Author: qaz
About the Performance of Type 4 Fighter (Ki-84)
Update Jun 26 2024: some additional information and corrections to this article in Part 2: The performance of the Type 4 Fighter (project name ‘Ki-84’) is a bit of a can of worms, and a subject of frequent debate. This is due to a significant amount of differing data with varying credibility, and often a…
Ki-109 & the Ki-109-Mounted Cannon: Type 88, Not ‘Ho-501’
As the threat of strategic bombing loomed over Japan from the middle of the Pacific War, the development of effective extreme-caliber aircraft guns was expedited by the Japanese Army. New weapons with calibers ranging from 47 millimeters to as much as 150 millimeters were developed and were planned to be deployed on various interceptor platforms….
R2Y Keiun: Satisfactory… but the Engine Caught on Fire
At the outset of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the Japanese Navy’s Air Service assumed a leading role in the strategic bombardment of China with their modern force of attack planes. As the battle quickly advanced into the interior of the continent, the Navy developed a new requirement to maintain force projection: the need…
Kōgiken-IST Ne-130: Driven to Destruction After the War
On July 26th, 1944, the Japanese Navy submarine I-29 ‘Matsu’ was sunk by the USS Sawfish near the Philippines while en route to Kure. Onboard ‘Matsu’ were potentially instrumental materials about secret German aircraft technology. Of relevance, there were survey sketches and other data on the Messerschmitt Me 262 and Me 163 and actual examples…
Tanegashima’s Group: Birth of the Japanese Jet Engine
By the 1930s, the practical speed limit of piston-engined aircraft was being approached for the first time. Before a propeller-driven airplane can approach the speed of sound, there is a period where the blade tips must reach supersonic speed, resulting in massive turbulence and loss of efficiency. This effect imposes a rough ‘limit’ on the…
