Mitsubishi Ki-33

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Ki-33

Mitsubishi Ki-33

Type Experimental Fighter Aircraft
Manufacturer Mitsubishi
Designed by Jiro Horikoshi
Maiden flight 1936
Primary user IJA Air Force
Number built 2

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

Contents

[edit] Design & Development

The Ki-33 was initially produced by Mitsubishi in response to Japanese army specifications for a fighter aircraft to replace the existing Kawasaki Ki-10. In mid 1935 Kawasaki, Mitsubishi and Nakajima were instructed to build competitive prototypes. Mitsubishi, preoccupied with refining the Ka-14 fighter and 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 Mitsubishi Ki-18 design, with comparatively minor changes. Labeled the Mitsubishi Ki-33, the modified design was powered by a Nakajima Ha-l-Ko engine rated at 745 hp (560 kW) at 3700 meters. 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[1].


[edit] Operators

[edit] Military operators

Flag of Japan Japan

[edit] Specifications

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 7.54 meters (24 ft 9 in)
  • Wingspan: 11 meters (36.05 ft 0⅝in)
  • Height: 3.19 meters (10 ft 6 in)
  • Wing area: 17.80 m². (191.6 ft²)
  • Empty weight: 1,132 kg (2,496 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 1,462 kg (3,223 lb)
  • Powerplant:Nakajima Ha-1-Ko radial engine, 556 kW (745 hp)

Performance

Armament

[edit] See also

Related development

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Januszewski 2003, p. 11.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Januszewski, Tadeusz. Mitsubishi A5M Claude. Sandomierz, Poland/Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2003. ISBN 83-917178-0-1.
  • Mikesh, Robert. Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-563-2.

[edit] External links

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