- Tachikawa Ki-55
Infobox Aircraft
name=Tachikawa Ki-55
caption=
type=Military AdvancedTraining aircraft
manufacturer=Tachikawa Aircraft Company Ltd
designer=
first flight= September 1939
introduced=
retired= 1945 (Japan) 1953 (China)
status=
primary user=Imperial Japanese Army Air Force
more users=Royal Thai Air Force
produced= 1940 - 1943
number built=1,389
unit cost=
developed from=Tachikawa Ki-36 The Tachikawa Ki-55 was a Japanese advanced trainer.
Design and development
The excellent characteristics of the
Tachikawa Ki-36 made it potentially ideal as a trainer. This led to the development of the Ki-36 with a single machine-gun. After successful testing of a prototype in September 1939, the type was put into production as the Army Type 99 Advanced Trainer.In all 1,389 were constructed before production ended in December 1943 with Tachikawa having built 1078 and Kawasaki 311.
Both the Ki-55 and the Ki-36 were given the Allied codename 'Ida.'
Variant
* Ki-55 : Two-seat advanced trainer aircraft.
* Ki-72 : improved version. Not built.Operators
;China as ROC
*Chinese Nationalist Air Force operated captured aircraft.;JPN
*Imperial Japanese Army Air Force ;PRC
*Chinese Communist Air Force operated more than 30 captured aircraft at the end of1945 . These Ki-55s were used until the last 14 retired in1953 .;flag|Manchukuo
*Manshukoku Hombu ;THA
*Royal Thai Air Force Francillon also mentions deliverance to the Japanese satellite air force of Cochin China, which means present
Vietnam [Francillon 1979, p. 252.]pecifications (Ki-55)
aircraft specifications
plane or copter?= plane
jet or prop?= propref={Virtual Aviation Museum}
crew=2
capacity=
length main= 8.00m
length alt= 25ft 3in
span main= 11.80m
span alt= 38ft 8.5in
height main= 3.64m
height alt= 11ft 11.25in
area main= 20m²
area alt= 215.29ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 1,292kg
empty weight alt= 2,847lb
loaded weight main= kg
loaded weight alt= lb
useful load main= kg
useful load alt= kg
max takeoff weight main= 1,721kg
max takeoff weight alt= 3,793lb
more general=engine (prop)=Hitachi Ha-13a 9-cylinder radial
type of prop=2
number of props=1
power main= 380kW
power alt= 510hp
power original=max speed main= 348km/h
max speed alt= knots, 216mph
cruise speed main= 235km/h
cruise speed alt= knots, 146mph
stall speed main= km/h
stall speed alt= knots, mph
never exceed speed main= km/h
never exceed speed alt= knots, mph
range main= 1,060km
range alt= nm, 659mi
ceiling main= 8,150m
ceiling alt= 26,740ft
climb rate main= m/s
climb rate alt= ft/min
loading main= kg/m²
loading alt= lb/ft²
thrust/weight=
power/mass main= W/kg
power/mass alt= hp/lb
more performance=armament=one fixed, forward-firing 7.7mm (0.303in) machine-gun
avionics=ee also
aircontent
sequence=
related=*
Tachikawa Ki-36 lists=
*List of military aircraft of Japan References
Notes
Bibliography
* Francillon, René J. "Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War". London: Putnam Aeronautical, 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6. (new edition 1987. ISBN 0-85177-801-1.)
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