Kawasaki Ki-88

Ki-88
The mock-up of the Kawasaki Ki-88 in 1943.
Role Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer Kawasaki Kōkūki Kōgyō K.K.
Primary user Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (intended)
Number built None


The Kawasaki Ki-88 was a proposed Japanese World War II fighter aircraft intended for use by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. Its anticipated performance was disappointing, and only a mock-up was completed.[1]

Design and development

Faced with delays in development of the Kawasaki Ki-64 fighter, the Imperial Japanese Army was open in 1942 to alternative fighter designs that might reach combat units more quickly.[2] Kawasaki proposed the Ki-88, a design inspired by the Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter then in service with the United States Army Air Forces.[1]

Kawasaki began design work on the Ki-88 in August 1942. The Ki-88 was to have a 1,117-kW (1,500-hp) Kawasaki Ha-140 engine behind its cockpit, driving a tractor propeller through an extension shaft. It was to mount a 37-mm cannon in its propeller shaft and two 20-mm cannon in its lower nose.[1]

When design work had progressed far enough to allow it, Kawasaki built a full-scale mock-up of the Ki-88, which bore a strong resemblance to the P-39. After inspection of the mockup, the Japanese calculated a maximum speed for the aircraft of 600 km/hr (373 mph) at an altitude of 6,000 m (19,685 feet). This was only slightly faster than the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien fighter, which already was in production. As a result, Kawasaki discontinued design work on the Ki-88 less than a year after beginning it.[1]

Specifications

Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War[1]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
Related lists

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Francillon, Rene J. (1979). Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 483. ISBN 0-87021-313-X.
  2. ↑ en.valka.cz Kawasaki Ki-88

Bibliography

  • Francillon, Rene J. (1979). Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 483. ISBN 0-87021-313-X.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kawasaki aircraft.