| Ki-10-I C | |
|---|---|
| |
| Note: Base stats only (no upgrade installed) | |
| Rank | I |
| Battle Rating | 1.0 |
| Type | Light Fighter / Biplane |
| Maximum Speed on height | 386 km/h |
| Maximum Altitude | 8100 m |
| Turn Time | 17.1 s |
| Rate of Climb | 8.3 m/s |
| Takeoff Run | 232 m |
| Armament | 7.7 mm 89 machine gun x2 |
| Burst Mass | 0.33 kg/s |
Kawasaki Ki-10-I (Type 95-I, Allied reporting name: Perry) single-engine army fighter
A biplane of composite structure with non-retractable landing gear and
an open cockpit. This plane was created in the design bureau of Kawasaki
Heavy Industries under the direction of Takeo Doi. While the new
fighter was being designed, experience and structural solutions were
used from the Ki-5 monoplane fighter developed earlier.
The designers, headed by Takeo Doi, managed to create quite a successful
aircraft with good flight performance. The Type 95 fighter got off the
ground for the first time in February 1935, and it reached a maximum
speed of 400 km/h during tests. At the time, this was probably the
fastest speed attainable by a biplane.
The aircraft was launched into full-scale production under the
designation of "Army Fighter Type 95 Model 1" (Ki-10-I). A total of 300
fighters of this variant were supplied by the Kawasaki company from
December 1935 to October 1937.
The aircraft was equipped with a 850 hp Kawasaki Ha-9-IIa
twelve-cylinder, double-row, liquid-cooled engine that featured a
gear-driven centrifugal-type supercharger and a three-bladed,
controllable-pitch metal propeller. The engine itself was a licensed
version of the German BMW9.
The Ki-10's fuselage was a semi-monocoque with stressed duralumin skin
panels overlapping each other. This technology made assembly easier, but
the joints had to be puttied and covered with a thick layer of paint
and lacquer to reduce friction resistance. As a result, the external
finish was so thick that one could not see any of the duralumin sheets'
joints, even when standing quite close.
All of these machines were produced with drop-shaped wheel fairings, but
these were usually removed when the plane was operated on temporary
airfields.
The plane's armament consisted of two synchronous 7.7 mm Type 89
(Vickers system, heavily upgraded) machine guns with 450 rounds each.
These guns were mounted over the engine. The trigger button was placed
in a very original location, not on the aircraft control stick but on
the throttle.
The aircraft's instrumentation and on-board navigation lights enabled the Ki-10 to perform night flights. Provision was made for the installation of an oxygen apparatus. Command vehicles were equipped with radio sets. Externally, these fighters could be identified by the radio antennas mounted over their biplane cellules.