Mitsubishi Ki-20 (Army Type 92)

History

In pre-World War II Germany, the Junkers Group developed its four-engine G38 heavy-duty airliner - the world's largest land-based aircraft. The giant bird's wings are deep enough to accommodate the passenger compartment and allow flight engineers to use the engines in flight.

Only two were built, and the first prototype crashed and suffered enough damage to be written off by the company. The second plane was used as a military transport in the early days of World War II, but was destroyed by an RAF plane when it was grounded in Athens, Greece.

Before the war of 1932, the Japanese concern Mitsubishi obtained a license for the G38 model, intending to further develop the heavy bomber form from the previous Junkers program to militarize the product (Junkers "K. 51" ). For Japan, this led to the designation of the "Army Type 92", and six were commissioned to be built to standard. There are 10 operators, the length is 23.2 meters, the wingspan is 44 meters, and the height is 7 meters.

Power is provided by 4 Junkers Jumo 204" inline 6" diesel piston engines producing 750 hp each (initial fittings were 4 Junkers L88 series engines). The plane can fly at 125 miles per hour and weighs 56,105 pounds.

Unlike the German G38 for the civilian market, the Army Type 92 was designed from the outset as a military platform. This means it is defensively armed and also carries the internal war load. 2 x 7.7mm machine guns have been added to the nose and 1 x 20mm cannon has been added to the rear position. 2 x 7.7mm mounted on both upper turret locations and 1 x 7.7mm mounted on each ventral turret location.

The aircraft has been approved to carry conventionally dropped bombs of up to 11,025 pounds.

The first pair of aircraft was assembled by Mitsubishi using components supplied by Junkers, and officially flew for the first time in 1932 (with German assistance). The remaining four aircraft in the batch were from 1933 to 1935, and these aircraft relied more heavily on parts made by Mitsubishi - giving the company a good look at Western's design and engineering methods.

The Junkers Jumo 204 engine is also licensed locally in Japan.

As Japan's participation in World War II in the Pacific and Southeast Asia increased, the Army Type 92 was commissioned as the "Ki-20" for its long-range bombing capabilities. While the Ki-20 fleet was not officially identified by outside observers during the early stages of the war (a war spanning 1939-45), its involvement in the war was kept secret until sometime in 1940.

However, this aircraft contributed little to the final result for Japan, as by the end of the war in August 1945 only one of the six remained with the others destroyed either during the war or in the aftermath of the year - long term conflict.

The Ki-20 became the largest aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service.

Specification

Basic

Production

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Performance

Armor

Changes