Nakajima Ki-52

Very interesting. Thanks to your findings I've tried to do a comparison of the two aircraft in profile form at the same scale (see below), and they match almost perfectly (differences being in the engine, which is shorter on the Ki-52, the absence of tail-hook, the all-glazed rear-cockpit and the slightly different shape of the tail).
 

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Hi Guys

That is great. Thank you Stargazer and Justo. But is there proof and I still would like for someone to confirm this.

Cheers
Gerhard
 
Cannot read the Japanese text, but the picture on the page posted by Justo suggests,
that the landing gear doubled as dive break ? Read something like that before about at
least one other aircraft, but nevertheless it seems to indicate some kind of a make-shift type.
 
The SAAB 17 also used its landing gear as a dive brake.
 
Ah, yes, you're right, I think, that's the type, I've read about. But the Saab seems to have
quite strong fairings of the landing gear legs and I can imagine, that the wind loads on a dive
brake are quite severe.
 
The Ki-52 seems to lack landing gear covers completely <edit>it has small gear covers, but they extend sideways, not down</edit>. That should actually reduce aerodynamic forces on extended landing gear. In both designs, landing gear and gear actuators must be robustly made to avoid the landing gear being pushed back into the wings, or worse, torn off entirely.
 
Arjen said:
In both designs, landing gear and gear actuators must be robustly made to avoid the landing gear being pushed back into the wings, or worse, torn off entirely.
Click to expand...

And probably must be modified in a way, that enables them to be set at intermediate angles between retracted
and fully extended, I think ?
 
another drawing...

regards
 

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Jemiba said:
Arjen said:
In both designs, landing gear and gear actuators must be robustly made to avoid the landing gear being pushed back into the wings, or worse, torn off entirely.
Click to expand...

And probably must be modified in a way, that enables them to be set at intermediate angles between retracted
and fully extended, I think ?
Click to expand...
That looks sensible. It also illustrates that seemingly simple ideas sometimes cause all kinds of complications: using landing gear as dive brakes leads to bigger actuators, stronger mounting points, intermediate retraction angles and who-is-to-know-what-else.

Furthermore, I am happy to note 'SAAB 17' by Bo Widfeldt and Åke Hall attracted such an august reader as Justo, I had to read my copy with a dictionary nearby because my Swedish is sort of rudimentary.
 
As did the Corsair, too. Also I know of at least 2 large a/c that use only the main landing gear as speed brakes (while not dive brakes they serve the same purpose), the Grumman Gulfstream I & the DC-7.


Arjen said:
The SAAB 17 also used its landing gear as a dive brake.
Click to expand...
 
Just checked in both Putnam's 'japanese' books, and could find only one reference to the Ki-52, in 'Pacific War', on page 536, in the list of Kitai numbers :-


Ki-52 Nakajima Army Experimental Dive Bomber Project only


On the D3N1, it's mentioned in '1910-1941', on pp. 237-8, and has this to say :-
"..with a unique undercarriage design. The undercarriage rotated 90 degrees to rest flat against the bottom of the wing when retracted rearward. For the dive, it was to be extended with the wheel rotated 90 degrees to the line of flight to serve as a dive brake. During the development of the prototype the Navy changed it's required terminal dive speed from 240 to 200 kts. At this lower speed the drag of the undercarriage was insufficient and a pair of perforated spoilers were added beneath the wing to serve as dive brakes."


cheers,
Robin.
 
Guys

Have I stumbled upon a hoax? Is this plane real or fake?

Cheers
Gerhard
 
gerhard said:
Guys

Have I stumbled upon a hoax? Is this plane real or fake?

Cheers
Gerhard
Click to expand...
I have to say that looking at the page that it appears on, it seems to be some sort of dedication to manga style comics, and thus I would not personally trust the text in regards to the project. There was a definite project with the designation, but that, I think has been used to conjure up a new type for the purposes of the manga comic in my humble opinion. Similarly the dive brake mechanism shown in the illustration maybe something conjured up.
 

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