Modern-Aviation

Tthe war years. The system was designed with performance in mind he Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki (meaning "Demon Queller" and codenamed "Tojo" by the Allies) was a single engine monoplane interceptor appearing in production throughout and, as such, design focused more on a superior rate-of-climb and overall speed leaving other factors such as vision and maneuverability something to be desired. Despite their impressive fighter performance statistics, the Ki-44 was relegated to defense of the Japanese homeland as the Allied continually shrank Japanese territorial gains throughout the Pacific. Their heavy caliber armament did, however, proved mightily effective against the Boeing B-29 Superfortresses.

esigner Hideo Itokawa, (who passed away in Feb 1999) undertook the difficult task of equaling the Ki-27's tight-turning and dogfighting qualities in a heavier 1,000 horsepower (745 kW) class fighter. He came up with a similar low winged all metal monoplane of very light construction with the Nakajima 12% in-house airfoil similar to the Nate's and, similarly armed (at first) with two 7.7 mm machine guns atop the cowl that the Army had so adamantly called for. (Nakajima staff and others were convinced that the trend in the world was toward four and six, even eight gun fighters, with 12.5mm machine gun and 20mm aerial cannon armament, but the Japanese Army Generals scoffed at the air superiority fighter concept and had a ground-based, political and ideological concept of warfare perhaps shaped by their Chinese adversaries. Anyway, they needed a new plane and wanted a lightweight, tight-turning dogfighter for an army support/counter insurgency role. (Oscars did find their way into French hands against the Viet Minh after the war and other counterinsurgency roles elsewhere then!) This despite frightful losses at Nomonhan where the 1st, 64th and 11th Sentai held onto aerial superiority by their fingernails in the Ki-27, winning literally a "Pyrrhic Victory" (as in funeral pyre, not Pyrrus of Epirus) against the heavily armed and armored Soviets and were slaughtered by Chennault's tactics in the early Curtiss P-40s over the North China plains and Mongolian grasslands. The new airplane went through a year-long development program entered production in early 1941 as the Ki-43 with a 950 hp (708 kW) Nakajima Ha-115 twin row radial engine turning a Sumitomo-Hamilton two-blade licensed propeller.

Designer Itokawa turned to a sophisticated flight control technology in the form of "butterfly shaped (actually paddle shaped) air combat maneuvering flaps" that were deployed from Bowden levers atop the control stick (like the brake on a Nanchang) creating lift to overcome high load factors and augmenting the ailerons. At that time the more air-minded Japanese Navy had a world class fighter with its Type 0 (1940) Mitsubishi A6M Zero shipboard fighter, proven against the latest Soviet designs in the Hainan and South China region before the Navy pullout from China in late 1941. (They did come back, and soon, to Hainan and Shanghai, and Zeros had a very long range for regular sweeps deep into China proper, and a detachment was based in the Kunming area before long.) In 1940 though the Army in North China was barely holding on with its Ki-27 against the P-40 and the Polikarpov I-16 with their hard-hitting tactics and speed, and desperately needed the new plane.

The Oscar was to change that, but not to the extent hoped. Superior marksmanship/airmanship was to make up for the lack of heavy guns. This clever hope failed to materialize. The plane's light wing loading and fundamentals limited its top speed, diving ability and punch. Light armament dogged the design to the end, and doomed its pilots as well, and not for a lack of trying...the design could simply not carry more guns, not on pylons, not anywhere, although it was tried desperately down the years (finally with an unsuccessful nose-stretch for twin cannon.) as time ran out for Japan. But the beautiful, if fragile, Oscar created its share of havoc and horror for Allied airman upon the outbreak of hostilities and down to the end of the war. Beside its simple pure beauty as an aeroplane, it had a number of strengths. For one it was stable, predictable and easy to fly, land, approach in and handle on the ground. It spun safely in any configuration and was used as a trainer extensively. For another it had a fantastic rate of climb and the tightest turning radius of the entire pack. Although it lacked the Zero's top speed and wing-cannon punch, it turned inside of it and climbed faster, with the same power in the respective airframes. Weak firepower and inadequate Army pilot training and tactics/philosophy were to blame for the Oscar's lack of success relative to the Zero. Still, Oscars shot down a frightful number of Allied planes and airmen right down to the end, (suffering high attrition themselves for the above reason and backwards fighter tactics) and were a mainstay (along with the Ki-84 Frank) of the Army's large "Special Attack" (Kamikaze) program. They were found in nearly every region of the Pacific and in very large numbers in China.

