WW2 Japanese Type 3 Fighter

World War 2 Hayabusa Ki-43 III Koh Oscar
IJA Special Attack Squadron

Design and development
The Oscar was designed to a set of similar specifications as those of the Mitsubishi Zero, but it was more lightweight and was even less rugged than its naval counterpart. Known for its nimble handling and legendary for its performance in East Asia in the early years of the war, the Ki-43 was designed by Hideo Itokawa, who would later become famous as a pioneer of Japanese rocketry. Although the maneuverability of the prototype was quite good, some Japanese pilots complained that it was less maneuverable than the Ki-27 "Nate". This was remedied by Itokawa's addition of a unique 'butterfly' maneuvering aileron in the wings, which helped performance in tight turns, although some pilots still complained. The initial production version was given the designation Ki-43-I. In addition to outstanding maneuverability, the Ki-43-I had a very impressive rate of climb due to its light weight, with a top speed of 308 mph (495 km/h) at 13,160 feet (4000 m).

The Ki-43 was equipped with two cowling machine guns in various configurations, with either two 7.7 mm machine guns, one 12.7 mm Ho-103 heavy machine gun (machine cannon) and one 7.7 mm gun, or two Ho-103 12.7 mm guns; the aircraft was given various sub-designations to reflect these differences. However, the configuration that appears to have been most prevalent at the outset of the war was the latter configuration with two Ho-103 12.7 mm heavy machine guns, sometimes given the official designation Ki-43-I (Mark Ic).[1] The Ho-103 was often loaded with explosive ammunition to increase target effect; its penetrative effect against later Allied aircraft armour appears to have been marginal.[2]

Total production of the Ki-43 was 5,919 aircraft.

Operational history
The Ki-43 was the most widely-used Army fighter, and equipped 30 sentai (groups) and 12 chutais (squadrons). The first version, Mark I, entered service in 1941, the Mark II in December 1942, the II-Kai in June 1943, and the Mark IIIa in summer 1944.

Like the Zero, the Ki-43 initially enjoyed air superiority in the skies of Malaya, Netherlands East Indies, Burma and New Guinea. This was partly to do with the better performance of the Oscar[3] and partly due to the relatively small numbers of combat-ready Allied fighters, mostly the P-36, P-40, Brewster Buffalo, Hawker Hurricane and Curtiss-Wright CW-21 in Asia and the Pacific during the first months of the war. However, as the war progressed, the fighter suffered from the same weaknesses as the Ki-27 and the Mitsubishi Zero; light armor and less-than-effective self-sealing tanks, which caused high casualties in combat. Its armament of two machine guns also proved inadequate against the more heavily armoured Allied aircraft. As newer Allied aircraft were introduced, such as the Vought Corsair, Hellcat and Seafire Mk III, the Japanese were forced into a defensive war and most aircraft were flown by inexperienced pilots.

The Ki-43 also served in an air defense role over Formosa, Okinawa and the Japanese home islands. Some examples were supplied to the pro-Japanese countries of Thailand, Manchukuo and Wang Jingwei Government as well. The Thai units sometimes fought against the USAAF in southern China.
Hayabusas were well liked in the JAAF because of the pleasant flight characteristics and excellent manouevreability, and almost all JAAF fighter aces claimed victories with Hayabusa in some part of their career. At the end of the war most Hayabusa units received Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate ("Frank") fighters, but some units flew the Hayabusa to the end of the war. The top scorer with Hayabusa was Sgt. Satoshi Anabuki with 59 victories.

After the war some examples served in limited numbers in the French Air Force in Indochina against communist rebels.

The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (隼, "Peregrine Falcon") was a single-engined land-based fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II. The army designation was "Type 1 Fighter" (一式戦闘機); the Allied codename was Oscar

Any of the Japanese pilots in World War II who made deliberate suicidal crashes into enemy targets, usually ships. The word means "divine wind," a reference to a typhoon that dispersed a Mongol invasion fleet threatening Japan from the west in 1281. The practice was most prevalent in the final year of the war. Most kamikaze planes were ordinary fighter aircraft or light bombers, usually loaded with bombs or extra gasoline tanks before their suicidal dive. Such attacks sank 34 ships and damaged hundreds of others; at Okinawa they inflicted the greatest losses ever suffered by the U.S. Navy in a single battle, killing almost 5,000 men. See also Zero.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• japanese
• ww2
• aircraft
• museum
• ki-43
• oscar
• kamikaze
• music
• video

[lazadar]

I don't care if it wasn't the fastest or most armed fighter of the war but it is a darn fine and sexy aircraft. Along with the Zero also.

[RealSamuraiHibaru]

日本を護ってくれてありがとう一式戦。

[tryithere]

It would look even better with a bunch of bullet holes in it.

[wolf6500]

great vid man!!!!

[auaumusi]

it is not TYPE3 fighter ki-61?HIEN(tony).

it is TYPE1 fighter ki-43 HAYABUSA(oscar)block3.

これは三式戦飛燕ではありません。

一式戦隼の三型です。

[dblmura3yt]

タイトル見て三式戦のことかと思った。

[jtp0321]

@Capt777harris Also no self sealing fuel tanks. Little to no armor for pilots. Did not take much to lightup jap planes. The trick was getting them in the gunsight. That got easier as the war progressed and the US developed better fighters and tactics.

[Capt777harris]

@cartmanrlsusall Very true. The Japanese fighters were ahead of their time, but because of their wooden frame, they couldn't the same kind of punishment that allied fighters could. It's why they were shot out of the sky, because as fast as maneuverable as they were for fighters of the day, they simple weren't fast enough for the kind of tactics the Japanese hoped to employ.

[Capt777harris]

@lazadar Like most Japanese fighter craft of the time it had extremely long range and was highly maneuverable.

[19babyjack55]

Why are those jackasses allowing this rare aircraft to remain OUTDOORS???

Why is third-rate western ELEVATOR MUZAK allowed here as a soundtrack?

Ahhhh.. the questions!

[anjedaisuki]

なぜ日本では動態保存しないんだ？貴重な文化遺産だろうに。あ〜­疾風が無惨な姿になったのも記憶に新しいよね。それにしてもこの­キットの制作者は素敵に仕上げましたね。私にその１／100くら­いの制作能力が有れば作ってみたいけどな〜。

[TheSupermonkey123456]

rhe ben ma jo no a laso