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Ki-43 Hayabusa "Oscar" prototype(s)?


gingerbob

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Hi all,

 

It occurred to me in the last couple of days, partly because I just (finally) got Hasegawa's A6M prototype kit, that I couldn't remember seeing a photo of "the" Ki-43 prototype.  A little web searching turned up none (I'm sure they're there, somewhere...) but did educate me a bit on the type's somewhat painful development.

 

I'm obviously not a hard-core Japanese aircraft student, or I wouldn't be asking: Can anyone point me in a particular direction for some photos and other information on the first Hayabusas?

 

Thanks,

bob

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Bob,

 

You would think a prototype would have been photographed, but all I could find on the 'net was a  link to a profile drawing that I have posted below. In Maru Mechanic 45, which I have, there is a large color profile of the prototype as well as a photo of what I presume to be a full-sized mockup of the prototype. Kagero did a monograph on the Ki-43 fairly recently, but I don't have it, and their references are pretty pricey- especially if you are looking for just one photo! Nothing in Francillon's Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, either. Sorry, this is the best I can do- maybe Nick Millman could help you. The prototype had a short, humped canopy with a lot of framing.

Mike

 

http://i.imgur.com/g63XQQ8.png

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5 hours ago, 72modeler said:

Bob,

 

You would think a prototype would have been photographed, but all I could find on the 'net was a  link to a profile drawing that I have posted below. In Maru Mechanic 45, which I have, there is a large color profile of the prototype as well as a photo of what I presume to be a full-sized mockup of the prototype. Kagero did a monograph on the Ki-43 fairly recently, but I don't have it, and their references are pretty pricey- especially if you are looking for just one photo! Nothing in Francillon's Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, either. Sorry, this is the best I can do- maybe Nick Millman could help you. The prototype had a short, humped canopy with a lot of framing.

Mike

 

http://i.imgur.com/g63XQQ8.png

The best reference on my shelves is Air International magazine Volume 18 no.1 (January 1980) which has a photo of the mock-up for the prototype which looks like a match for the top drawing in that link. From the description the second drawing down is probably the 2nd or 3rd prototype although the revised canopy isn't actually mentioned until the description of the pre-production version.

 

4 hours ago, dogsbody said:

There are a couple of grainy pictures on Page 5 of this:

 

http://www.boxartden.com/gallery/index.php/Profiles/Osprey-Aircam-Aviation-Series/13-Nakajima-Ki-43-Hayabusa

 

 

 

Chris

As far as I can tell from the Air International article those are pre-production aircraft which are considerably different from the protoypes with a redesigned rear fuselage and tail surfaces. The lower picture is the final pre-production example which was virtually the same as early production examples.

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The first prototype of the K-43 (c/n 4301) was completed in 1938 and followed by the two further prototypes (c/n 4302 and 4303) in the next year.   The configuration of these aircraft were a bit different from that of the later version but the prototypes were modified and brought to the same configuration of the Service trial (pre-production) aircraft (c/n 4304 - 4313).  There is no photo of the first three prototypes in the original configulation, but two photos of the modified third prototype appears on page 22 of the Koku-Fan Famous Airplane No. 65, along with a photo of the 9th Service trial aircraft (c/n 4312) after belly landing.

 

Here are two photos of the 9th Service trial aircraft that I found on the net.

y118a.jpg

y120.jpg

 

Jun in Tokyo

https://www.flickr.com/photos/horaburo/albums

Edited by Junchan
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