Mitsubishi Ki-1

The Mitsubishi Ki-1 was a bomber built by Mitsubishi for the Imperial Japanese Army in the 1930s. The Mitsubishi Ki-1 flew for the first time in 1933. Despite its antiquated appearance, the Ki-1 was used in Manchukuo and in north China during the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War, in areas where danger from enemy fighter aircraft was minimal.

Design and development

The Mitsubishi Ki-1 was a low-wing, cantilever monoplane with fixed landing gear, twin fins and rudders, and was powered by two 701 kW (940 hp) Ha-2-2 water-cooled radial engines, giving a maximum speed of 220 km/h (140 mph). The pilot and co-pilot were seated in tandem under an enclosed canopy, while gunners sat in semi-enclosed nose and dorsal gun turrets, each armed with a single 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine gun. The usable bomb load was up to 1,500 kg (3,310 lb).

The Ki-1 shared a similar configuration with the Junkers S36 first flown in 1927. Militarized into the Junkers K37 by Junker's Swedish subsidiary AB Flygindustri at Limhamn near Malmö, it was able to reach altitudes not reachable for the fighters of 1927. However, as soon as 1930 this advantage was lost due to British developments such as the Bristol Bulldog fighter, and Junkers was not successful in selling the design. In 1931 however representatives of Mitsubishi Nainenki K. K. from Japan visited the Limhamn facilities to study some of the military conversions of Junkers aircraft. The sole K37 prototype S-AABP (ex D-1252 S36-prototype), as well as all development papers were purchased in part by funds raised by donations in Japan. The aircraft got the name Aikoku No.1 (patriotic gift). In any case, the wing design of the Ki-2 was essentially the same as that of the Junkers, with some modifications, but the Ki-1 itself shared nothing whatsoever with the German design other than a similar appearance.