The Kawasaki Ki-96 was a Japanese single seat, twin-engine
heavy fighter
A heavy fighter is an historic category of fighter aircraft produced in the 1930s and 1940s, designed to carry heavier weapons or operate at longer ranges than light fighter aircraft. To achieve performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engine ...
of World War II. It was intended to replace the
Kawasaki Ki-45s of the
Imperial Japanese Army Air Service
The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ) was the Military aviation, aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground ...
. However, it was not adopted, and only three
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
s were built.
Design and development
The success of the
Kawasaki Ki-45 led Kawasaki to start development of an evolved version, on Kawasaki's own authority, in August 1942.
Like the Ki-45, the proposed design was a two-seat, twin-engine fighter but larger and using more powerful engines. In December 1942, the ''Koku Hombu'' (
Imperial Japanese Army Aviation Bureau) showed interest but asked Kawasaki to complete the aircraft as single-seat fighters.
The first prototype, which was converted while being produced and which retained the larger
cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle.
The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...
canopy
Canopy may refer to:
Plants
* Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests)
* Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes
Religion and ceremonies
* Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
intended for the two-seater, flew in September 1943. The two remaining prototypes were built from the start as single-seaters and were fitted with a smaller canopy.
Despite demonstrating performance exceeding estimates and excellent handling, the Army's requirements had changed back to a two-seat fighter,
so further development of the Ki-96 was stopped. The wings and tail unit of the Ki-96 would however form part of the structure of the
Ki-102 two-seat fighter.
Specifications (Kawasaki Ki-96)
See also
References
Bibliography
* (new edition 1987 by Putnam Aeronautical Books, .)
*
*
External links
Century of Flight: Kawasaki Ki-96
{{Japanese Army Aircraft Designation System
Ki-096
Ki-096, Kawasaki
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1943
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft