Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi

Nakajima · Japan · first flew 1945 · bomber

The Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi was a single-seat dedicated kamikaze aircraft built by Nakajima for the Imperial Japanese Army. The Navy named it Toka.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	Cheap single-seat kamikaze aircraft, a low-wing monoplane with a circular-section fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Cheap single-seat kamikaze aircraft, a low-wing monoplane with a circular-section fuselage
Jettisonable undercarriage
Single radial engine, designed to be compatible with a wide range of radials

Look for a simple, crude low-wing monoplane with a radial engine, wooden tail surfaces and a single bomb of up to 800 kg.

Specifications

The Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi has a length of 8.55 m (28 ft).
It has a wingspan of 8.6 m (28 ft).
Its maximum speed is 550 km/h (342 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

It was developed in early 1945 under a crash programme for the expected invasion of the Japanese home islands, and designed to be cheap and easy to build by semi-skilled workers. It could accept a wide range of radial engines, and the standard engine was the 1,130 hp Nakajima Ha-35 Model 23. The prototype made its first flight on 5 March 1945, two months after design work began.

Variants

Redesign work corrected poor ground-handling characteristics before quantity production. Optional solid rocket boosters could be fitted.

Where you'll see it

About 104 or 105 were produced. The Army and Navy were both to use it, but the invasion did not take place, and it was otherwise unarmed.

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