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 co-operation aircraft of World War II. It was a two-seat, low-wing monoplane with a single piston engine and fixed, tailwheel-type undercarriage.

Design and development

The prototype, fitted with a 450 hp (336 kW) 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 Ki-36 had been built (Tachikawa 862 and Kawasaki 472).[1]

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 thereafter redeployed to the safer theater 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.[2]

Variants

  • Ki-55 : Two-seat advanced trainer version.
  • Ki-72 : An evolved version with a 600-hp (447-kW) Hitachi Ha-38 engine and retractable undercarriage. Not built.

Operators

Tachikawa Ki-36 trainer at the Royal Thai Air Force Museum.
 People's Republic of China
 Indonesia
 Japan
 Thailand

Specifications (Ki-36)

Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War;[2] The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II[3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: two
  • 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: 1 × Hitachi Army Type 98 Ha-13a nine cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 380kW (510hp)

Performance

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.

See also

Related development

Related lists

References

Citations

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.
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