Nakajima Ki-27
| Nakajima Ki-27 | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Nakajima Ki-27 | |
| Role | Fighter aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Nakajima Aircraft Company |
| Designer | Yasushi Koyama |
| First flight | 15 October 1936 |
| Introduction | 1937 |
| Retired | 1945 (Japan) |
| Primary users |
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Manchukuo Air Force Royal Thai Air Force Reformed Government of the Republic of China |
| Number built | 3,368 |
The Nakajima Ki-27 (九七式戦闘機 Kyūnana-shiki sentōki, or Type 97 Fighter?) was the main fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force up until 1940. Its Allied nickname was "Nate", although it was called "Abdul" in the "China Burma India" (CBI) theater by many post war sources; Allied Intelligence had reserved that name for the nonexistent Mitsubishi Navy Type 97 fighter, expected to be the successor to the Type 96 carrier-borne A5M with retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit.
In 1935, the Imperial Japanese Army held a competition between Nakajima, Mitsubishi, and Kawasaki to design a low-wing monoplane to replace the Kawasaki Ki-10 (Army Type 95 Fighter) biplane. The new fighter was to have also a better performance than the experimental Mitsubishi Ki-18.
The results were the Nakajima Ki-27, the Kawasaki Ki-28, and the Mitsubishi Ki-33 (a modification of the Mitsubishi A5M carrier-based fighter). The Nakajima design was based on its earlier Ki-11 monoplane fighter which lost to the Ki-10 in the Type 95 Fighter competition. When the follow-up Nakajima Ki-12 proposal with a liquid-cooled engine and retractable landing gear was deemed too complex by the Japanese officials, the Ki-27 was designed by Koyama Yasushi to have an air-cooled radial engine and fixed landing gear. The aircraft had the Nakajima trademark wing with a straight leading edge and tapered trailing edge which would reappear again on the Ki-43, Ki-44, and Ki-84.
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