The Kawasaki Ki-100 'Type 5 Fighter' was probably the best Japanese fighter aircraft of WW2, the aircraft had been designed as the Kawasaki Ki-61 with a Kawasaki Ha-140 liquid-cooled inverted V12 engine, but war time supply shortages resulted in the fitting of a Mitsubishi Ha 112-II radial engine following a feasibility study based on an imported German Focke-Wulf Fw 190A, the resultant combination designated the Ki-100 was to prove highly outstanding and a suitable replacement for the virtually obsolete Zero. In combat during WWII the Kawasaki Ki-100 was to prove at least as fast as any of the American fighters it encountered and was more manoeuvrable than any of the Allied fighters in action in the Pacific theatre. fortunately for US and Allied pilots production of this excellent fighter was bought to a stand still due to the bombing of it's production facilities after only 99 examples of the advanced 'Type 5 Fighter' aircraft had been delivered. Kawasaki Ki-100-1a Specifications: - Crew: Pilot only
- Length: 8.82 m (28 ft 11 in)
- Wingspan: 10.48 m (34 ft 4 in)
- Height: 3.75 m (12 ft 4 in)
- Empty weight: 2,525 kg (5,567 lb)
- Loaded weight: 3,495 kg (7,705 lb)
- Engine: Single 1,119 kW (1,500 hp) Mitsubishi Ha 112-II radial engine
- Maximum speed: 580 km/h (360 mph)
- Range: 2,200 km (1,367 mi)
- Service ceiling: 36,090 feet (11,000 m)
- Rate of climb: 16.8 m/s (3,300 ft/min)
- Maximum dive speed: 850 km/h (528 mph)
Kawasaki Ki-100-1a Armament: - Twin 20 mm wing-mounted Ho-5 cannon
- Twin 12.7 mm nose-mounted Ho-103 machine guns
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