Japanese Kawasaki Hein 61 Fighter Plane

By Crusader1307

Introduced in 1942 by The Imperial Japanese Army, The Kawasaki Hein 61 (code named ‘’Tony’’ by The Allies), was medium Fighter Aircraft which borrowed heavily from Germany’s Messerschmitt Me-109 Fighter. Design was so similar in fact, that many Allied Fighters in The Pacific Theater of World War II mistook many for the iconic German Aircraft. Over 3,000 were produced, with  “Tony’’ Fighters being the first deployed to stop The Doolittle Raid over Tokyo in 1942. Fast and sleek, they were a powerful force to be dealt with by The Allies. However, constant bombing raids against productions facilities would see a shift in manufacture, with Japan switching over to other cheaper Fighters for production. Crewed by (1), The ‘’Tony’’ was 30-feet in length with a wingspan of 40-feet. It was powered by a single V-8 liquid cooled Ha40 Engine. The ‘’Tony’’ could achieve over 300-mph with an operational ceiling of nearly 40,000-feet. The Kawasaki Hein was armed with (2) 20mm Ho-5 Wing Cannon and were supported by twin 12.7mm Machine Guns. The Fighter could also be configured for an ordnance payload of 550-lbs. Many ‘’Tony’’ Fighters were pressed into Suicide Squads towards the end of The War, with very few surviving capture. None to date are known to exist.