Development of the Ki-44 began in 1940 as a dedicated interceptor designed to a Japanese Army Air Force specification for a high speed platform with a good rate-of-climb. The design centered around the large Nakajima Ha-41 engine that had its origins as a bomber powerplant. The large engine was fitted into a streamlined fuselage design with a distinctly shortened and smallish tail assembly. The pilot's cockpit was positioned about midway on the upper portion of the fuselage. The engine sat some distance ahead of the pilot, offering some limitations to forward visibility particularly when taxiing the aircraft. The wings were low-mounted and positioned just forward of the cockpit and were designed with a small area making the Shoki a handful of an aircraft to land due to its high landing speeds. The initial prototype was airborne by August of 1940 and was showcased against an imported Messerschmitt Bf 109E model - the mainstay German Luftwaffe fighter in Europe - and proved superior to the German design in performance figures.

Trials for the Ki-44 were conducted in late 1941 with the first air group forming in December of that year. Homeland and territorial defense groups were formed thereafter in an attempt to protect vital industrial and oil positions from the aggression of Allied bomber groups attempting to cripple Japan from within. Suicide groups near Tokyo were also formed to combat B-29 Superfortresses. In all, some 12 air groups were allocated the Ki-44 Shoki in various defensive roles with the Japanese Air Force.

Power for the Ki-44-IIb was sponsored by a single Nakajima-brand Ha-109 radial engine delivering 1,519 horsepower. Performance specs included a top speed of 476 miles per hour with a service ceiling of 36,750 feet. A range of 1,060 was reported as was a rate-of-climb nearing 3,940 feet per minute. In all, these were impressive specifications for a dedicated single-seat interceptor of the time.

Standard armament of the Ki-44-IIb model centered around 4 x 12.7mm Ho-103 series heavy caliber machine guns. Two were mounted into the cowl and synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blade, forcing this pair to have a lower rate-of-fire - reported at about 657 rounds-per-minute. Conversely, a second pair of 12.7mm machine guns of the same type were mounted one to a wing and offered up to 900 rounds-per-minute. Some 760 rounds of total 12.7mm ammunition were afforded to all guns.

Notable variants in the Shoki series included the base Ki-44 prototype, the Ki-44 Type I, the Ki-44 Type II, the Ki-44 II, Ki-44 IIc, the Ki-44 IIIa and the Ki-44 IIIb models. The ki-44 was the base prototype while the Ki-44 Type I was powered by the Nakajima Ha-41 series engine. The latter had a performance speed of 363 miles per hour and was armed with 2 x 7.7mm Type 89 machine guns and 2 x 12.7mm Ho-103 machine guns. The Ki-44 Type II was fitted with the Nakajima Ha-109 engine and delivered up to 378 miles per hour performance. This version was fitted with 4 x 12.7mm Type I machine guns. he Ki-44 II was another prototype model, this fitted with a Nakajima Ha-109 engine of 1,520 horsepower. The Ki-44 IIc was the first variant that showcased heavy-duty firepower, these armed with 4 x 20mm Ho-3 series cannons or coupled as 2 x 40mm Ho-301 cannons with 2 x 12.7mm Ho-103 machine guns. Cannon armament proved most effective against the high-altitude, well-defending Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. The Ki-44 IIIa sported 4 x 20mm Ho-5 cannons and an engine delivering up to 2,000 horsepower. The Ki-44 IIIb was fitted with 2 x 20mm Ho-5 cannons and 2 x 37mm Ho-203 cannons.

Manchukuo and Imperial Japan were wartime operators of the Shoki whereas China and Indonesia became operators of the type in post-war Asia. Production of the Ki-44 spanned from 1940 into 1944 to which some 1,225 examples were produced in total. The Ki-44 was eventually replaced by the Nakajima Ki-84 "Hayate" by the closing months of the war.