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Ki64 Hein Manufacturer : Number Built : Production Began : Retired : Type : The 13th Ki-61, a production prototype, was delivered in August 1942. The IJA gave the green light for production, and the fighter began to roll off the assembly line, with 34 delivered by the end of 1942. The type was formally known as the "Army Type 3 Fighter Model 1 Hien", or "Ki-61-I". The Hien entered combat in the spring of 1943 in the New Guinea war zone, covering New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, New Britain, and New Ireland. The new Japanese fighter caused some pain and consternation among Allied pilots, particularly when they found out the hard way that they could no longer go into a dive and escape as they had from lighter Japanese fighters. 5th Air Force Commander General George Kenney found his P-40 Warhawks completely outclassed, and begged for more P-38 Lightnings to counter the threat of the new enemy fighter. Of the thousands of Hiens built, not many survived the war. Several were evaluated by the Americans and one was presented back to Japan by the US Air Force later. The Ki-61 wasn't the only fighter design to be powered by the Ha-40 inline engine. Kawasaki also experimented with an unusual twin-engine design conceived by Takeo Doi in 1939 and approved for prototype development in October 1940 as the Kawasaki "Ki-64".

Ki64 Hein

Ki64 Hein Artwork Collection

Mission to Yokohama, Japan, June 1944 by David Pentland.