FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

Due to reliability issues with their water-cooled V-12 engine, Kawasaki modified the Ki-61-II to accept a Mitsubishi radial. Serendipity! The new engine created what was arguably the best fighter produced by the Japanese during the war. It was easily as good as the Grumman Hellcat, Republic Thunderbolt, and North American Mustang. Unfortunately, it's also another case of too little, too late. Only 378 Ki-100s were made before the war ended. In fact, the Allies didn't even bother assigning it a code name. The plane shown is here is the Ki-100-I, but Kawasaki did manage to make 3 Ki-100-II models that had a turbocharger for better high altitude performance (where the B-29s lived). Here's a short video clip of me flying a Ki-100 against some Grumman F6F Hellcats in Combat Flight Simulator.

KAWASAKI Ki-100-I Type 5

 

 

 Class: Fighter

 Crew: 1

 Engine: Kawasaki Ha-140 V-12 (1,500 hp)

 Max Speed: 360 mph at 19,700 ft

 Climb Rate:  2,733 ft/min

 Service Ceiling: 36,100 ft

 Range: 1,367 miles

 Armament:  2 x 20 mm cannon

                        2 x .50 inch machine guns

                   

 

  Model Scale:  1:87



















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