The Mitsubishi Ki-51 (Army designation "Type 99 Assault Plane"; Allied reporting name "Sonia") was a light bomber/dive bomber in service with the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It first flew in mid-1939. Initially deployed against Chinese forces, it proved to be too slow to hold up against the fighter aircraft of the other Allied powers. However, it performed a useful ground-attack role in the China-Burma-India theater, notably from airfields too rough for many other aircraft. As the war drew to a close, the Japanese began using them in kamikaze attacks. Total production was around 2,385 units.
Ki-51 | |
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Mitsubishi Ki-51 | |
Role | Light bomber/dive bomber |
Manufacturer | Mitsubishi Jukogyo KK |
First flight | mid-1939 |
Primary user | Imperial Japanese Army Air Service |
Number built | 2,385[1] |
On the day Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb, a single Ki-51 was responsible for the last Japanese sinking of a US warship, sinking USS Bullhead (SS-332) with all hands.
Charles Lindbergh, flying a P-38 Lightning, shot down a Ki-51.[2]
Variants
edit- Prototypes: two built
- Service trials: 11 built
- Ki-51: 2,372 built (Manufacturers: Mitsubishi (1,462), Tachikawa Army Air Arsenal (913)) until March 1944
- Ki-51A: reconnaissance version.
- Ki-51B: assault version with armor and bomb racks to carry 200 kg (441 lb) of bombs. It could also be fitted with an aerial camera.
- Mansyu Ki-71: three prototypes built by Mansyu with retractable landing gear, did not enter production.[3]
Operators
editIndonesian Air Force Ki-51 "Guntei" at Dirgantara Mandala Museum
- Communist Chinese (captured): The last 4 of around 100 Ki-51s were retired in 1953.
- Following independence, transferred from the Soviet Union.
- Used by South Korean Airforce during Korean War
Specifications (Ki-51)
editData from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War[4]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 9.21 m (30 ft 3 in)
- Wingspan: 12.1 m (39 ft 8 in)
- Height: 2.73 m (8 ft 11 in)
- Wing area: 24 m2 (260 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 1,873 kg (4,129 lb)
- Gross weight: 2,798 kg (6,169 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 2,920 kg (6,437 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Mitsubishi Ha-26-II 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 710 kW (950 hp)
- Propellers: 3-bladed variable-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 424 km/h (263 mph, 229 kn) at 3,000 m (9,800 ft)
- Range: 1,060 km (660 mi, 570 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 8,270 m (27,130 ft)
- Time to altitude: 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in 9 minutes 55 seconds
- Wing loading: 117 kg/m2 (24 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.24 kW/kg (0.15 hp/lb)
Armament
- Guns:
- 2× fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (.303 in) Type 89 machine guns (replaced with 2× 12.7 mm (.5 in) Ho-103 machine guns in later models)
- 1× 7.7 mm (.303 in) Te-4 Machine gun rearward-firing machine gun.
- Bombs: 200 kg (441 lb) bombs (normal operations); 250 kg (551 lb) for suicide operations[4]
See also
editAircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
Notes
edit- ^ Angelucci, Enzo (1988). Combat aircraft of World War II. p. 26. ISBN 0-517-64179-8.
- ^ "Charles Lindbergh and the 475th Fighter Group." Lightning Strikes.
- ^ Francillon 1979, p. 180.
- ^ a b Francillon 1979, p. 181.
Bibliography
edit- Francillon, René J. (1979). Japanese aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-30251-6. OCLC 6124909. (new edition 1987 by Putnam Aeronautical Books, ISBN 0-85177-801-1.)
- Green, William & Swanborough, Gordon (n.d.). "Pentagon Over the Islands: The Thirty-Year History of Indonesian Military Aviation". Air Enthusiast Quarterly (2): 154–162. ISSN 0143-5450.
- Soumille, Jean-Claude (September 1999). "Les avions japonais aux couleurs françaises" [Japanese Aircraft in French Colors]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et Son Histoire (in French) (78): 6–17. ISSN 1243-8650.