Tachikawa Ki-36

Ki-36

Role: Two-seat Army Co-operation Aircraft
Manufacturer: Tachikawa Aircraft Company Ltd
First flight: 20 April 1938
Primary users: Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Royal Thai Air Force
Produced: 1938 - 1944
Number built: 1,334
Variants: Tachikawa Ki-55

The Tachikawa Ki-36 (named Ida in Allied reporting code) was a Japanese army-cooperation aircraft of World War II. It was a two-seat, low-wing monoplane with a single piston-engine and a fixed, tailwheel-type undercarriage.

Design and development

The prototype, fitted with a 450hp (336kW) Hitachi Army Type 98 Ha-13 engine, first flew on 20 April 1938. Having outperformed the Mitsubishi Ki-35 in comparative trials, the Ki-36 was designated the Army Type 98 Direct Co-operation Aircraft and ordered into production in November 1938. Production ended in January 1944 after a total of 1,334 had been built.

Operational history

The Ki-36 first saw action in China where it saw success. Later, in the Pacific, it proved excessively vulnerable to opposing fighters. It was theeafter redeployed to the safer theatre of China. Towards the end of the war, the Ki-36 was employed as a kamikaze aircraft with a bomb of 500-kg (1,102-lb) fitted externally.

Variants

Ki-55 : Trainer version.
Ki-72 : An evolved version with a 600-hp (447-kW) Hitachi Ha-38 engine and retractable undercarriage, not built.

Operators

Picture - Tachikawa Ki-55 trainer at the Royal Thai Air Force Museum.

People's Republic of China

Chinese Communist Air Force operated 2 captured aircraft postwar as trainers until their retirement in early 1950s.

Indonesia

Indonesian People's Security Force

Japan

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force

Thailand

Royal Thai Air Force

Specifications (Ki-36)

Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War; The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 8.00m (25ft 3in)
Wingspan: 11.80m (38ft 8.5in)
Height: 3.64m (11ft 11.25in)
Wing area: 20m² (215.29ft²)
Empty weight: 1,247kg (2,749lb)
Loaded weight: 1,660kg (3,660lb)
Powerplant: 1x— Hitachi Army Type 98 Ha-13a nine cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 380kW (510hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 348km/h (216mph)
Cruise speed: 235km/h (146mph)
Range: 1,235km (767mi)
Service ceiling: 8,150m (26,740ft)
Wing loading: 83kg/m² (17lb/ft²)
Power/mass: 0.23kW/kg (0.31hp/kg; 0.14hp/lb)
Time to 3000m (9,845ft): 6min 39sec

Armament

one fixed, forward-firing 7.7mm (0.303in) machine-gun , one flexible 7.7mm (0.303in) machine-gun in rear cockpit.
up to 150kg (331lb) external bombload.

Related development

Tachikawa Ki-55

Bibliography

Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam Aeronautical, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-801-1.
Mondey, David. The Concise guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor Press, 1996. ISBN 1-85152-966-7.

Tachikawa Ki-36 Pictures

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Source: WikiPedia