Kawasaki Ki-102 ("Randy") variants and Ki-108

[Winston]

Kawasaki Ki-108.


1. Dimensions of the 'capsule'.
2-3. Details.
4. The demise of one prototype.
5. Caption for number 4.


Source: Famous Airplanes of the World No.94, Japanese Army Experimental Fighters Part 2. Feb. 1978. Page 52, 66.

 

[blackkite]

KAWASAKI Ki-102 had following three variants.
(1) Ki-102 kou(甲) : High altitude interceptor, 25 aircrafts were completed.
(2) Ki-102 otsu(乙) : Attack aircraft, 215 aircrafts were completed.
(3) Ki-102 hei(丙) : Night fighter(Never completed, the first aircraft was destroyed by B-29 bombing)

 

[blackkite]

Hi!
Next pictures.
Kou and Hei had turbo chargers.
Hei had a independent canopy for radar operator.


3-side view source : ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JAPANESE AIRCRAFT 1900-1945 VOL 4 KAWASAKI, SHUPPAN-KYODO PUBLISHERS TOKYO, JAPAN

 

[Justo Miranda]

Hi

 

[Justo Miranda]

 

[blackkite]

Thanks Justo!
Turbo charger of Ki-102 kou did not work well as usual. 15 Kous delivered to the IJA, but they did not work. :'(
I think kou(甲) means almost letter A, otsu(乙) means almost letter B and hei(丙) means almost letter C.
甲, 乙 and 丙 has no special meaning.

 

[Justo Miranda]

RAAAAAM!

 

[alfakilo]

RAAAAAM!

Nice fictional cartoons!

By any chance, do you happen to have any non-fictional pictures of the B-29 attack that blew the one example of the Ki-102 night fighter to smithereens?

 

[blackkite]

RAAAAAM!

Hi Justo! Many thanks as usual.
I think it's Ki-108.

 

[foiling]

I hate to see any depictions of war, but: Great artwork in those illustrations, Justo.

 

[Justo Miranda]

I hate to see any depictions of war, but: Great artwork in those illustrations, Justo.

Many thanks !

 

[Justo Miranda]

Ki-108 info

 

[Stargazer]

Awesome, as usual... The Ki-108 is one of my favorite World War II designs.

Perhaps this topic could be renamed as "Kawasaki Ki-102 and Ki-108"? Just a thought.

 

[Justo Miranda]

Ki-108 in action!

 

[Justo Miranda]

Ki-108 in action!-2

 

[blackkite]

Thanks Justo!
Ki-108 No.1 and No.2 completed in 1944. But they had no turbochargers.
Ki-108 kai(modified Ki-108) completed in 1945, they had turbo chargers. But their performance was not satisfactory.
Test pilots spoke ill of Ki-108, because pressurized cockpit was very very hot. ;D

 

[Flitzer]

Really enjoying this thread.
Great illustrations to boot.


;D P

 

[blackkite]

Hi!
Vertical tail stabilizer shape of Ki-108 was different from Ki-108 kai's one.

 

[windswords]

This is one of my favorite Japanese aircraft (besides the Ki-84 ;D ). If it had good performance down low and the 57mm cannon was accurate then it would have made and excellent ground attack aircraft. I have not read that this type ever saw combat. Does anyone know if it saw any action in the closing days of WWII?

 

[Apteryx]

I have not read that this type ever saw combat. Does anyone know if it saw any action in the closing days of WWII?

My ancient copy of Fighters, Vol. 3 by William Green has this to say:

"The Kawaski Ki. 102b had one 57-mm and two 20-mm cannon, and during a trial flight at Tachikawa, one of the pre-production Ki.102b aircraft had an opportunity to demonstrate the potency of of its large calibre cannon when it shot the engine off a passing B-29 Superfortress with one shell."

 

[blackkite]

Ki-102 Otsu had the role to guard Japan from landing operation force of the U.S., but not only U.S. carrier fighters but also U.S. army's P-51 flew over Japanese sky, it's impossible to access U.S. landing operation force for Ki-102 Otsu.

