Kawasaki combat aircraft (WW 2): books - history

The Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien in Japanese Army Airforce Service

Richard Bueschel revises and updates his classic series of books on Japanese Naval and Army Air Force aircraft of World War II. The JAAF Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (Tony) is presented in this volume. All variations and markings are covered in this the fourth in a projected multi-volume series.

Ki-61 and Ki-100 Aces

This is the story of the elite Japanese Army Air force (JAAF) aces that flew the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (Swallow), and the Ki-100 Goshikisen in the Pacific Theatre of World War 2.
The former, codenamed 'Tony' by the allies, was a technically excellent aircraft, possessing power, stability and a good rate of climb - differing radically from the usual Japanese philosophy of building light, ultra-manoeuvrable fighters. Its pilots soon realised, however, that the type was plagued by a number of dangerous mechanical issues.
Then as the war moved relentlessly closer to Japan's doorstep, a desperate, expedient innovation to the Ki-61 airframe by fitting it with a radial instead of inline engine resulted in one of the finest fighters of World War 2 - the Ki-100.

This book uses the latest findings to provide a gripping account of some of the most remarkable and hard-pressed fighter pilots of the war. It reveals how these men, unlike so many of their unfortunate late-war colleagues, could surprise Allied aircraft in high-performance fighters and claim successes in the face of enormous odds.

Contents:
- Introduction
- A Difficult Birth
- The Rush to Combat - New Guinea 1943-44
- Attrition - The Philippines and South-East Asia
- The Noose Tightens - The Island Campaigns
- A Desperate Battle - The Air Defence of Japan
- Seven Week Fighter - the Ki-100
- Appendices