|
The Mitsubishi Ki-51 (Army designation "Type 99 Assault Plane". Allied nickname "Sonia") was a light bomber/dive bomber in service with the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It first flew in mid-1939. Initially deployed against Chinese forces, it proved to be too slow to hold up against the fighter aircraft of the other Allied powers. However, it performed a useful ground-attack role in the China-Burma-India theater, notably from airfields too rough for many other aircraft. As the war drew to a close, they began to be used in ''kamikaze'' attacks. Total production was around 2,385 units. On the day Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb, two Ki-51s scored the last Japanese sinking of a US warship, sinking with all hands. Charles Lindbergh, flying a P-38 Lightning shot down a Ki-51 after a vigorous dogfight in which the much slower Ki-51 utilized its low speed maneuverability and made a fight of it. ==Versions== * Prototypes: two built * Service trials: 11 built * Ki-51: 2,372 built (Manufacturers: Mitsubishi (1,462), Tachikawa Army Air Arsenal (913)) * Mansyu Ki-71: three prototypes of a tactical reconnaissance variant built by Mansyu with a retractable landing gear, did not enter production. * Reconnaissance Version Ki-51A * Assault Version Ki-51B. The assault version had armor plating protecting the pilot and oil tanks, and bomb racks to carry 441 lbs of bombs. This version could be modified in the field to carry an aerial camera. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mitsubishi Ki-51」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|