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The Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (キ84 疾風, lit. "Gale") is a single-seat fighter flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in the last two years of World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Frank"; the Japanese Army designation was Army Type 4 Fighter (四式戦闘機, yon-shiki-sentō-ki). The Ki-84 is generally considered the best Japanese fighter to operate in large numbers during the conflict. The aircraft boasted high speed and excellent maneuverability with an armament (up to two 30 mm and two 20 mm cannon) that gave it formidable firepower.[2][3] The Ki-84's performance matched that of any single-engine Allied fighter it faced, and its operational ceiling enabled it to intercept high-flying B-29 Superfortress bombers.[4] Pilots and crews in the field learned to take care with the plane's high-maintenance Nakajima Homare engine and a landing gear prone to buckling.[4] The difficulties of Japan's situation late in the war took a toll on the aircraft's field performance as manufacturing defects multiplied, good quality fuel proved difficult to procure, and experienced pilots grew scarce. Nevertheless, a well-maintained Ki-84 was Japan's fastest fighter. A total of 3,514 aircraft were built.[2]

Ki-84 Hayate
Role Fighter
National origin Japan
Manufacturer Nakajima Aircraft Company
First flight February 1943
Introduction June 1944
Retired September 1945
Status Retired
Primary user Imperial Japanese Army Air Force
Number built 3,514[1]
Variants Nakajima Ki-116

Design and development


Prototype Nakajima Ki-84 with unique exhaust stack, similar to a Ki-43's
Prototype Nakajima Ki-84 with unique exhaust stack, similar to a Ki-43's

Design of the Ki-84 commenced in early 1942 to meet an Imperial Japanese Army Air Service requirement for a replacement to Nakajima's own, earlier Ki-43 fighter, then just entering service. The specification recognized the need to combine the maneuverability of the Ki-43 with performance to match the best western fighters, and heavy firepower.[5] The Ki-84 first flew in March 1943[6] and deliveries from Nakajima's Ota factory commenced the following month.[7] Although the design was itself solid, growing difficulties in securing skilled pilots, proper fuel and construction materials, and adequate manufacture often prevented the aircraft from reaching its full potential in the field.

The design of the Ki-84 addressed the most common complaints about the popular and highly maneuverable Ki-43: insufficient firepower, poor defensive armor, and lack of climbing speed. The Ki-84 was a cantilever low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction, except for the fabric-covered control surfaces, with conventional landing gear.[8] Armament comprised two fuselage-mounted, synchronized 12.7 mm (.50 in) machine guns — these proved challenging to synchronize properly with the Hayate's four-blade propeller — and two wing-mounted 20 mm cannon, a considerable improvement over the two 12.7 mm (.50 in) machine guns used in the Ki-43 Hayabusa. Defensive armor offered Hayate pilots better protection than the unsealed wing tanks and light-alloy airframe of the Ki-43. In addition, the Ki-84 used a 65 mm (2.56 in) armor-glass canopy, 13 mm (.51 in) of head and back armor, and multiple bulkheads in the fuselage, which protected both the methanol-water tank (used to increase the effectiveness of the supercharger) and the centrally located fuel tank.

It was the Nakajima firm's own-designed 35.8-litre (2,180 cu in) displacement, Ha-45 Homare ("Praise" or "Honor") air-cooled eighteen-cylinder radial engine, first accepted for military use in 1941, that gave the Hayate its high speed and prowess in combat. Derived from the Nakajima Homare engines common to many Japanese aircraft, the Hayate used the Homare 21 direct-injection version of the engine, using water injection to aid the supercharger in giving the Ki-84 a rated 1,491 kW (2,000 hp) at takeoff. This combination theoretically gave it a climb rate and top speed roughly competitive with the top Allied fighters. Initial Hayate testing at Tachikawa in early summer 1943 saw test pilot Lieutenant Funabashi reach a maximum level airspeed of 624 km/h (387 mph) in the second prototype. In 1946, US Technical Intelligence tested a Homare Model 21-engined Hayate and achieved a speed of 687 km/h (427 mph) at 20,000 feet using 92 octane AvGas, plus methanol injection.[9]

The complicated direct-injection engine was a compact design (only 3 cm (1.18 in) larger in diameter than the Ki-43's 27.9 litres (1,700 cu in) 14-cylinder Nakajima Sakae radial) that required a great deal of care in construction and maintenance and it became increasingly difficult to maintain the type's designed performance as the Allies advanced toward the Japanese homeland. To compound reliability problems, the Allied submarine blockade prevented delivery of crucial components, such as the landing gear. Many landing gear units were compromised by the poor-quality heat treatment of late-war Japanese steel. As a result, many Hayates suffered strut collapses on landing. Further damage was caused by inadequately trained late war pilots, who sometimes found it difficult to transition to the relatively "hot" Ki-84 from the comparatively docile Ki-43, which had a significantly lower landing speed.


Operational service


The first major operational involvement was during the battle of Leyte at the end of 1944, and from that moment until the end of the Pacific war the Ki-84 was deployed wherever the action was intense.[8] The 22nd Sentai re-equipped with production Hayates. Though it lacked sufficient high-altitude performance, it performed well at medium and low levels. Seeing action against the USAAF 14th Air Force, it quickly gained a reputation as a combat aircraft to be reckoned with. Fighter-bomber models also entered service. On April 15, 1945, 11 Hayates attacked US airfields on Okinawa, destroying many aircraft on the ground.

In the final year of the war the Ki-84, the Ki-100 (essentially a radial-engined version of the inline-powered Kawasaki Ki-61) and Kawanishi's N1K2-J were the three Japanese fighters best suited to combat the newer Allied fighters.


