Warplanes of Japan: Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate

The Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (キ84 疾風, lit. "Gale") is a single-seat fighter flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in the last two years of the Second World War. The Allied reporting name was "Frank"; the Japanese Army designation was Army Type 4 Fighter (四式戦闘機, yon-shiki-sentō-ki). The Ki-84 is generally considered the best Japanese fighter to operate in large numbers during the conflict. The aircraft boasted high speed and excellent maneuverability with an armament (up to two 30 mm and two 20 mm cannon) that gave it formidable firepower. The Ki-84's performance matched that of any single-engine Allied fighter it faced, and its operational ceiling enabled it to intercept high-flying B-29 Superfortress bombers.[4] Pilots and crews in the field learned to take care with the plane's high-maintenance Nakajima Homare engine and landing gear prone to buckling. The difficulties of Japan's situation late in the war took a toll on the aircraft's field performance as manufacturing defects multiplied, good quality fuel proved difficult to procure, and experienced pilots grew scarce. Nevertheless, a well-maintained Ki-84 was Japan's fastest fighter. A total of 3,514 aircraft were built. (Wikipedia)

(IJAAF Photo)

Nakajima Ki-84 Type 4 Hayate (1st additional prototype #124) of the Army Air Inspection Section, Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, 1943.

(IJAAF Photo)

The first major operational involvement of the Ki-84 was during the battle of Leyte at the end of 1944, and from that moment until the end of the Pacific war the Ki-84 was deployed wherever the action was intense. The 22nd Sentai re-equipped with production Hayates. Though it lacked sufficient high-altitude performance, it performed well at medium and low levels. Seeing action against the USAAF 14th Air Force, it quickly gained a reputation as a combat aircraft to be reckoned with. Fighter-bomber models also entered service. On 15 April 1945, 11 Hayates attacked US airfields on Okinawa, destroying many aircraft on the ground. (Wikipedia)

(IJAAF Photos)

Nakajima Ki-84 Type 4 Hayate.

(USAAF Photo)

Nakajima Ki-84, Nakajima Ki-43 fighter planes on an Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) base post-war. 1946.

(USAAF Photo)

Nakajima Ki-84, Nakajima Ki-43 fighter planes on an Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) base, Chofu Sentai, post-war. 1946.

(USAAF Photo)

Nakajima Ki-84 wreck on Okinawa, 1945/

(IJAAF Photos)

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Serial No. 1446), Army Type 4 Fighter, codenamed Frank.

(USAAF Photos)

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate "White 46” left on the Clark Field airbase, Luzon, Philippines.

(Australian War Memorial Photos)

Nakajima Ki-84 1A, “Frank” Fighter, coded 302.

(USAAF Photo)

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Serial No. 1446), Army Type 4 Fighter, codenamed Frank, captured in the Philippines, possibly before being painted as TAIC-SWPA, S17 at Clark Field, 1945.

(USN Photo)

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Serial No. 1446), TAIU-SWPA S17 being transported by the aircraft carrier USS Long Island to the USA post war. It was test flown TAIU-SWPA at Clark Field in the Philippines in 1945. It is shown here in natural metal finish with pre-war rudder stripes. This aircraft had a long post-war career in various spurious finishes including an appearance in the 1954 film "Never So Few". It was eventually returned to Japan and is now displayed in the markings of its former operator the 11th Sentai.

(USAAF Photo)

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Gale, allied code name "Frank"), S17 of the Technical Air Intelligence Unit SWPA. This Ki-84 was found at an abandoned airfield in Luzon, Philippines, after the U.S. recapture of the island in January 1945. The first aircraft of this type was disovered on the island of Leyte. This aircraft was operated by the Technical Air Intelligence Unit, South West Pacific Area (SWPA) located at Clark Field, Luzon (Philippines), from the end of January 1945.

(USAAF Photos)

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Serial No. 1446), Army Type 4 Fighter, codenamed Frank, captured in the Philippines and test flown by TAIC-SWPA, S17 at Clark Field. This aircraft was shipped to the USA. Sold to a civilian, it bore Reg No. N3385G. Restored, this aircraft was returned to Japan and is now on display at the Peace Museum, Chiran.

After the war a number of Ki-84 aircraft were tested by the allied forces, two at the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit - South-West Pacific Area (ATAIU-SWPA) as S10 and S17 and a further two in the United States as FE-301 and FE-302 (Later T2-301 and T2-302), scrapped at Park Ridge, ca. 1950.

(USAAF Photos)

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate, FE-302, Wright Patterson Field Ohio, 23 May 1946.

FE-302 was one of two (Serial Nos. 2366 and 3060) captured at Utsunomiya, Japan, near the end of the war. They were shipped on board USS Barnes (CVE-20) from Yokosuka to the US on 3 November 1945. On 7 December 1945 they were handed to the USAAF, the Office of Air Force Intelligence assigned the Foreign Evaluation numbers "FE-301" and "FE-302". "FE-302" flew for the first time in the US from Middletown Air Depot, Pennsylvania, USA, on 16 March 1946. Delivered to Patterson Field, Ohio, USA, on 20 May 1946, it was transferred to the adjacent Wright Field. It was flown to the foreign aircraft storage area at Orchard Place Airport, Park Ridge, Illinois, USA on 3 July 1946 for storage. The Air Force turned over all assets at Park Ridge to the National Air Museum in 1949, "FE-302" was restored to flying condition by 1963, and returned to Japan in 1973.

(SDASM Photo)

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate.

(SDASM Photo)

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate.

(RuthAS Photo)

Nakajima Ki-84 (Serial No. 1446), TAIU S17, following an extensive restoration in the USA and before its return to Japan, ca 1970. This aircraft was operated and flown by the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California, Reg No. N3385G, before being returned to Japan for display at the Arashiyama Museum in Kyoto. This aircraft is now exhibited at the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Frank),Tokko Heiwa Kinen-kan Museum, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. It is the only surviving Ki-84.