Kawasaki Ki-28

The Kawasaki Ki-28 (キ28, Ki-Nijuhachi), World War II Allied reporting name "Bob",[1] was an experimental fighter aircraft designed for the Imperial Japanese Army and meant as a replacement for the Kawasaki Ki-10. It flew in 1936, but was never produced for actual use as the Army choose the Nakajima Ki-27.

Ki-28
The sole prototype of the Kawasaki Ki-28
Role Experimental Fighter Aircraft
Manufacturer Kawasaki Kōkūki Kōgyō K.K.
Designer Takeo Doi
First flight 1936
Primary user IJA Air Force
Number built 1

Design & Development

The Ki-28 was initially produced by Kawasaki Kōkūki Kōgyō K.K. in response to Japanese army specifications for a fighter to replace the existing Kawasaki Ki-10. In mid-1935, Kawasaki, Mitsubishi and Nakajima were instructed to build competitive prototypes. The Kawasaki design was based on its earlier, but unsuccessful Ki-5. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of all-metal construction, except for fabric-covered control surfaces, with a conventional tail unit, fixed tailskid landing gear and powered by a 596 kW (800 hp) Kawasaki Ha 9-II-Ko liquid-cooled inline V12 engine.[2]

Service trials proved that the Kawasaki Ki-28 was the fastest of the three contenders, but the Nakajima Ki-27 was by far the most maneuverable and had the lowest wing-loading, and on this basis was selected by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.[3] Despite losing to the Ki-27, the Ki-28 provided Kawasaki with valuable experience which would later help with development of the Kawasaki Ki-60 and Kawasaki Ki-61 fighters.[2]

Mistakenly believing the Ki-28 to have entered production in Japan as the Army Type 97 Fighter, the Allies assigned it the reporting name "Bob" during World War II.[1]

Operators

Military operators
 Japan
  • Imperial Japanese Army Air Force

Specifications

Data from Famous Aircraft of the World, no.76: Japanese Army Experimental Fighters (1)[4], Japanese Aircraft, 1910-1941[5]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 7.9 m (25 ft 11 in)
  • Wingspan: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
  • Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
  • Wing area: 19 m2 (200 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 1,420 kg (3,131 lb)
  • Gross weight: 1,760 kg (3,880 lb)
  • Powerplant: × Kawasaki Ha9-II-Ko V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 597 kW (801 hp)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller, 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) diameter

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 485 km/h (301 mph, 262 kn)
  • Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,000 ft)
  • Time to altitude: 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) in 5 minutes 10 seconds
  • Wing loading: 92.6 kg/m2 (19.0 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 0.33 kW/kg (0.20 hp/lb)

Armament

See also

Related lists

References
  1. Francillon, p. 566.
  2. Mikesh and ABe 1990, p. 157.
  3. Wieliczko and Szeremeta 2004, pp. 17–19.
  4. FAOW 1976, p. 2.
  5. Mikesh and Abe 1990, p. 158.

Further reading
  • Francillon, René J. Ph.D. (1979). Japanese aircraft of the Pacific War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-30251-6.
  • Mikesh, Robert C.; Shorzoe Abe (1990). Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-563-2.
  • Unknown Author(s). Famous Aircraft of the World, no.76: Japanese Army Experimental Fighters (1). Tokyo, Japan: Bunrin-Do Co. Ltd., August 1976.
  • Wieliczko, Leszek A. and Zygmunt Szeremeta. Nakajima Ki 27 Nate (bilingual Polish/English). Lublin, Poland: Kagero, 2004. ISBN 83-89088-51-7.
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