Mitsubishi Ki-33

Ki-33

Picture - Mitsubishi Ki-33

Role: Experimental Fighter Aircraft
Manufacturer: Mitsubishi
Designed by: Jiro Horikoshi
First flight: 1936
Primary user: IJA Air Force
Number built: 2

The Mitsubishi Ki-33 (キ33, Ki-sanjūsan) was an experimental monoplane fighter aircraft designed for the Japanese Imperial Army. It flew in 1936, but was never produced for actual use.

Design & Development

The Ki-33 was initially produced by Mitsubishi in response to Japanese army specifications for a fighter to replace the existing Kawasaki Ki-10 biplane. In mid 1935 Kawasaki, Mitsubishi and Nakajima were instructed to build competitive prototypes. Mitsubishi, preoccupied with refining the Ka-14 into the A5M fighter and adapting the G3M bomber for series production for the Imperial Japanese Navy, lacked sufficient design capacity to develop another fighter from scratch, and therefore submitted its earlier and unsuccessful Ki-18 design, with comparatively minor changes, as the Ki-18 had proven to be a good fighter aircraft and the reasons for its rejection were based on principles rather than quality. Labeled the Mitsubishi Ki-33, the modified design was powered by a Nakajima Ha-1-Ko engine rated at 555 kW (744 hp) at 3,700 m (12,140 ft). An aft-sliding canopy was added, the aft fuselage decking was raised and the vertical tail surfaces were modified. The prototypes were completed during the early summer of 1936. Service trials from November 1936 until the spring of 1937 proved that the Kawasaki Ki-28 was the fastest of the three contenders, but the Nakajima Ki-27 was by far the most maneuverable, and on this basis was selected by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.

Operators

Japan

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force

Specifications

Data from Famous Airplanes of the World, first series, #76: Army Experimental Fighters (1)

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 7.54 m (24 ft 9 in)
Wingspan: 11 m (36.05 ft 0â…ť in)
Height: 3.19 m (10 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 17.80 m˛. (191.6 ft˛)
Empty weight: 1,132 kg (2,496 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 1,462 kg (3,223 lb)
Powerplant: 1x— Nakajima Ha-1-Ko radial engine, 556 kW (745 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 474 km/h at 3,000 m (295 mph at 9,845 ft)
Rate of climb: 14.04 m/s (2,760 ft/min)
Wing loading: 82.1 kg/m˛ (16.8 lb/ft˛)
Power/mass: 2.1 kg/hp (4.5 lb/hp)

Armament

Guns: 2x— fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 89 machine guns

Related development

Mitsubishi Ka-14
Mitsubishi A5M
Mitsubishi Ki-18

Bibliography

Januszewski, Tadeusz. Mitsubishi A5M Claude. Sandomierz, Poland/Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2003. ISBN 83-917178-0-1.
Mikesh, Robert C. and Shorzoe Abe. Japanese Aircraft, 1910-1941. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-563-2.
Unknown author. Famous Airplanes of the World, first series, #76: Army Experimental Fighters (1). Tokyo: Bunrin-Do, August 1976.
Unknown author. Famous Airplanes of the World, second series, #24: Army Experimental Fighters. Tokyo: Bunrin-Do, September 1990.

Mitsubishi Ki-33 Pictures

Living Warbirds: The best warbirds DVD series.

Source: WikiPedia