kawasaki ki-66 and their variants

[airman]

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_kawasaki_ki-66.html

It was a dive bomber and there was a fighter variant kawasaki ki-66 II

If anyone have more of this .... :

 

[blackkite]

Hi! Ki-66 pictures.

Type : Dive bomber
Armament : 2 x 12,7mm Ho-103 MG, 2 x 7,7mm Type 89 MG, 500kg bombload
Engine : 2 x Nakajima Ha-115 14-cyl radial 1360hp each
Weight : Empty 4100kg - Take off 5750kg
Crew : 2
Maximum Speed : 535km/h
Year of construction : 1942
Quantity : 6
User : The IJA
Manufacturer : Kawasaki Kokuki Kogyo KK

http://japaneseaircraft.devhub.com/blog/775633-kawasaki-ki-66/

 

[T-50]

Hi ackkite san
this aircraft is a real Kawasaki produckt,it shares many features with its stable mates as the ki-45 Toryu and the ki-96 and ki-102 Randy
I believe they build only one proto type but im not sure.
Its a nice looking aircraft but as dive bomber ? no it looks for me to large to serve as a swift dive bomber.
I personally prefere this role to the Kawanishi Judy ore Aichi D3A Vall,maybe the ki-66 was a better scout or B-29 destroyer
friendly greetings
T-50

 

[Apophenia]

... I believe they build only one proto type but im not sure...

There were six Ki-66 prototypes. Does anyone know if the Ki-66-Ic prototype was a Ki-66a conversion like the Ki-66-Ib?

 

[blackkite]

Hi ackkite san
this aircraft is a real Kawasaki produckt,it shares many features with its stable mates as the ki-45 Toryu and the ki-96 and ki-102 Randy
I believe they build only one proto type but im not sure.
Its a nice looking aircraft but as dive bomber ? no it looks for me to large to serve as a swift dive bomber.
I personally prefere this role to the Kawanishi Judy ore Aichi D3A Vall,maybe the ki-66 was a better scout or B-29 destroyer
friendly greetings
T-50

T-50 san!
Thanks for your attension and sharp opinion as usual.

 

[blackkite]

... I believe they build only one proto type but im not sure...

There were six Ki-66 prototypes. Does anyone know if the Ki-66-Ic prototype was a Ki-66a conversion like the Ki-66-Ib?

What a detailed and high class question.
The IJA did not satisfy the maximum speed of Ki-66(535km/h), because it’s only 40km/h faster than existing 99-shiki-1(Ki-48) twin engine light bomber. So Ki-66-Ⅱ, which had HA-315(take off power : 1360hp), estimated maximum speed 600km/h(6000m), was planned. The design of Ki-66-Ⅱ, which had nose Ho-5 cannon, began in April in1944, 3 prototypes were planned to manufacture. But at the time, Ki-48-Ⅱotsu, which had dive brake, was completed, marked 50 degree dive, satisfied the IJA’s requirement. The IJA decided to terminate the development of Ki-66-Ⅰ and Ki-66-Ⅱ in October 1944.
Source : All the Experimental Aircraft in Japanese Army by Minoru Akimoto

 

[hesham]

In my files,

Between October 1942 and April 1943, 6 prototypes of the basic Ki-66-Ia
(also known as Model 1A or Ichi Gata Ko) were built. The test flight program
went smoothly and showed that the aircraft met the Army's requirements and
was ready to be put into series production. However, it did not happen
because it turned out that the Ki-66-Ia had performance only slightly better
than the currently produced Ki-48-II variant with the same engines. When the
Ki-48-II was additionally fitted with Ki-66 air brakes, both aircraft became practically equivalent. The Ki-48-IIb, modified in this way, soon took over the
tasks for which the Army had initially ordered the new Ki-66.

One Ki-66-Ia was soon rebuilt into the Ki-66-Ib (Model 1B, Ichi Gata Otsu)
version, featuring more powerful 14-cylinder Nakajima Ha-315-I radial
engines of 1,000 kW (1,360 hp) each. A Ki-66-Ic (Model 1C, Ichi Gata Hei)
version with 1,544 kW (2,100 hp) Nakajima Ha-39 engines and a Ki-66-Id
(Model 1D, Ichi Gata Tei) with 1,397 kW (1,900 hp) Nakajima Ha-45 engines
were also planned, but neither of these NS1-2 projects were expected to be implemented. Similarly, only a preliminary design of a heavy fighter aircraft,
the Ki-66-II (Model 2, Ni Gata), remained on the drawing boards, planned
to be powered by two Nakajima Ha-315-II engines of 1,000 kW (1,360 hp)
each. In October 1943, Koku Hombu ordered Kawasaki to abandon all work
on the Ki-66 and concentrate its efforts on developing single- and twin-engine modern fighter aircraft.

 

[blackkite]

Hi! Large images.
Source : Japanese wikipedia.

 

[blackkite]

As the Pacific War passed its mid-point and approached its final stage, Japan's defeat became more and more likely. In order to develop and put into practical use a cutting-edge aircraft that would help revive the empire in its difficult situation, Japan's proud technical team put all their wisdom and manufacturing know-how into it and did their utmost. In the 11th episode, we will look at the Ki-66, a "hidden superior aircraft" that the Japanese Army requested to be developed as a twin-engine dive bomber, influenced by the success of German dive bombers.

Inspired by the success of the German Junkers Ju87 Stuka dive bomber, which excelled in pinpoint bombing, and the twin-engine Ju88 bomber, which was capable of slow dive bombing and imported by the Navy, the Japanese Army had been paying attention to dive bombers for some time. So in September 1941, just before the outbreak of the Pacific War, they requested Kawasaki Aircraft to develop a twin-engine dive bomber.

Kawasaki Aircraft accepted this request and began designing it under the direction of engineer Takeo Doi, who had designed the excellent Type 99 twin-engine light bomber. The aircraft, called the Ki-66, had external features such as lattice-shaped dive brakes on the undersides of both wings and bombs were carried in a bomb bay under the fuselage rather than on the outside. However, the overall design was similar to the successful Type 99 twin-engine light bomber. It had a bomb load of 300-500 kg, two 12.7 mm machine guns in the nose and two 7.7 mm machine guns in the rear gun turret. It had a maximum speed of 535 km/h and a crew of two.

The first prototype was completed in November 1942 after the outbreak of the Pacific War, and flight tests began in February 1943. Although the overall flight performance was very good, the Army requested that the maximum speed be increased even further. However, Kawasaki Aircraft at that time could not afford to meet this request due to the wartime production increase system of existing models. Meanwhile, when they installed dive brakes on the Type 99 twin-engine light bomber, it was confirmed that it could handle dive bombing attacks, although not completely. In light of the wartime situation in which all aircraft production was tight, opinions were heard even within the Army that there was no need to bother building the Ki-66, and in the end, the aircraft was not adopted. Due to these circumstances, the actual number of aircraft produced was only six, including the prototype and the additional prototype. However, since it could have been converted into an excellent low-altitude attack aircraft, if Japan had had the spare capacity in its aircraft production capacity at the time and this aircraft had been produced, it is believed that it would have achieved a reasonable result.