FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The Mitsubishi Ki-51 (allied code name "Sonia") was the last of the single engine light bombers developed by Japan and used in World War II. It was developed for the Imperial Japanese Army to replace the  the Ki-30. It followed the same design formula - monoplane, fixed landing gear, and top speed of 263 mph. In essence, the Ki-51 is a smaller version of the Ki-30. It was no faster than its predecessor and its bomb payload and range was no greater, either. The main advantages of the Ki-51 was its maneuverability and ruggedness (by Japanese standards). It was used effectively as a ground attack aircraft, light bomber and dive bomber. It even served as a photo reconnaissance aircraft. It could operate from rough airfields and was mainly deployed in the Burma-India-China theater from 1940-45 where it encountered less fighter resistance. Early models had two wing-mount, 30-caliber machine guns, but these were replaced with a pair of 50-caliber guns to increase firepower for the ground attack role. As the war came to a close, many Ki-51s were used for kamikaze missions. Mitsubishi produced 1,462 Ki-51s and 913 were produced by Tachikawa. Here's a 30-second clip of me flying a Ki-54 in Combat Flight Simulator 2.

MITSUBISHI Ki-51 Type 99 "Sonia"

 

 

 Class: Light Bomber

 Crew: 2

 Engine: Mitsubishi Ha-26-II 14-cylinder, twin row radial (950 hp)

 Max Speed: 263 mph at 9,840 ft

 Climb Rate: 1,640 ft/min

 Service Ceiling: 27,133 ft

 Range: 660 miles

 Armament: 1 x .303 inch machine gun (flexible mount rear-firing)
                       2 x .303 inch machine gun (wing mount - early versions)
                       2 x .50 inch machine gun (wing mount - late versions)
                       440 lb bombload

 

  Model Scale:  1:100



















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