040b - Inside the Nakajima Ki-43

CLASS: Fighter

CODENAME: “Oscar”

YEAR OF DESIGN: 1939

LENGTH: 29 feet 4 inches

WINGSPAN: 35 feet 7 inches

MAX AIRSPEED: 329 MPH

CEILING: 36,750 feet

TYPICAL ARMAMENT

2 x 12.7 mm wing-mounted Machine Guns

[Each gun is equipped with 270 rounds].

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2 x wing-mounted 550-pound bombs

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3 x droppable 60-gallon fuel tanks

[2 under winds and 1 in underbelly mount.]

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The slight differences between the Nakajima Ki-43 “Oscar” and Mitsubishi’s A6M “Zero/Zeke” were so insignificant that most pilots and anti-aircraft gunners could hardly tell them apart, other than their distinctive colors (silver/white for the Navy planes and olive drab/camouflage for the Army fighters. So, too, were the flying characteristics of the Ki-43, which had a tight turn-radius and a higher maximum speed, but a weaker armor and armament.

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Most commonly, the Oscar would face off wirth the most notable Allied fighters: the British “Spitfire” and American “Warhawk”. The dogfights usually featured many of the same set of tactics among the combatants: the Japanese fighters would favor a true dogfight, where the acrobatic abilities of the nible Oscar fighters could easily outdo the heavier, slower Allied planes. In turn, the British and Americans favored a “run and gun” tactic, where the planes would go head-on, or work in teams, relying on baiting tactics, where Allied Pilots allowed the Japanese to get behind them and then their wingman would quickly swoop in and finish off the lightweight Japanese plane.

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