Variants


The Tachikawa Ki-106, a deriative of the Ki-84
The Tachikawa Ki-106, a deriative of the Ki-84

Production


Ki-84 Production: Ota and Utsunomiya, Nakajima Hikoki K.K.[10]
Year
Jan.Feb.Mar.Apr.MayJuneJulyAug.Sept.Oct.Nov.Dec.Annual
1943 11311824
1944 9252597861381451212613013233731,904
1945 357129216185198168194481,485
Total 3,413

Not included:

Total Production
According to USSBS Report: 3,413[10] Figure includes: 3,413 Ki 84-I and Ki-84 II builds.
According to Francillon: 3,514[1] Figure includes: 3,509 Ki 84-I and Ki-84 II builds, with 1 Ki-106, 1 Ki-113, 3 Ki-106 prototypes.

Operators


Wartime

 Japan

Post-war

 People's Republic of China
 China
 Indonesia

Surviving aircraft


After the war a number of aircraft were tested by the allied forces, two at the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit - South-West Pacific Area (ATAIU-SWPA) as S10 and S17 and a further two in the United States as FE-301 and FE-302 (Later T2-301 and T2-302).[citation needed]

One example captured at Clark Field during 1945, serial number 1446, was transported aboard the USS Long Island aircraft carrier to the United States. In 1952 it was sold off as surplus to Edward Maloney, owner of the Ontario Air Museum (Planes of Fame Air Museum) and restored to flying condition before being returned to Japan for display at the Arashiyama Museum in Kyoto in 1973. With unsupervised access allowed to the aircraft, parts were stolen from the Ki-84, and coupled with the years of neglect it could no longer fly. Following the museum's closure in 1991, the aircraft was transferred to the Tokko Heiwa Kinen-kan Museum, Kagoshima Prefecture, where it still is displayed to this day. It is the only surviving Ki-84.[12][13]




Specifications (Ki-84-Ia)


3-view drawing of Nakajima ki-84
3-view drawing of Nakajima ki-84

Data from Report on Frank 1 [9]

General characteristics

Performance

18.29 m/s (3,600 ft/min) at 3,050 m (10,007 ft)

Armament


See also


Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists


References



Notes



    Citations


    1. Francillon, 1979, p. 238
    2. Glancey 2006, p. 174.
    3. Ethell 1995, p. 103.
    4. Ethell 1995, p. 102.
    5. Air International & Volume 10 No. 1, pp. 22–29, 43–46.
    6. Green 1961, p. 79.
    7. USSBS, 1947, p. 78
    8. Mondey 1996, p. 230.
    9. Archives of M. Williams, TAIC 156A-1, Report on Frank 1
    10. USSBS, Appendix M., p. 40–42
    11. Bueschel 1971, p. 52.
    12. Chiran Peace Museum, Hayate Exhibition Room
    13. Pacific Wrecks, JAAF Unknown Sentai, Ki-84-I Ko

    Bibliography




    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate.

    На других языках

    [de] Nakajima Ki-84

    Die Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (jap. .mw-parser-output .Hani{font-size:110%}四式戦闘機「疾風」, Yon-shiki sentōki „Hayate“, dt. Jagdflugzeug Typ 4 Sturmwind), alliierter Codename: Frank, war im letzten Jahr des Pazifikkrieges das leistungsfähigste Jagdflugzeug der japanischen Heeresluftwaffe. Wie die von Nakajima hergestellten Vorgängermodelle war auch die Ki-84 ein freitragender Ganzmetall-Tiefdecker mit Einziehfahrwerk und luftgekühltem Sternmotor.
    - [en] Nakajima Ki-84

    [fr] Nakajima Ki-84

    Le Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (キ 84 疾風 "Ouragan") était un chasseur monoplace piloté par le Service aérien impérial japonais au cours des deux dernières années de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le nom de code que lui donnèrent les Alliés était « Frank » ; la désignation de l'armée japonaise était chasseur de l'Armée Type 4, (四式戦闘機 (yon shiki sentō ki)). Le Ki-84 est considéré comme le meilleur chasseur japonais à combattre lors d'une opération à grande échelle pendant le conflit. L'avion était doté de vitesses élevées, d'une excellente manœuvrabilité, et d'un armement (jusqu'à deux canons de 30 mm et deux canons de 20 mm) qui lui conférait une formidable puissance de feu. La performance du Ki-84 correspond à celle de tout chasseur allié monomoteur auquel il a fait face, tandis que son plafond opérationnel lui permettait d'intercepter des bombardiers B-29 Superfortress de haute altitude. La situation défavorable du Japon à la fin de la guerre a fortement nui aux performances globales de l'avion, les défauts de fabrication se multipliant, le carburant de qualité se révélant difficile à se procurer et les pilotes expérimentés se raréfiant. Au total, 3 514 avions ont été construits

    [it] Nakajima Ki-84

    Il Nakajima Ki-84 (中島 キ84 Nakajima ki hachijūyon?) identificato anche come Aereo da caccia Tipo 4 (四式戦闘機 Yon-shiki sentōki?) e con il nome popolare Hayate (疾風? "uragano"), nome di identificazione alleato: Frank[2] era un monomotore da caccia ad ala bassa sviluppato dall'azienda aeronautica giapponese Nakajima Hikōki KK nei primi anni quaranta e prodotto, oltre che dalla stessa, dalla Manshūkoku Hikōki Seizo, nel Manciukuò (territorio cinese occupato).

    [ru] Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate

    Обозначение японского истребителя Frank, следует другое обозначение советского истребителя Як-9.


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