Ki-27 “Nate”, Japanese Fighter

Nakajima Ki-27 “Nate”

 Specifications:

"Nate" was the standard Japanese Army fighter at the time of Pearl Harbor, though it was slated to be replaced by the Oscar. It was the chief fighter in use in China and Burma early in the war. The Allies in Burma initially gave it the code name "Abdul" before it was realized that this was the same aircraft.

The design came out of a failed bid by Nakajima to fill an Army requirement in 1934. Nakajima decided to take their data from the competition and design an advanced monoplane fighter as a private venture. (There were rumors that the Army  tipped the company off to an upcoming call for designs and provided them with the specification requirements.) The prototype first flew on 15 October 1936 and did well in competitive Army trials. When the Japanese Army Air Force found itself lagging behind the Navy at the start of the "China Incident" in 1937, the opportunity was taken to put the "Nate" into immediate production. The aircraft entered combat in March 1938 and quickly won air superiority over northern China. It did less well at Nomonhan, where it proved superior to the Russian I-15 but not the I-16.

A peculiarity of the design was that the guns were mounted in the cockpit floor and fired from beneath the engine. The Aldis gun sight was awkward to use and hindered the pilot's situational awareness.

Though possibly the most maneuverable fighter ever built, "Nate" was not particularly fast, was grossly undergunned, and was as fragile as most other Japanese fighters. It was particularly prone to vibration, engine stalling, and even breaking up if dove too steeply for too long. This made it relatively easy prey for Chennault’s Flying Tigers, who flew P-40Es and had been trained in hit-and-run tactics. The aircraft was relegated to second-line and training duty as quickly as it could be replaced by better designs, such as the Ki-43 "Oscar", but production continued in Manchuria for the puppet air force. Second-line Nates of 5 Air Regiment were the chief air defense against the Doolittle raid, but were unable to inflict significant damage on the raiders.

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References

Francillon (1979)

"Handbook on Japanese Military Forces" (1944-9-15; accessed 2012-11-23)

Millman (2013)

The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016 by Kent G. Budge. Index

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