World War II Database

1.  Bill says:
29 Jul 2011 09:26:39 PM

Ki-44-II Tojo's assigned to the 47th Sentai
unit was formed on October 3, 1942, and later
disbanded at war's end in August 1945.

Fighters are in natural metal w/no camouflage
each sentai had its own color of blue, red,
and yellow. This unit also operated Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate, some Ki-44s and Ki-84s were camouflaged in green with a wide white band around the fuselage and wings, centered with the Hinomaru, others were left in natural metal.

2.  Bill says:
29 Jul 2011 10:05:53 PM

Air field Battalions of the IJAAF were not part of air units, which had its own repair and maintenance companies, they were trained to service a particular aircraft.

Supplies of fuel, bombs and ammunition were held at the airfields.
If an air unit was using an airfield for any length of time, its ground personnel would transfer, and service the aircraft.
Combat damage and repairs could be made if necessary, in the field with equipment on hand, but most of the time aircraft would be repaired at maintenance centers if possible.

3.  Bill says:
6 Nov 2011 08:37:36 AM

The Ki-44 was a hot ship to fly, young pilots
with less than 800hrs had a difficult time in
handling the fighter.
Nevertheless, inexperienced pilots with about
100hrs, found themselves flying the Ki-44 new pilots could not fly the fighter, until they flew several training flights in the Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate",Type 97 training plane and the Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar",Type 1 fighter

After WWII the Ki-44s in Japan were scrapped
some were used for technical evaluation and study.
The US captured Ki-44s and tests were carried
out by TAIU-SWPA Clark Field, Philippine Is.
June 1945.
Besides the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force
a small number were supplied to Manchukuo.
Other surviving Ki-44s were used by both the
Nationalist Chinese and the Communist Chinese
PLAAF until retired in the 1950s. No known
Ki-44 "Tojo" survives today.

4. Randy says:
13 Dec 2011 09:44:16 PM

I think the inexperienced pilots had trouble with take-offs and landing the plane. They couldn't see because of the long nose.

While this was an "Army" plane, not used by the IJN or navy, the *** . did have mixed airfields with army and navy planes flying out of them, as times became more desperate and they were forced to retreat. It was not uncommon for army mechanics to work on Zeros. I just read this yesterday.

5.  Bill says:
28 Dec 2011 05:10:15 PM

ALL TOGETHER NOW:

During WWII and for the war effort neither the Imperial Army or Navy cooperated with the other. The Army and Navy aircraft used different electrical systems, different service tools, support equipment even down to the hardware of nuts and bolts.

IF MINE DOESN'T FIT, NEITHER WILL YOURS:

It must have been real chaos in the field that operated both Army and Navy aircraft. The mechanics must have been real masters at their trade to keep all the aircraft serviceable.

THE NAVY'S BETTER THAN THE ARMY'S:

Both the Japanese Army and the Navy had its own aircraft factories all machine tools used at the factories,were leased from each service, each side kept its developments secret from one another, each had their own factory and field service representives.
The Navy's A6M Zero was superior to the Army's Ki-43 Hayabusa, and their was little standardization between the two fighters.
The inter-service fighting was so bad, that when the Japanese developed their own(IFF) Identification Friend or Foe System, Army operators on Iwo Jima in 1944 couldn't identfy Japanese Naval aircraft as friendly.

6. Ron says:
3 Jan 2016 12:28:50 AM

This unsung fighter deserves more press.
It was the only reliable fighter that wasn't obsolete and in some quantity for the last half of WW2.
It was better in the vertical plane than the horizontal. A P-51B could turn inside it.
I like the Shoki with the 4 high velocity Ho-3 cannons for tackling B-29s. It was at it's altitude limit to intercept the high-flying B-29s and it did so. Ho-3s were slow 20mm cannons in RoF but packed a punch! I don't know how many of those saw action. I know the low velocity 40mm cannon was often replaced in the field for the 20mm. The Shoki had the best accuracy of all Japanese fighters if I'm not mistaken.
It had excellent dive too, maybe better than the Ki 84. Chenault thought it was the best fighter in China when it debuted.
Most were armed with 4 fast 12.7mm Ho-103 HMGs with a denser pattern of fire, good for dogfighting.
Pilots who excelled in the faster Shoki were mostly unspoiled by the tight turning Ki 43. Those that were, didn't like the change for the most part. Pilots that appreciated it's superb climb used it to good effect. It was considered as a good match for the P-38, and the Spitfire to a large degree. I think it was more at home in the tropics than the unreliable Ki 61. The Shoki should have been much more produced. If Nakajima had stopped making Mitsubishi Zeros when it became obsolete, it could have made enough of it;s own Ki 44s to meet the B-29 threat in real force of numbers in time. The same goes for the obsolete Ki 43.
The Ki 61 needed to stay in Japan with the best mechanics and temperate climate. A priority production of the Ki 44 could have picked up the slack everywhere, including Japan. Use bigger drop tanks to give it the required range.

Then of course there is the mysterious Ki 44-III that climbed like a rocket but was not produced.
It had more wing area, more firepower and about 2,000 hp. It was a promising contender but was aced out by the excellent if unreliable Ki 84.