The Ki-36 was developed in the late 1930's by the Japanese Army as a reconnaissance and close support aircraft. While it performed well in China, it was quickly overwhelmed by modern Allied fighters elsewhere and was eventually restricted to China. Just over 1,330 were built from 1938 to 1944.
The plane offered an excellent view for the pilot and observer; the observer even had glass panels in the floor he could look through. Bomb load was normally twelve 12.5 kg (27.5 lb) or ten 15 kg (33 lb) bombs. These do 6dx27 [10d] and 6dx33 [10d] respectively.
The plane has a crew of two: the pilot flies the plane, fires the forward LMG and drops the bombs. The observer operates the radio and rear LMG. The Ki-36 burns 17 gallons of fuel per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Light Fighter chassis +3, Medium Fighter Wings
+2, three fixed wheels +0.
Powertrain: 380-kW aerial HP gas engine with 380-kW prop and
75-gallon standard tank [Wings]
Occupancy: 2 CS. Cargo: 2.8 Body, 1.5 Wings
| Armor | F | R/L | B | T | U |
| All | 2/4 | 2/4 | 2/4 | 2/4 | 2/4 |
Weaponry
Aircraft LMG/Type 89 [Body:F] (483 rounds)
Aircraft LMG/Type 89 [Body:B] (483 rounds)
Equipment
Body: Medium range radio transmitter and receiver, navigation
instruments
Statistics
| Size: 26'x39'x12' | Payload: 0.61 tons | Lwt: 1.98 tons |
| Volume: 144 | Maint.: 66 hours | Price: $9,100 |
HT: 8
HP: 50 [body], 80 [each wing], 5 [each wheel]
| aSpeed: 216 | aAccel: 6 | aDecel: 33 | aMR: 8.25 | aSR: 2 |
Design Notes
Design aSpeed is 217 mph; the historical speed, as well as actual wing
area (215 sf), has been used. 1,000 rounds of LMG ammo were purchased.
Variants
The Ki-55 was the trainer version of the Ki-36. The rear LMG, radio, bomb racks and streamlined spats around the fixed landing gear were removed and the observer's glass floor panels were covered over. The observer position became a second pilot position, with duplicate controls. Except as noted, use stats for the Ki-36. Some 1,400 were built from 1939 to 1943 and also were referred to by the code name "Ida."
The Ki-72 was a proposed upgrade of the Ki-36, with a 447-kW engine and retractable landing gear. It never entered production.