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Tachikawa Ki-74 (キ74)
The Tachikawa Ki-74 was a Japanese experimental reconnaissance and bomber aircraft with a huge range. It was developed thanks to technology taken from the Ki-77 aircraft. From 1944 to 1945, 14 or 16 Ki-74 aircraft were built.
History
In 1939, the Japanese army commissioned the Tachikawa company to work on a new long-range aircraft that was to conduct reconnaissance flights over the USSR. Design work began on an aircraft with a range of 5,000 km and a maximum speed of 450 km/h, and according to the plan, the first aircraft was to be ready in mid-1941. However, the army demanded that work on the Ki-74 be stopped until a very similar Ki-77 aircraft was developed. It was planned to use the technology and experience from the Ki-77 aircraft to use it in the Ki-74. The design work lasted until September 1942, when the project was accepted by the army. Three prototype machines were commissioned. The first prototype of the Ki-74 was ready in March 1944, and it made its first flight on May 25, 1944. The aircraft turned out to be quite a successful design with good flight characteristics. However, there were serious problems with the Mitsubishi Ha-211-I and Mitsubishi Ha-211-I Ru engines.These engines, although very powerful, often overheated and broke down. Despite problems with the engines, the army decided to order a series of 30 pre-serial machines, however, it was decided to replace the engines in these planes with weaker but proven Mitsubishi Ha-104Ru 2000 hp engines. By the end of the war, 11 or 13 more Ki-74s had been produced, including one machine with an increased range of 12,500 km.No Ki-74 was left, although there is information about a reconnaissance over Saipan. It was also planned to attack the Panama Canal using the Ki-74, but due to the insufficient bomb load, this plan was abandoned. Instead, it was decided to launch an attack on the B-29s that were stationed on Saipan, the date of the attack was supposed to be September 1, 1945, but due to the surrender of Japan, it was canceled.After the war, 3 Ki-74 planes were handed over to the Americans for testing, it is not known what happened to them later.
Structure description
By design, the Ki-74 was made with a center-mounted wing compared to the original design, which was a low-wing aircraft. The pressurized cabin was located at the front, and the pilot’s workstation with the canopy was moved half a meter to the left to ensure good visibility at take-off.The crew of the aircraft consisted of five people - pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, navigator, who also acts as a radio operator and gunner. Both pilots were accommodated in tandem one behind the other in the upper part of the cockpit, the bombardier was located in the nose of the aircraft, the navigator’s workplace was directly behind the cockpit, and the gunner was located behind the bomb bay in the lower part of the fuselage.Since the Ki-74 was to be used at high altitudes where the probability of interception was low, it was decided to use minimal defensive armament, consisting of only one 12.7 mm Ho-103 machine gun, which was located in the tail and was remotely controlled. In the folded position, the machine gun was protected by a fairing, which was torn off at the first shots. The machine gun gunner fired “by eye” through the glazing in a shelf in the lower part of the fuselage, just behind the bomb bay. Sector The lead was very limited - 30 degrees to the sides and ± 35 up/down. Probably the rifle was only intended to deter enemy fighters.The Ki-74 could take 1 ton of bombs to the bomb bay, including the volume of the bomb bay, the allowed tandem loading of two bombs weighing 500 kg or four weighing 250 kg or one weighing 800 kg, but it was also possible to hang a heavy Type 4 torpedo weighing 1200 kg.
General characteristics
- Crew: 5
- Capacity: 9,200 kg (20,300 lb)
- Length: 17.65 m (57 ft 11 in)
- Wingspan: 18.6 m (61 ft 0 in)
- Height: 5.1 m (16 ft 9 in)
- Wing area: 80 m2 (860 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 10,200 kg (22,487 lb)
- Gross weight: 19,400 kg (42,770 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Mitsubishi Ha104 Ruturbo-supercharged 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 1,500 kW (2,000 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 570 km/h (350 mph, 310 kn)
- Cruise speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn)
- Range: 8,000 km (5,000 mi, 4,300 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
- Wing loading: 242.5 kg/m2 (49.7 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.154 kW/kg (0.093 hp/lb; 0.206 hp/kg)
Armament
- 1 x 12.7 mm (500 rounds) Ho-103 machine gun
- Bombs: maximum 1000kg ( 4 x 250 kg , 2 x 500 kg , 1 x 800kg)
- Torpedoes: 1 x Type 4 aircraft torpedo
Summary
The Tachikawa Ki-74 would be a very interesting fast bomber operating at high altitudes. Although its payload is small, only 1000 kg, thanks to its speed it will be able to quickly attack bases and then quickly fly to replenish its payload. I encourage you to discuss in the comments and to share your own knowledge on this topic.
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
キ74 (航空機) - Wikipedia
Tachikawa Ki-74 - Wikipedia
Tachikawa Ki-74 (Pat / Patsy) Long-Range Reconnaissance Bomber (militaryfactory.com)
Tachikawa Ki-74 PATSY - bomber, reconnaissance (aviastar.org)
Tachikawa Ki-74 (Pat / Patsy): Photos, History, Specification
Tachikawa Ki-74 High altitude reconnaissance bomber (airpages.ru)
Tachikawa Ki.74 (Patsy) Info (daveswarbirds.com)
Tačikawa Ki 74 [Patsy] : Tačikawa / Išikawadžima (valka.cz)
Уголок неба ¦ Tachikawa Ki-74 (airwar.ru)
