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National Archives. Via j-aircraft.com |
U.S. Army. Via ibiblio.org |
Mitsubishi Ki-46-II "Dinah"
|
Crew |
2 |
|
Dimensions |
48’3” by 36’1”
by
12’9” 14.71m by 11.0m by 3.89m |
| Wing area | 344
square feet 32.0 square meters |
|
Weight |
7450–11,000 lbs 3379-4990 kg |
|
Maximum speed |
375 mph at 19,030 feet 604 km/h at 5800 meters |
| Cruise speed | 249
mph at 13,125 feet 401 km/h at 4000 meters |
|
Climb rate |
33 feet per second 10.1 meters per second |
|
Service ceiling |
35,170 feet 10,720 meters |
| 2 1055 hp (787 kW) Mitsubishi Ha-102 14-cylinder two-row radial engines, driving constant speed three blade metal propellers. | |
|
Armament |
1 7.7mm Type 89 machine gun in rear cockpit |
|
Range |
1537 miles 2474 km |
| Fuel |
442 gallons 1675 liters |
| 1742 at Mitsubishi Jukogyo
K.K. from March 1941: 34 Ki-46-I (1939 to 1940) 1093 Ki-46-II (1940 to 1944) 2 Ki-46-III prototypes (1942) 609 Ki-46-III including fighter conversions (1942 to 1945) 4 Ki-46-IV prototypes (1943 to 1944) |
|
|
Variants |
The Ki-46-I used
two 870 hp (549 kW) Mitsubishi Ha-26-1
engines. The Ki-46-III was
unarmed, used two 1500 hp (1188 kW) Ha-112-II
engines,
which increased the maximum speed to 391 mph (630 km/h). Increase of
the fuel capacity to 500 gallons (1895 liters) increased the range of
2485 miles. The Model Ki-46-III KAI was a night fighter with a crew of 3 armed with two 20mm Ho-5 cannon fixed in the nose and a 37mm Ho-204 firing at 30 degrees from the top of the fuselage. |
The Ki-46 "Dinah" was an excellent
reconnaissance aircraft, capable
of flying high and fast. It was exceedingly difficult for Allied
aircraft to intercept, and it was highly reliable and popular with its pilots.
The design went back to 1937, when the Japanese
Army began developing specifications for Mitsubishi for a
reconnaissance aircraft to replace the Ki-15
"Babs". The new aircraft was to combine high altitude performance
to avoid interception with a long range to operate across the vastness
of the Japanese Empire. The design team under Kubo Tomio called upon
the University of Tokyo to help develop close-fitting cowlings for the
engines and fully retractable landing gear. The wings had a thin
section and the fuselage was narrow, with a central fuel tank, giving
the aircraft some of the finest lines of any aircraft deployed during
the war. Extensive wind tunnel tests were carried out to reduce drag to
an absolute minimum. As a result, the prototype did not fly until late
November 1939. The Army was enthusiastic in spite of the initial
failure of the design to meet the speed specification. A switch to the
Ha-102 engine solved the performance problem, and the aircraft went
into production in March 1941.
"Dinahs" carried out unauthorized overflights of Malaya before war broke out, photographing possible landing beaches. A small number were acquired by the Navy, which used them to reconnoiter Darwin from bases on Timor. The Germans were interested in building their own version, but the Japanese demurred on supplying plans.
Just as U.S.
Army P-38Fs began to
inflict serious losses on the "Dinah" squadrons, the Army authorized
production of the Ki-46-III with more powerful Ha-112 engines. The new
engines and the introduction of a streamlined canopy increased the
maximum speed to 404 mph (650 km/h). Range was maintained by adding
another fuel tank in front of the pilot for a total of 500 gallons
(1895 liters). The new model was once again almost invulnerable to
interception, remaining so until the last months of the war, when
improved Allied radar and fighter performance and lack of
skilled Japanese aircrew
caused losses to soar again.
Starting in September 1944, a number of Ki-46-IIIs were converted to night fighters, which had the performance to intercept B-29s but were handicapped by a lack of radar.
References
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