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Ki-32
Light Bomber
Kawasaki

Ki-32

Ki-32 (Army Type 98) (Japanese キ 32), light all-metal single-engine bomber of the Imperial Japanese Land Forces. In the 1936 specification for a light bomber, it was supposed to develop a speed of 400 km / h at an altitude of 3000 m, climb to an altitude of 3000 m in 8 minutes, carry a bomb load in the range of 300-450 kg at a cruising speed of 300 km / h and have defensive armament, consisting of a course 7.7-mm machine gun and the same machine gun on a movable installation near the arrow. The desire of the army command to carry out dive bombing was especially noted.

Air-cooled engines Mitsubishi Ha-6 with a capacity of 825 hp were offered as a power plant. or Nakajima Ha-5 at 850 hp.

A batch of eight experimental Ki-32s was released and flown in March 1937, but the tests were accompanied by constant engine failures, which forced the crankshaft to be strengthened. During competitive tests with the Mitsubishi Ki-30, the Kawasaki aircraft showed the best flight characteristics and, unlike its competitor, allowed a dive at an angle of up to 60 degrees. However, the army, waging a war in China, decided to give preference to the Mitsubishi aircraft, so as not to wait for a solution to the problems with the propulsion system on the Ki-32. But it was not considered reasonable to completely abandon the seemingly more promising machine, and at the beginning of 1938 the Kawasaki bomber was also put into service under the designation "Type 98 Army Single-Engine Light Bomber" (Kyuhachi-Shiki keibakugekiki).

Kawasaki Ki-32
Crew 2
Dimensions
Wing span, m 15.00
Wing area, m² 34.00
Length, m 11.64
Height, m 2.90
Powerplant
1 × PE Kawasaki Ha-9-IIb, power, hp 1 × 850
Weights and loads, kg:
Empty weight 2,349
Loaded weight 3,539
Performance
Maximum speed, km/h 432
Cruising speed, km/h 300
Rate of climb, m/min 460
Service ceiling, m 8,920
Service range, km 1,960

Aircraft | Kawasaki | Ki-10 | Ki-32 | Ki-45 | Ki-48 | Ki-56 | Ki-60 | Ki-61 | Ki-64 | Ki-78 | Ki-100 | Ki-102 | Photos & Drawings | Combat Use Ki-32 | Ki-100 |

Armament. One front (course) 7.7-mm machine gun type 89, one 7.7-mm machine gun type 89 on a movable mount at the end of the cockpit; 300-450kg bombs (250kg bomb in the bomb bay).

Production of Ki-32 bombers has been deployed at two Kawasaki factories in Kobe and a newly built factory in Akashi. Allies have Mary . Since the summer of 1938, 846 Ki-32 bombers have been produced at two factories, not counting 8 prototypes. Production ended in May 1940. However, the number of built bombers of this type raises some doubts, because bombers of this type were in service with only eight senai of the Japanese army aviation, each of which, according to the state of the end of the 30s, consisted of 27-32 aircraft - in total, a maximum of 256 machines, and considering a mixed composition of materiel in the Sentai of that time, hardly more than 100-150 Ki-32 bombers were in the army aviation units. So it is quite possible that the eight hundred Ki-32 figure is not true.

Photo Description

Drawing Ki-32

Bibliography

  • Light bomber Kawasaki Ki-32 / Evgeny Aranov /
  • Japan Aviation. / Andrey Firsov /
  • Bombers of the Second World War / Vladimir Kotelnikov /
Ki-32