Imperial Japanese Army - Fighter Aircraft

[Ron]

It’s most curious to me that the Ki 27 is listed as a choice for votes but the Ki 44 is not. Why?
The Nate was whipped by Soviet I-16s. The A5M Claude did better for the Imperial Navy in that incident.
The Tojo on the other hand, was a good match against the US P-38.
Speaking of the A5M, where is the Jack and George in this site? No Imperial Navy fighter section (aside from a fleeting mention in the Zero article)?
Do you know where they can be found here?

[Ron]

@Uyraell

Main reason for continued production was that the Ki43 was relatively simple to manufacture.
It was obsolescent, but could be made in reasonably large numbers, at reasonable pace of manufacture.
Plainly, that over-ruled the disadvantages of weak armament.

As a matter of preference, for the poll, I’m evenly divided between the Ki100-II and the Ki84-II.

Regards, Uyraell.

If it took 25,000 man-hours to produce a Ki 43 Hayabusa, I’m not sure I agree with that part of your post. After studying the sample Fw 190A-5 they had in Japan, Nakajima got the production of the Ki 84 Hayate down to what, 15,000?!

[Ron]

@Uyraell

Main reason for continued production was that the Ki43 was relatively simple to manufacture.
It was obsolescent, but could be made in reasonably large numbers, at reasonable pace of manufacture.
Plainly, that over-ruled the disadvantages of weak armament.

As a matter of preference, for the poll, I’m evenly divided between the Ki100-II and the Ki84-II.

Regards, Uyraell.

If it took 25,000 man-hours to produce a Ki 43 Hayabusa, I’m not sure I agree with that part of your post. After studying the sample Fw 190A-5 they had in Japan, Nakajima got the production of the Ki 84 Hayate down to what, 15,000 hours each?!

[Ron]

I’m all for the Ki 44 in place or in addition to the Ki 27. I think the Shoki was a reliable fighter compared to those that followed it. Am I right? I know the Ki 44-III was dropped in favor of the promising Ki 84 but since the new fighter proved unreliable, maybe Nakajima should have hedged a bit longer with the Shoki. Or at least put the tried and true 1500 hp engine of the Ki 44 into the Ki 84 till the new 2,000 hp engine matured (ala the Soviet Yak-9U). The first Yak-9U production run was a success even though the more powerful unreliable engine wasn’t ready for service till later so they were powered by the reliable current engine and still had improved performance compared to say, the Yak-3 (420 mph vs 408)!

Does someone know how the P-38 compared to the Dragon Slayer?

[J.A.W]

Interesting the various planes that swapped around between liquid-cooled inline & aircooled radial mills, & the FW 190 went the opposite way [for the same reasons!] as the Ki 61.
Naturally the higher powered engines give better flight performance, but most do look sleeker with the inline mills, even the B17 fitted with Allisons.