Tachikawa Ki-92

Ki-92
Role	Transport aircraft
Manufacturer	Tachikawa Hikōki KK
Designer	Shinjiro Shinagawa
First flight	April 1945
Primary user	Imperial Japanese Army Air Service
Number built	1

The Tachikawa Ki-92 was an experimental Japanese heavy transport aircraft of World War II. It was a low-wing monoplane with a pressurized fuselage, twin piston engines and a tailwheel undercarriage.

Development

In March 1942 the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service chose Tachikawa Aircraft Company to design and build a new heavy twin engine transport aircraft with a focus on increased range, power and speed to carry light tanks, field artillery and troops.

Shinjiro Shinagawa was in charge of the development and began work in March 1943 and had the first prototype completed by September 1944. Like Tachikawa's Ki-77 the aircraft featured a laminar flow airfoil. The Ki-92 also had a sealed cabin with double glazed windows seating 34 troops in 4 rows (including two emergency seats) to reduce the need for oxygen, and forced draught cooling in low drag engine nacelles. Due to various repairs and modifications, the first flight did not occur until April 1945. The test flight recorded a maximum speed of 426 km/h, but the Ki-92 was found to be dangerous to fly with the cargo door open at these speeds even though fuselage rigidity was not a problem.

Due to the deteriorating war situation and resulting reduction in priority for transport aircraft, of the three to 10 prototypes planned for, only one prototype and no production aircraft were built before the war ended. Orders included 114 constructed extensively from wood to conserve aluminium, though the Ki-92 prototype already featured a tail made from wood. Tachikawa had planned for their potential use as commercial transports during the design phase.

Allied intelligence organizations such as ATAIU SEA were unaware of the existence of the Ki-92 and did not assign a code name to it.

Operators

Japan

Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (Evaluation only)

Specifications (Tachikawa Ki-92)

Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War^[1]^{[page needed]}

General characteristics

Crew: 5
Capacity: 34 troops
Length: 22 m (72 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 32 m (105 ft 0 in)
Height: 5.95 m (19 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 122 m² (1,310 sq ft)
Empty weight: 11,175 kg (24,637 lb)
Gross weight: 17,600 kg (38,801 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Mitsubishi Ha104 (Army Type 4 1,900hp Air Cooled Radial) 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 1,390 kW (1,870 hp) each
Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed propellers

Performance

Maximum speed: 466 km/h (290 mph, 252 kn)
Range: 3,960–5,000 km (2,460–3,110 mi, 2,140–2,700 nmi) (estimated)
Service ceiling: 10,100 m (33,100 ft)
Time to altitude: 7,000 m (23,000 ft) in 18 minutes 20 seconds

Armament

Guns: 1x 12.7 mm (0.50 in) Ho-103 machine gun (not fitted to prototype)

References

Citations

^ Francillon, René J. (1979). Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Limited. ISBN 0 370 30251 6.

Bibliography

Francillon, René J. (1987). Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0870213137.
Nohara, Shigeru (1999). The XPlanes of Imperial Japanese Army & Navy 1924-45. Illustrated Warplane History 8. Green Arrow. ISBN 476633292X. (Japanese)
Picarella, Giuseppe (2012). Japanese Experimental Transport Aircraft of the Pacific War. MMPBooks. ISBN 978-8361421412.
Němeček, Václav (2000). "Tachikawa Ki-92". L+K. 10. archiv autora. (Czech)

[Francillon-1] Francillon, René J. (1979). Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Limited. ISBN 0 370 30251 6.

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