World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Ki-59 design had its origins in the civilian passenger aircraft project TK-3, which first saw flight in Jun 1938, but was subsequently canceled. In 1939, due to war demands, the project was revived by the Japanese Army. The first military prototype Ki-59 aircraft took flight in 1941 and was accepted into service under the designation Army Type 1 Transport. After 59 production examples were built, it was decided that Ki-59 transports suffered from poor performance, and all production ceased, with its roles taken over by the contemporary Ki-54 design. A small number of them were given to Manchukuo National Airways to be used as civilian passenger liners, while a single example was modified into an experimental glider with under-fuselage skids; the glider experiment would later give birth to a line of assault gliders (Ku-8). The Allied code name for the Ki-59 design was "Theresa".

SPECIFICATIONS

Ki-59

Machinery	Two Hitachi Ha-13a radial engines rated at 450hp each
Armament	None; capacity for 8 passengers
Crew	3
Span	17.00 m
Length	12.50 m
Height	3.05 m
Wing Area	38.40 m²
Weight, Empty	2,880 kg
Weight, Maximum	4,120 kg
Speed, Cruising	300 km/h
Range, Normal	800 km

Photographs