Tachikawa Ki-54

Ki-54
Tachikawa Ki-54
General information
TypeTwin-engine advanced crew trainer
ManufacturerTachikawa Aircraft Company Ltd
Designer
Shinjiro Shinagawa
Primary userImperial Japanese Army Air Force
Number built1,368
History
Manufactured1941-1945
Introduction date1941
First flightSummer 1940
Retired1945 (Japan)
1952 (China)

The Tachikawa Ki-54 was a Japanese, twin-engine advanced trainer used during World War II. The aircraft was named Hickory by the Allies.

History

The Ki-54 was developed in response to an Imperial Japanese Army requirement for a twin-engine advanced trainer, principally for crew training. The prototype first flew in the summer of 1940 and, on completing trials, entered production in 1941 as Army Type 1 Advanced Trainer Model A (Ki-54a). The Ki-54a was soon followed by the Ki-54b as Army Type 1 Operations Trainer Model B and Ki-54c as Army Type 1 Transport Model C. The Ki-54b and -c enjoyed successful careers until the end of the war. A few captured aircraft were flown after the war by various users.

Operators

 Japan
Manchukuo
China-Nanjing
 China
 China
  • People's Liberation Army Air Force Communist Chinese (captured): Four captured Ki-54s were used, including in 1951 to train the first class of female pilots in China. They were retired in 1952.
French Indochina
United Kingdom

Variants

  • Ki-54a - unarmed pilot trainer
  • Ki-54b - armed crew trainer
  • Ki-54c - eight-passenger light transport, communications aircraft. Civil designation Y-59.
  • Ki-54d - maritime reconnaissance/ASW, carried 8x 60-kg (132-lb) depth charges
  • Ki-110 - one prototype Ki-54c of all-wood construction, destroyed in US bombing attack
  • Ki-111 - projected fuel tanker (none built)
  • Ki-114 - projected fuel tanker of all-wood construction (none built)

Surviving aircraft

  • A Ki-54 fuselage is in Australia in storage at the Australian War Museum Annex. It was previously part of a playground at the RAAF Fairbairn base kindergarten.[2][3]
  • Another Ki-54 fuselage is stored in China at the Chinese Aviation Museum.[4]
  • A nearly intact Ki-54 is proposed to be restored by Tachichi Holdings, the successor to the aircraft's manufacturer. It was found at the bottom of Lake Towada in Aomori Prefecture on 13 August 2010 and recovered on 5 September 2012.[5] It was preserved for display at the Misawa Aviation & Science Museum in the damaged state it was found.[6] It remained at that museum until 2020 when it was given to Tachichi Holdings for a proposed restoration. The aircraft was briefly on display in 2022 in Tokyo in the same condition as it was in Misawa.[7]

Specifications (Ki-54c light transport)

Data from The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II;[8] Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War[9]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Capacity: 8
  • Length: 11.94 m (39 ft 2 in)
  • Wingspan: 17.9 m (58 ft 9 in)
  • Height: 3.58 m (11 ft 9 in)
  • Wing area: 40 m2 (430 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 2,954 kg (6,512 lb)
  • Gross weight: 3,897 kg (8,591 lb)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Hitachi Ha13a (Army Type 98 450hp Air Cooled Radial) 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 380 kW (510 hp) each for take-off
350 kW (470 hp) at 1,700 m (5,600 ft)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed metal propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 375 km/h (233 mph, 202 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 240 km/h (150 mph, 130 kn)
  • Range: 960 km (600 mi, 520 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 7,180 m (23,560 ft)
  • Wing loading: 97.4 kg/m2 (19.9 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 0.195 kW/kg (0.119 hp/lb)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

  1. ^ Thomas, Andy (July 2008). "Vietnam Prelude". FlyPast (324). Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing: 70–71.
  2. ^ "Anyone got pics of the AWM Ki-54?". Warbirdz Aviation Photography. Archived from the original on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Tachikawa Ki-54c 'Hickory' fuselage: 10th Independent Air Brigade, Imperial Japanese Army Air Force". awm.gov.au. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  4. ^ "Aircraft database". LPH2O. April 3, 2016.
  5. ^ "旧陸軍の練習機69年ぶり地上に、青森・十和田湖で引き揚げ" [Former Army training aircraft pulled out of lake for the first time in 69 years] (in Japanese). September 5, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  6. ^ "旧陸軍練習機、十和田湖で発見…戦時中に墜落". Yomiuri Online (in Japanese). August 13, 2010. Archived from the original on August 16, 2010.
  7. ^ Kusumoto, Hana (21 October 2022). "See rare example of a WWII Japanese trainer aircraft this month in western Tokyo". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  8. ^ Mondey 1996, p. ?.
  9. ^ Francillon 1979, p. 256.

Bibliography

  • Francillon, René J. (1979). Japanese aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-30251-6. OCLC 6124909. (new edition 1987 by Putnam Aeronautical Books, ISBN 0-85177-801-1.)
  • Mondey, David (1996). The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II. New York: Bounty Books. ISBN 1-85152-966-7.
  • Soumille, Jean-Claude (September 1999). "Les avions japonais aux coleurs françaises" [Japanese Aircraft in French Colors]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et Son Histoire (in French) (78): 6–17. ISSN 1243-8650.
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