Tuesday 21 April 2020

Mitsubishi Ki-46, part one, foreign users

The Mitsubishi Ki-46 was a twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft designed and manufactured in Japan. It was used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force during World War II, but it also saw action with other Air Forces during and after World War II:

  • Communist China: The Red Army of China Air Force (The aerial brand of the Communist faction during the latest stages of the Chinese Civil War between 1945-1949) had two Ki-46 in strength captured probably in Manchuria after the capitulation of Japan. They served as ground-attack aircraft and trainer respectively and they served until the early 1950s after the People's Republic of China was proclamated.
  • United Kingdom: In September 1945 a Japanese Ki-46-IIIa based at Kahan airfield, in the Malayan peninsula, was performing a reconnaissance mission when he received an order from the British to hand the two aircraft used by his unit to the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit, South East Asia (ATAIU SEA) due to the capitulation of Japan.
    The aircraft were delivered without propellers, though and, in October 1945 the orders were given to restore those two aircraft to an airworthy condition. It wasn't until January-February 1946 that one of those flew to Seletar airport, in Singapore to receive new British roundels. It was later shipped to the United Kingdom and nowadays it can be seen at the RAF's Museum. 
  • France: After the War, France obtained two Ki-46-IIK with an extra seat, which was used as a trainer by the Japanese. They were assigned to the Escadrille de Liaisons 99 (Liaison Squadron 99) which was based at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, in Saigon and it wasn't until late 1945 that they were operational again.
    An additional Ki-46-II was obtained and restored, after great effort, in February 1946 only to be written off nine months later. It seems that there was also a Ki-46-III, which is not clear how it was painted so we decided to draw both possible colour configurations, and it crashed during takeoff on its first French flight attempt.
    The Ki-46 were never used in their original role by the French and they were used more as high-speed staff shuttles than reconnaissance aircraft. They withdrawn at the end of 1947.
  • United States of America: One Ki-46-II which operated from Hollandia (nowadays Jayapura) was captured by US Army Troops when they liberated the Hollandia area on 23rd April 1944. During September 1944 that aircraft was repaired by ground crews of the 5th Air Force, 3rd Attack Group, 89th Attack Squadron to an airworthy status. It was repainted with USAAF markings and the emblem of the 3rd Attack Group was painted in the nose.
    In January 1945 it was shipped to mainland USA aboard USS Attu (CVE-102). It was test-flown at US Navy's Base in Patuxtent, NAS Anacostia and Eglin Air Force Base. It suffered a taxiing accident at Eglin airfield and was, most probably, scrapped.









Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Ki-46
2. http://www.traditions-air.fr/index.htm (translated)
3. https://captured-wings.wikia.org/wiki/C/n_2846
4. https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/2015/08/30/wwii-japanese-aircraft-in-postwar-french-service/
5. https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/1989-0307-AF-MITSUBISHI-DINAH.pdf
6. Bunrin Do - Famous Airplanes of the World 38 - Mitsubishi Ki-46 (translated as much as possible)

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