 

[Maveric]

Great Justo, cool action... ;D

 

[blackkite]

Hi! Good Ki-108 three side view drawing and clear pictures.

http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/fww2/ki108/

https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/ww2planes/ww2-kawasaki/64014/view/kawasaki_ki-102_%28randy%29/

http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f/1042/65/0/3

 

[blackkite]

Ki-108 kai had larger wing span and longer length compared with Ki-108.
Vertical tail stabilizer shape of following three side view drawings are questionable.

全幅 : Wing span, 全長 : Overall length
キー１０８高高度戦闘機 : Ki-108 high altitude fighter
キー１０８改高高度戦闘機 : Modified Ki-108 high altitude fighter

襲撃機 : Raid aircraft, 甲 : Ko, 乙 : Otsu, 丙 : Hei, 発動機名称 : Engine name, ハ : HA, ル : RU, 自重 : Empty weight, 全備重量 : Gross weight,
砲 : Cannon, 爆弾 : Bomb

Source : ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JAPANESE AIRCRAFT VOL.4 KAWASAKI AIRCRAFT CONTENTS

 

[newsdeskdan]

Kawasaki Ki-108 original drawing. You can see why these only ever seem to appear in books and magazines as re-draws.

 

[windswords]

Someone with modern graphics program can take away all the smudges etc. Would love to see it like that.

 

[newsdeskdan]

Someone with modern graphics program can take away all the smudges etc. Would love to see it like that.

Maybe. I think it might need a full re-draw. Which is what's already been done in most cases it would seem. Someone prove me wrong!

 

[sienar]

Someone with modern graphics program can take away all the smudges etc. Would love to see it like that.

Its not that easy for something in this poor of shape. Lots of dodging and burning would have to be done by hand. This is the best I can do without resorting to a tablet.

 

[windswords]

Its not that easy for something in this poor of shape. Lots of dodging and burning would have to be done by hand. This is the best I can do without resorting to a tablet.

That's a great effort. I was hoping that with all the new software techniques to "de-blur" images etc. that there would also be the ability to remove the smudges. It is pretty amazing what they can do to images these days.

 

[sienar]

Its not that easy for something in this poor of shape. Lots of dodging and burning would have to be done by hand. This is the best I can do without resorting to a tablet.

That's a great effort. I was hoping that with all the new software techniques to "de-blur" images etc. that there would also be the ability to remove the smudges. It is pretty amazing what they can do to images these days.

The smudges are so great that the normal edge detection stuff I do doesn't really work. The area in the center is the problem and that would have to be cleaned up mostly by hand, which could be done but is tedious and time consuming.

 

[RAP]

My attempt. Still a ways to go.

 

[aim9xray]

Here's a different clean-up...but also a ways to go. Good job, RAP!

 

[hesham]

Very good.

 

[ACResearcher]

Nicely done, aim9. I've cleaned up literally dozens of similarly-obscured drawings and know how much work it is.

Keep up the good work!

AlanG

 

[aim9xray]

Thanks for the kind words. I have more than a few of these sort of things under my belt, though I find that cleanup is a bit more "fun" than a retrace. I rather like RAP's work; he was more confident than I was, as to what to remove, particularly with the fold lines.

I really like your work, too!

 

[newsdeskdan]

Well done. You have successfully unlocked level 2.

 

[windswords]

Well done. You have successfully unlocked level 2.

LOL! But seriously, you all have done really good work.

 

[athpilot]

Well done. You have successfully unlocked level 2.

I like the British humor! Btw. do you have any plans for Secret Japanese Projects (or so)?
Greetings

 

[newsdeskdan]

Well done. You have successfully unlocked level 2.

I like the British humor! Btw. do you have any plans for Secret Japanese Projects (or so)?
Greetings

No plans for anything on Japanese projects at present. I just find Japanese material from time to time.

 

[blackkite]

Hi!
I wonder what is this blog.

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