Tachikawa Ki-74

Ki-74
Role	Long Range Reconnaissance Bomber
Manufacturer	Tachikawa Aircraft Company Ltd
Designer	Jiro Tanaka (in the final stage of the development from the summer of 1944 until August 1945)
First flight	March 1944
Primary user	Imperial Japanese Army Air Force
Number built	16

The Tachikawa Ki-74 was a Japanese experimental long-range reconnaissance bomber of World War II. A twin-engine, mid-wing monoplane, it was developed for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force but did not enter service.

Though already conceived in 1939 as a long-range reconnaissance aircraft capable of reaching west of Lake Baikal when operating from bases in Manchukuo (Manchuria), the prototype Ki-74 (designated as A-26 by Tachikawa) only first flew as late as in March 1944; it was powered by two 1,641 kW (2,201 hp) Mitsubishi Ha-211-I [Ha-43-I] radial engines. The following two prototypes were powered by the turbo-supercharged Mitsubishi Ha-211-I Ru [Ha-43-II], but as these experienced teething troubles, the following thirteen pre-production machines substituted the Ha-211 Ru engine for the lower-powered, but more reliable, turbo-supercharged Mitsubishi Ha-104 Ru (Army Type 4 1,900 hp Air Cooled Radial).

The Ki-74 did not see operational service. Nevertheless, the Allies knew of its existence and assigned the type the codename "Patsy" after it was discovered that it was a bomber, not a fighter. Previously it had the code name "Pat" in Allied Intelligence.

Data from The Imperial Japanese Secret Weapons Museum ;Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Notes

Bibliography

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Wikipedia