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Mansyū Ki-116
The Ki-116 was the last tested variant of the Ki-84 aircraft. It was created to replace the unreliable but powerful Nakajima Ha-45 engine with the proven but weaker Mitsubishi Ha-112 engine.The Ki-116 was built at the Manchuria Airplane Manufacturing Company (Mansyū) in 1945.
History
Mansyū’s production facilities produced Ki-84 aircraft under license, which was not successful due to problems with the supply of engines to them. The Nakajima Homare Model Ha-45 aircraft engine that powered the Ki-84 was a very good engine by Japanese standards, but it was very expensive and became more and more faulty as the war progressed. The Japanese Air Force Command noticed this problem and ordered the Mansyū plant in March 1945 to install a Mitsubishi Ha-112-II engine in the Ki-84. The Japanese had already done a similar operation, but with the Ki-61 fighter, creating the Ki-100 fighter. The plant had an easier task because they were already producing Ha-112-II engines for the Ki-46-III aircraft, so it was decided to simplify the transfer as much as possible, they simply took the engine along with the rest of the propulsion components from the Ki-46-III aircraft.The new aircraft was designated Ki-116 and was based on Prototype 4 produced at the Mansyū factory. The old engine was discarded and replaced with a new engine taken from one of the Ki-46-IIIs. The engine was mounted together with the propeller shaft and the three-bladed propeller of the Ki-46-III.The Ha-112-II engine was 490 hp weaker than the Ha-45 engine, so it was decided to reduce the weight of the aircraft as much as possible. We managed to reduce it by 450 kg.Due to the fact that the ha-112-II engine weighs 150 kg less than the previous engine, the engine mount has been modified to make it 20 cm more forward. This ensured that the structure was in place. The aircraft was ready at the end of July 1945 and flight tests began immediately. The performance turned out to be very satisfactory, and the reduction in weight had a positive effect on flight characteristics (it handled corners better and performed better during take-off and landing). Unfortunately, on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union, in violation of the non-aggression treaty and without declaring war, launched a surprise invasion of Japanese Manchuria. Due to the rapid advance of Soviet troops, it was decided to destroy all prototypes (Ki-116 and Ki-98) and all the documentation they had. This is how the story of this very interesting aircraft ends.
Structure description
The Ki-116 was structurally based on the Ki-84 ko. The only design changes are:
- Replacement of the Ha-45 engine with the Ha-112-II engine
- Application of the propeller shaft and propeller from the Ki-46-III aircraft (the propeller radius is 2,950 m)
- Modified engine mount to be 20 centimeters further forward
- Weight reduction of 450kg
- Slight enlargement of the vertical stabilizer.
Due to the lower weight, the specific wing load was reduced from 185 kg/m2 to between 154 kg/m2 and 166 kg/m2, which improved the aircraft’s flight capabilities.
General Characteristics
- Crew: One
- Length: 9.92 m (32 ft 7 in)
- Wingspan: 11.238 m (36 ft 10 in)
- Height: 3.38 m (11 ft 1 in) or 3.45 m (11ft 4 in)
- Wing area: 21 m2 (230 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 2,240 kg (4,938 lb) or 2,200 (4850 lb)
- Gross weight: 3,192 kg (7,039lb) or 3,250 kg (7165 lb) or 3,500 kg (7716 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Mitsubishi Ha-112-II 14-cylinder two row air-cooledradial engine, 1,120 kW (1,500 hp) at take off
- Propellers: three-blade propeller metal propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 619 km/h (384 mph, 334 kn)
- Range: ?
- Service ceiling: 10,104m (33149ft)
- Wing loading: between 154 kg/m2 to 166 kg/m2 (between 35.12 lb/ft2 to 33,99 lb/ft2)
Armament
- 2 × 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Ho-103 machine guns in nose, 350 rounds/gun
- 2 × 20 mm (0.787 in) Ho-5 cannon in wings, 150 shells/cannon
- bombs: ?
Summary
The Mansyū Ki-116 is a very interesting prototype that was great for the game as a new add-on. With reduced wing pressure, it would be more maneuverable than the other Ki-84s, and would still provide the devastating power of its armament. He would love to see more interesting prototypes for Japan, and the Ki-116 is one of them. I encourage you to discuss in the comments and share your own knowledge about the Ki-116.
Finally, I apologize for the linguistic and logical errors because unfortunately English is not my main language and I had to use google translator.
Internet Sources
Nakajima Ki-116 - Wikipedia
Mansyū Ki-116 / キ116试作战斗机 : Manshu (armedconflicts.com)
ki84 (fc2.com)
四式戦闘機 - Wikipedia
Nakajima Ki-116 － Japanese Last Test Fighter - Passed for Consideration - War Thunder - Official Forum
Уголок неба ¦ Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (airwar.ru)
Book Sources
- Kagero - Monografie No18 - Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate , Leszek A. Wieliczko ,Edition 1 2005,
Kagero - Monografie No18 - Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate | PDF (scribd.com)