beginning to gain the advantage in the skies over the Pacific Area of Action. The Mitsubishi Ki-73 was one result of the requirement by the type was not furthered beyond a sole, incomplete prototype before the end of WW II. The design team managed to find success with the earlier twin-engine Mitsubishi Ki-46 “Dinah” and eventually moved on to the promising Mitsubishi Ki-83 twin-engine, two seat long-range heavy fighter design of which four prototypes ultimately emerged when the development of the Ki-73 was abandoned. Rather unique for Japanese-originated wartime fighter design was the use of contra-rotating propeller arrangement. The rest of the overall design arrangement was conventional – the engine in the nose, a single-finned tail at rear and cockpit set over center mass. Wings were straight monoplane appendages with clipped tips and tailwheel undercarriage was fully retractable. While the Mitsubishi Ki-73 was never formally adopted for service and never entered serial production, captured documents by the Allies – who believed the type was to come online soon – allocated the codename “Steve” for the series which never was.
TYPE: Heavy fighter
ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only
POWER PLANT: One Kawasaki Ha-201 coupled liquid-cooled engines, rated at 2,350 hp
PERFORMANCE: 430 mph at 16.000 ft
COMMENT: The Kawasaki Ki-64, Allied code name “Rob”, was a one-off prototype of an experimental heavy, single seat, fighter. It had two unusual design features. First; it had two Kawasaki Ha-40 engines in tandem; one in the aircraft nose, the other behind the cockpit, both being connected by a drive shaft. This combination, called the Kawasaki Ha-201, drove two, three-bladed, contra-rotating propellers. The second feature was the use of the wing surface as a radiator for the water-cooled engines. The aircraft first flew in December 1943. During the fifth flight, the rear engine caught fire; and while the aircraft made an emergency landing, it was damaged. The aircraft was subsequently abandoned in mid-1944 in favour of more promising projects. The airframe survived the war, and parts of the unique cooling system were sent to Wright Field in the US for examination (Ref.: 24).
TYPE: Long-range fighter, Fighter bomber
ACCOMMODATION: Crew of two
POWER PLANT: Two Bristol Hercules Mk XVII, rated at 1,700 hp
PERFORMANCE: 315 mph at 10,000 ft
COMMENT: The success of the Bristol Beaufighter was based on a variety of roles the aircrafts were used for: Long-range fighter, night fighter, strike aircraft, and torpedo bomber. Production ended in 1945 after 5.564 Beaufighters had been built.
TYPE: Long-range torpedo bomber and anti-shipping aircraft
ACCOMMODATION: Crew of three
POWER PLANT: Two Bristol “Centaurus” 57 radial engines, rated at 2,470 hp each
PERFORMANCE: 358 mph at 16,000 ft
COMMENT: As an alternative to the highly successful Bristol “Beaufighter” in the role of torpedo bomber the Bristol “Brigand” was selected by the UK Air Ministry based on the applicable requirements. The first four prototypes were ordered I April 1943 and the first flight took place on December 1944. Series production began with the use of various components from its predecessor, the Bristol “Beaufighter”, although the first eleven torpedo versions of the “Brigand” TF. Mk.I were not delivered until 1946. However, in 1946 offensive planes were no longer required and the “Brigands” were returned to their native factory and redeveloped into new light and fast bombers, known as “Brigand” B.1. A total of 147 “Brigands” were produced, including prototypes and production ended in spring 1949. The Bristol “Brigand” was the last fighter plane to use a piston drive (Ref.: Valom).
