Talk:Kawasaki Ki-61/@comment-107.184.201.220-20170326041316

The Ki 61-I Tony was a hot rendition of the Bf 109F and the MC.202. The Ki 61-II was a good looking Oriental take on the Bf 109G, MC.205, G.55 and Re.2005. Unfortunately, the Tony was too unreliable, mostly because of the lightened inline engine. Rejection levels were so high and losses on non-combat flights were higher. It's shocking! The potential was so promising. No other Japanese fighter did better up high when the Ki 61-II worked right! It reportedly did more than it's share of damage against B-29s too.

But really, the more reliable Ki 100 Tony should have been fielded 2 years earlier than it was. The Germans beefed up their DB 601 to improve reliability. The Japanese did the opposite! This was not the place for them to save weight on Kawasaki's licensed production version. Reliable radials like the mid-war 1500 hp Ha-112-II was Japan's forte (Ki 46). But inline engines, not so much.

Another missed opportunity was the MG 151/20. The best 20mm cannon of the Axis that no synchronized Japanese 20mm could match for RoF. And you guessed it, Kawasaki used the MG 151/20s in the wings instead! Then they put the super fast Ho-5s in the cowl decking at a miserable 400 r/m reduced RoF. On the plus side, it's range wasn't limited by wing convergence. Instead of copying the Browning, why not build the Luftwaffe MG 151/20 under license? At least 4 (Ho-103, Ho-3, Ho-5 and 13.2mm Type 3) different major Japanese guns were Browning-based designs. For a country where every fighter had synchronized guns at some point, it would seem this choice was an unnecessary handicap: Perhaps a 60% Browning reduction penalty vs 10% for their Axis partner's MG 151/20! Go figure! Was it the electric firing solenoid in the tropics? If that was a problem, they could even copy the Russian UBS. Anything but the Browning!

The Ki 61-I had such good handling, it put the Messerschmitt and Macchi to shame. It had long legs at the same time. The Tony was one of the more robust fighters in Japan too. It wouldn't lose wings in a dive like the Bf 109, or spin out of an accelerated stall turn like the Folgore. However, the high flying Ki 61-II weighed so much, it was getting more like an American fighter but with thicker armor (up to 16mm).