This machine was an interim design that pending the completion of the Mitsubishi Ki-57/MC-20, which was a purpose-built transport aircraft based on the design of the Ki-21 bomber.
The exact number of converted machines remains unknown but some of them were converted from 1941 (though some sources state that, by 1940 some machines were already converted) onwards. According to our own research, there were already at least five MC-21-I registered in 1940, with the earliest machine registered in November 1939. A total of nine machines were ordered, but two of them were cancelled on February 1940 and August 1940, making a total of five MC-21-I. Regarding the MC-21-II (the transport conversion of the Ki-21-II bomber, powered by the more powerful Mitsubishi Ha-101 1.500 hp radial engine) there were approximately a total of 11 machines with the earliest examples being converted in July 1943.
The MC-21 was produced by removing all military equipment and armament from the Ki-21. Some very initial version (posted here ) retained the glazed nose and dorsal greenhouse canopy of the bomber version, but both were later removed and the gaps faired over. With these changes, the MC-21 outperformed both the original Ki-21 and the Ki-57 purpose-built transport plane.
Most of the MC-21s served with Dai Nippon Kokku Kabushiki Kaisha (DNKKK or Imperial Japanese Airways) as freighters, ferrying supplies between Japan, Korea and Manchuria. It was also possible to refit the interior of the aircraft to fit nine passengers. It's possible that an unknown number of Ki-21 bombers were also converted in the field, and served with the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.
Sources:
1. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_mitsubishi_MC-21.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Ki-21
3. https://www.valka.cz/Micubisi-MC-21-t41742
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_J-.html
No comments:
Post a Comment