World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Ki-54 twin-engine aircraft design was developed by Ryokichi Endo of the Tachikawa Aircraft Company in response for a Japanese Army requirement for an advanced trainer with such engine configuration. The prototype aircraft took flight in the summer of 1940, and the first production example entered service in the following year under the designation Army Type 1 Advanced Trainer. While the Ki-54A and Ki-54B variant designs remained true to the original intent of the design, a Ki-54C variant was developed later to serve as transports, each with a capacity for eight passengers. A small number of aircraft of the Ki-54D variant design were also built, which were equipped with depth charges for anti-submarine warfare. Between 1941 and 1945, 1,368 production examples were built in Japan as well as in the Japanese-sponsored puppet state of Manchukuo in northeastern China.

ww2dbaseThe Allied code name for the Ki-54 design was "Hickory".

ww2dbaseAfter the war, Communist China operated four captured examples as advanced trainers; they were used in the training of the first class of female pilots in Communist China. French forces in Indochina operated several captured examples in the late 1940s as well.

SPECIFICATIONS

Ki-54

Machinery	Two Hitachi Ha-13a 9-cyl radial engines rated at 510hp each
Armament	4x7.7mm Type 89 machine guns, capacity for 943kg of cargo/bombs/depth charges or 8 passengers
Crew	2
Span	17.90 m
Length	11.94 m
Height	3.58 m
Wing Area	40.00 m²
Weight, Empty	2,954 kg
Weight, Loaded	3,897 kg
Speed, Maximum	375 km/h
Speed, Cruising	240 km/h
Service Ceiling	7,180 m
Range, Normal	960 km

Photographs