Tachikawa_Ki-36 Knowpia

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

Tachikawa Ki-36 trainer at the Royal Thai Air Force Museum.

People's Republic of China

Chinese Communist Air Force operated two captured aircraft postwar as trainers until their retirement in early 1950s.

Indonesia

Indonesian People's Security Force

Japan

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force

Thailand

Royal Thai Air Force

Specifications (Ki-36) edit

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

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 11.8 m (38 ft 9 in)
Height: 3.64 m (11 ft 11 in)
Wing area: 20 m² (220 sq ft)
Airfoil: root: NACA 23014; tip: NACA 23006^[4]
Empty weight: 1,247 kg (2,749 lb)
Gross weight: 1,660 kg (3,660 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Hitachi Ha13a (Army Type 98 450hp Air Cooled Radial) 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 380 kW (510 hp) for take-off

350 kW (470 hp) at 1,700 m (5,600 ft)

Performance

Maximum speed: 348 km/h (216 mph, 188 kn)
Cruise speed: 235 km/h (146 mph, 127 kn)
Range: 1,235 km (767 mi, 667 nmi)
Service ceiling: 8,150 m (26,740 ft)
Time to altitude: 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 6 minutes 39 seconds
Wing loading: 83 kg/m² (17 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 0.23 kW/kg (0.14 hp/lb)

Armament

Guns: one fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 89 machine gun, one flexible 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 89 machine gun in the rear cockpit.
Bombs: up to 350 kg (772 lb) external bombload

References edit

Citations edit

^ Francillon 1979, p. 254.
^ ^a ^b Francillon 1979, p. 253.
^ Mondey 1996, p. 246.
^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

Bibliography edit

Francillon, René J. (1979). Japanese aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-30251-6. OCLC 6124909. (new edition 1987 by Putnam Aeronautical Books, ISBN 0-85177-801-1.)
Mondey, David (1996). Axis aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor Press. ISBN 1-85152-966-7. OCLC 46705109.
Soumille, Jean-Claude (September 1999). "Les avions japonais aux coleurs françaises" [Japanese Aircraft in French Colors]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et Son Histoire (in French) (78): 6–17. ISSN 1243-8650.