Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien / TONY

1941

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Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien / TONY

Sometimes described as a cross between a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and a North American P-51 Mustang, the Kawasaki Ki-61 certainly had the distinctive nose shape associated with an inverted V-12 inline engine, the Kawasaki Ha-40 being in effect a Daimler- Benz DB 601A built under licence. The Ki-61's designers, Takeo Doi and Shin Owada, had moreover worked under the German Richard Vogt, In December 1940 they were instructed to go ahead with the Ki-61, and one year later the prototype was flown. The first production Ki-61-I fighters were deployed operationally in April 1943 when the 68th and 78th Sentais arrived in New Guinea. Named Hien (swallow) in service (and codenamed 'Tony' by the Allies), the new aircraft proved popular with its pilots, being unusually well-armed and armoured, and the type was at least a match for opposing American fighters. Its armament (of four 12.7-mm machine-guns) proved inadequate to knock down enemy bombers, however, and the Ki- 61-I KAIc was introduced with a pair of 20-mm cannon in the nose, these being replaced in a small number of Ki-61- I KAId fighters by two 30-mm cannon. The Ki-61- I and Ki-61-I KAI remained in production until 1945, but in 1944 they were joined in service by the Ki- 61-II with more powerful Kawasaki Ha- 140 engine (producing 1119-kW); with a top speed of 610km/h this would have been an excellent fighter but for constant engine problems; yet when fully serviceable the Ki-61-II was one of the few Japanese fighters fully able to combat the Boeing B-29 at its normal operating altitude, particularly when armed with four 20-mm cannon. Excluding prototypes and development aircraft, production totalled 1,380 Ki-61-Is, 1,274 Ki- 61-I KAIs and 374 Ki-61-Ils.

Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien / TONY

Specification 
 MODELKi-61-II KAIa
 CREW1
 ENGINE1 x Kawasaki Ha-140, 1125kW
 WEIGHTS
  Take-off weight3780-3825 kg8334 - 8433 lb
  Empty weight2840 kg6261 lb
 DIMENSIONS
  Wingspan12 m39 ft 4 in
  Length9.16 m30 ft 1 in
  Height3.7 m12 ft 2 in
  Wing area20 m2215.28 sq ft
 PERFORMANCE
  Max. speed610 km/h379 mph
  Cruise speed400 km/h249 mph
  Ceiling11000 m36100 ft
  Range w/max.fuel1600 km994 miles
  Range w/max payload1100 km684 miles
 ARMAMENT2 x 20mm cannons, 2 x 12.7mm machine-guns, 2 x 250kg bombs

3-View 
Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien / TONYA three-view drawing (1650 x 1183)

Comments1-20 21-40 41-60
Ron, e-mail, 22.08.2010 07:42

Aaron,
I certainly appreciate the info you find and share with us. I notice in the comparison you posted, the US fighters are much later models than the Ki 61-I which took air supremacy from the P-40E (it's contemporary) when it entered service with the IJAAF in early 1943. It was better than other Japanese fighters in armor and dive at the time. I read somewhere once that the Tony could out-roll US Navy fighters. Now I hold that suspect. If it was true, perhaps only to the left. I wish I could read that report in detail. In fact you add much in the way of facts to many fighters on this virtual museum. Wish I could find all of your sources, not just this Tony.

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Mark, 26.05.2010 11:04

Can we cut out the politics and just see comments on the plane - Chinese! PO! 14 /06 /2009

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michael petersen, e-mail, 25.08.2010 22:44

hi i am building a model and i am going to fly it wing span is 1830 long great isnt it.

