Mitsubishi Ki-67
| Ki-67 "Hiryu" | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Ki-67 of the 170th Bombardment Group. (Kengun airfield, Japan, 1945.) |
|
| Role | Medium bomber |
| Manufacturer | Mitsubishi |
| First flight | 27 December 1942 |
| Primary users |
Imperial Japanese Army Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Number built | 767 |
The Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryū (飛龍, "Flying Dragon"; Allied reporting name "Peggy") was a twin-engine medium bomber produced by Mitsubishi and used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force and Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. Its Army long designation was "Army Type 4 Heavy Bomber" (四式重爆撃機). Its Navy designations were "P2M" and "Q2M".
The Ki-67 was the result of a 1941 Japanese army specification for a successor to the Nakajima Ki-49. This new aircraft was specified to be a high-speed twin-engined heavy bomber suitable for possible conflicts with the Soviet Union over the Manchuria-Siberia border, and unlike many Japanese warplanes, was required to have good defensive armament and the ability to survive heavy battle damage. It was also required to be highly maneuverable allowing it to carry out dive-bombing attacks and escape at low level.
The Ki-67 was designed by a team led by Kyūnojō Ozawa, chief engineer at Mitsubishi, and was a mid-winged monoplane of all-metal construction, with a retractable tailwheel undercarriage. It was fitted with self-sealing fuel tanks and armor, features common in US fighters and bombers but frequently lacking in Japanese aircraft. With these features and its two 1,417 kW (1,900 hp) 18-cylinder air-cooled radial engines, the Ki-67 was perhaps one of the most sturdy and damage-resistant Japanese aircraft of World War II.
The Ki-67's bomb load of 1,070 kg (2,360 lb) (carried in its internal bomb bay) would classify it as a medium bomber for the US. The B-25 Mitchell could carry up to 2,722 kg (6,000 lb), the B-26 Marauder up to 1,814 kg (4,000 lb), and the A-20 Havoc up to 907 kg (2,000 lb), for example, but they rarely carried a maximum load; when they did, their range was reduced significantly. Japanese aircraft almost invariably had greater range (with their rated maximum load); this gave them a strategic capability unlike that of Allied twin-engine bombers, which were considered tactical bombers. The Ki-67's performance was remarkable compared to US medium bombers; the Ki-67 had a level-flight top speed of 537 km/h/334 mph (against 443 km/h/275 mph for the B-25, 462 km/h/287 mph for the B-26, and 538 km/h/338 mph for the A-20), good manoeuvrability in high-speed dives (up to 644 km/h/400 mph), excellent sustained rate of climb, and outstanding agility (excellent turn rate, small turn radius, and ability to turn at low speeds). The manoeuvrability of the Ki-67 was so good that the Japanese used the design as the basis for the Mitsubishi Ki-109 twin-engine fighter, originally designed as a night fighter, and later for use as a daylight heavy fighter. In the last stages of World War II, the Japanese Navy also used the design as the basis for the Mitsubishi Q2M1 "Taiyo" radar-equipped anti-submarine aircraft.
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