Nakajima Oscar Ki-43 Hayabusa
Type: WWII Japanese fighters and fighter-bombers, plane of many aces.
History: Code-named Nakajima Oscar by the Allies, the Ki-43 Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon) was the most numerous of all Imperial Army warplanes and second only in numbers to the Zero-Sen.
Compared with the famed Navy fighter it was smaller, lighter and much cheaper to produce.
Formation of Nakajima Oscars in flight.
It was cast in the traditional Army mould in which everything was sacrificed for manoeuvrability, though the first prototype (designed by Hideo Itokawa to meet a 1938 Army contract which was simply awarded to Nakajima, without any industrial competition) was very heavy on the controls and disappointing. One prototype was even given fixed landing gear to save weight, but after many changes, and especially after adding a combat manoeuvre flap under the wings, the Nakajima Oscar was turned into a dogfighter that could outmanoeuvre every aircraft ever ranged against it.
Although the USAAF's P-40 Warhawk was technically superior to the Nakajima Oscar, it was often pilot skill that determined the victory in favour of the Japanese pilot in the early war years. Here, a Curtiss P-40 E falls victim to an Oscar air attack in the early months of 1942 over south-east Asia.
After a few had carelessly got in the way of Allied fighters the more powerful Oscar II appeared with some armour, self-sealing tanks and slightly reduced span.
Nakajima Ki-43 II Hayabusas on an Japanese airfield ready to launch.
The mass-produced clipped-wing Oscar IIb followed, serving in every Japanese battle. To the end, this nimble fighter remained totally deficient in firepower (except for the few examples of the Oscar IIIb at the end of the war), and owing to its very light structure often disintegrated when hit by 0.5in fire. On the other hand, most of Japan's Army aces gained nearly all their scores on this popular little fighter.
A Oscar in air combat, pictured from a USAAF B-24 Liberator bomber. Outstandingly manoeuvrable, it was severely deficient armament. Despite this, many Army aces gained most of their victories on the Ki-43, by accourate shooting - a quality shared by most of the top-scoring fighter pilots of all nations.
It was kept in production long after it was obsolete, 5,919 Oscars being delivered, including 2,629 by Tachikawa and 49 by the 1 st Arsenal.
Users: Japan (Imperial Army), Thailand, Manchukuo.
A Nakajima Ki-43 III Haybusa ist starting in the last part of WW2 from an airfield in south-east Asia.
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Nakajima
Ki-43 II Hayabusa
Nakajima Ki-43 I Hayabusa |
| Type |
fighter plane |
| Power plant |
one 975 hp Nakajima Ha-25 Sakae 14-cylinder two-row radial engine.
|
| Accommodation |
1 |
| Wing span |
37 ft 10.5 in |
| Length overall |
28 ft 11.75 in |
| Height overall |
10 ft 8.75 in |
| Weight empty |
4,354 lb |
| Weight normal loaded |
5,824 lb |
| Maximum speed |
308 mph |
| Climb rate (Oscar II) |
3,250 ft/min |
| Service ceiling |
38,500 ft |
| Range |
746 miles
(with drop tanks 1,864 miles) |
| Armament |
Two 7.7mm Type 80 machine guns [550 rpm, velocity 2,067 ft/sec] above the engine
|
| 66 lb bombs or two 45-gal drop tanks (from Oscar II on: wing racks for two 551 lb bombs) |
| First flight |
January 1939 (IIa February 1942, IIb June 1942, IIIa December 1944) |
Production delivery |
March 1941 |
| Final delivery (IIIb) |
August 1945
|
| Total production figure |
Total: 5.919 |
3d model Nakajima Oscar
Japanese pilots in front of one of their Nakajima Oscar.
An interesting photograph of a Ki-43-Ib Hayabusa, being refuelled from a bucket.
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