The Ki-67 Hiryu (“Flying Dragon”, Allied code name "Peggy") was undoubtedly the best medium bomber produced by Japan, incorporating good defensive armament, good speed, excellent maneuverability, self-sealing fuel tanks, and crew armor. Unfortunately for Japan, the plane didn’t first see combat until late 1944 and only around 700 were built.
The Ki-67 was designed for a possible confrontation with the Soviets and first flew in late 1942. The performance was good; too good in fact. Rather than putting the plane in production immediately, most of 1943 was frittered away with army planners considering numerous variants, including heavy fighters. Not until December was the bomber version finally authorized.
Although classified by the Japanese as a heavy bomber, it was comparable to Allied medium bombers, although the bomb load was lighter. The Ki-67 was first used operationally as a torpedo bomber in October 1944, but also served its normal bomber role to the end of the war. Somewhat unusually (given their inter-service rivalry), the Ki-67 was used by both the Japanese Army and Navy.
The Ki-67-I had a crew of up to eight. The pilot flew the plane, assisted by the co-pilot. The navigator/bombardier dropped the bombs and operated the forward 12.7mm Type 1 (sometimes handled by an eighth crewman). Two beam gunners each operated a single 12.7mm Type 1. The dorsal turret gunner fired a 20mm Ho-5 cannon while the tail gunner operated two 12.7mm Type 1. The Ki-67-I uses 128 gallons of aviation fuel per hour.
Subassemblies: Heavy Fighter-Bomber chassis +4, Heavy
Fighter-Bomber Wings with high agility option +4, full-rotation Small Weapon
turret [Body:T] +0, two Small AFV Pods +2, three retractable wheels +1.
Powertrain: two 1,417 kW aerial HP turbocharged gasoline
engines w/1,417-prop each [Pod:F] with 1,027-gallon self-sealing tanks
[Wings and Body]
Occupancy: 8 CS Cargo:
10 Body.
| Armor | F | R/L | B | T | U |
| All | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 |
| Cockpit | 0/+20 | 0/0 | 0/+20 | 0/0 | 0/+20 |
| Bombardier | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/+20 | 0/0 | 0/+20 |
| Dorsal Gunner | 0/+20 | 0/+10 | 0/+20 | 0/0 | 0/+20 |
| Beam Gunners | 0/+20 | 0/+10 | 0/+20 | 0/0 | 0/+20 |
| Tail Gunner | 0/+20 | 0/0 | 0/+20 | 0/0 | 0/+20 |
Weaponry
Medium Aircraft HMG/Type 1 [Body:F] (400 rounds)
Medium Aircraft HMG/Type 1 [Body:R] (400 rounds)
Medium Aircraft HMG/Type 1 [Body:L] (400 rounds)
Medium Aircraft AC/Ho-5 [Tur:F] (300 rounds)
2¥Medium Aircraft HMG/Type 1 [Body:B] (400 rounds each)
8¥220-lb Bombs [Body:U]
Equipment
Body: Large radio receiver and transmitter, IFF, autopilot,
navigation instruments, bombsight, environmental control, 1,760-lb bomb
bay, 2,360-lb hardpoint. Pods: Fire extinguisher. Turret:
Universal mount.
Statistics
| Size: 61'x74'x25' | Payload: 4.3 tons | Lwt: 14.9 tons |
| Volume: 640 | Maint.: 19 hours | Price: $107,300 |
HT: 9
HP: 525 [body], 600 [each wing], 50 [each wheel], 150 [each
pod], 45 [turret]
| aSpeed: 334 | aAccel: 6 | aDecel: 33 | aMR: 8.25 | aSR: 2 | Stall: 87 |
| gSpeed: 190 | gAccel: 9 | gDecel: 10 | gMR: 0.5 | gSR: 2 |
Design Notes
The historical wing surface of 709 sf was used. Weight was decreased
5% to match historical weight.
The hardpoint and bomb bay were not loaded at the same time.
Variants
Early Ki-67-I’s had 7.7mm Type 97 MGs (Aircraft LMGs) in place of the
nose and beam guns. The first 160 production planes lacked the torpedo
hardpoint.
The Ki-67-KIA was a three-man kamikaze conversion.
The Ki-109 was a heavy fighter, with a 75mm Type 88 cannon (75mm Medium TG) in the nose (hand loaded with 15 rounds of ammo) and a single 12.7mm gun in the tail; all other armament was removed. They were designed to destroy the high-flying B-29’s, but fortunately for the Americans only 22 were built.