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Steve Tullius, e-mail, 13.03.2010 06:50

Hello,
I came across this site looking for information on the captured TONY at yontan , Okinawa. My father was stationed there and i am looking for information on that aircraft that flew in after the capture of the airstrip. Thanks if you can help

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TERENCE ENRIGHT, e-mail, 14.02.2010 21:21

FINALLY GOT MY EMAIL RIGHT SOMETIMES IT SAYS .COM AND SOMETIMES .NET OK ONE LAST TIME TEPE88@VERIZON.NET IS THE RIGHT ONE FORGIVE ME AS I AM AN OLD MAN AND COMPUTERS ARE A BUNCH OF JUNK I STILL WOULD LIKE TO GO BACK TO TWO CANS AND A STRING FOR COMMUNICATION

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marg enright, e-mail, 11.02.2010 18:17

correcting the email again. hope its right THIS time. terry enright at tepe88verizon.net, me at neelford@yahoo.com if anyone would like first hand knowledge of this plane. also, still looking for location of the particular plane that he was working on. we heard it made it back to the states. but the trail went cold. any info appreciated. thanks.

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marg enright, e-mail, 11.02.2010 18:05

correcting my dads email. tepe88@verizon.com he was one of the mechanics in New Guinea that was to rebuild this shot down /abandoned plane to fly back to the United States for evaluation. He has detailed pics including insignias that modelers have been asking about.

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tony, e-mail, 05.11.2009 20:38

was it a good plane beter than the zero!

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marg enright, e-mail, 02.10.2009 20:59

hi,wanted to update my dads email. he worked on this in the south pacific and we have detailed pics, including the insignia under the window, which seems to be unclarifiyed in previous posts. there are other sites, mainly model builders, that want the real info...we have origninal pics which we would love to send to anyone interested. we have been looking for the location of this plane for maybe 30 years. anyone with info??? please post to tepe88@verizon.net or neelford@yahoo.com thanks very much.

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TERENCE ENRIGHT, e-mail, 15.08.2009 01:53

I WOULD LIKE SOMEONE TO CONTACT ME REGUARDING THE CAPE GLOUSTER TONY FIGHTER AS I MAY HAVE INFORMATION AS I WAS ONE OF THE FOUR GUYS THAT GOT THE PLANE AT THE CAPE I HAVE PRIVATE PHOTOS ANYONE WHO WANTS COPIES SHOULD CONTACT ME AT MY EMAIL AND THEY CAN THEM HAVE FOR FREE

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CHINESE, 14.06.2009 19:44

THE CHINESES WAGED THE BATTLES TO DESTROY THE EVIL FORCE OF THE JAPS!

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CHINESE-PILOT, 08.04.2009 17:36

CHINESE Ki-61 AFTER THE WW2:
hk.myblog.yahoo.com /jw!owWqfLiRGBJbisRWdd0UJtGfMNc- /article?mid=4970

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Hiroyuki Takeuchi, e-mail, 30.01.2009 05:09

Correction in subtype description which is probably based on the widely spread Francillion data.

Ki61I-ko(a) 2X7.7mm 2X12.7mm
Ki61I-otsu(b) 4X12.7mm
Ki61I-hei(c) 2X12.7mm (nose) 2X20mm (MG151 /20 imported by submarine from Germany)
Ki61I-tei(d) 2X20mm Ho-5 nose guns 2X12.7mm wing guns (also called Ki61I-kai, this had a longer fuselage and additional fuselage tank).

The Ki61 was an exceptionally sturdy aircraft. I have read ex-pilot's accounts of this aircraft attaining over 550mph IAS in dives and pulling out.

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Chinese-pilot, 29.12.2008 12:18

Hien means "Flying Swallow"(­¸¿P) in Japanese and Chinese. It also joined the Chinese Airforce after the WW2.

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Mick Dunne, e-mail, 23.11.2008 08:27

The Japanese armaments planning was generally excellent! They certainly started the war with the Best Navy in the world and were no slouches at producing fine aircraft either! However, Kawasaki should NEVER have stuffed around with the German engine...BIG mistake!
The Hein was an EXCELLENT fighter...ask the Australian and US pilots who had to fight little suckers!

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Jabo, e-mail, 02.07.2008 23:50

I find it interesting how there was insufficent planning of armaments by the japanese to result in an airplane of this nature. Further it was read once where Japan had a multitude of various caliber guns on there warships instead of a standard type.I just wonder why.

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