Kawasaki
liquid-cooled V-12 |
unified designation |
horsepower |
aircraft [engine module in-game]
|
Ha-9 (BMW VI) |
|
|
Kawasaki Ki-5 [III Ha-9]
Kawasaki Ki-10
Kawasaki Ki-28
Kawasaki Ki-32
|
Ha-40 (Daimler-Benz DB 601) |
|
|
Kawasaki Ki-60
Kawasaki Ki-61
|
Ha-140 |
|
1500 |
Kawasaki Ki-61-II
Kawasaki Ki-88 [VI Ha-140]
|
Ha-201 (2x Ha-40) |
|
|
Kawasaki Ki-64*
|
|
|
|
|
*see Ki-64 relationship to Mitsubishi Ki-73 --> Mitsubishi Ki-83 and Yokosuka R2Y1 --> Yokosuka R2Y2
Notes:
-- "It was the year that Kawasaki lost out in the Army Type 97 Fighter competition [1937] when company representative Sei Yamasaki, in Germany under the orders of managing director Masayuki Nemoto, began an aggressive pursuit of the manufacturing rights for the new Daimler-Benz DB.601A engine. Kawasaki had achieved a measure of success with its 92-Sen and Ki-10 95-Sen series of inline-powered biplane J.A.A.F. fighters, but lost its position as the leading Army fighter producer in 1937 when its Ki-28 experimental fighter was passed over in favor of the radial powered Nakajima Ki-27. This procurement defeat promised to stunt the growth of the maverick Army aircraft producer, and all stops were pulled to regain the technological advantage ..." (Bueschel, 3)
-- "The long-standing Kawasaki engineering alliance with German interests offered a way out of the dilemma. Through friendship, persuasion, the contacts of Dr. Vogt, former Kawasaki Chief Designer then working with Blohm und Voss in Hamburg, and with hard currency, a license agreement between the German engine producer and the hopeful Japanese fighter manufacturer was carved out in late 1939. Kawasaki now had complete rights to the most powerful new inline engine in the world, and a chance to recapture the attention of the Japanese Army. With Hisashi Tojo, brother of wartime premier Hideki Tojo, on the Kawasaki board of directors the new acquisition quickly received recognition in high places." (Bueschel, 3)
-- "In February 1940 the Army gave Kawasaki developmental contracts for the Ki-60 Heavy and Ki-61 Light Fighters utilizing the German power plant and its Japanese adaptations. By April, Kawasaki was actively promoting its gain and illustrating a modern low wing inline-engine fighter in its advertising before Chief Designer, Takeo Doi, even had the first of the two new projects completed on paper. With the Ki-60 Doi and his co-designer Skni Ohwada, armed with the same power plant, set out to out-design the Messerschmitt Bf109 then under development in Germany. Three DB.601A engines imported from Germany in April 1940 as patterns for Kawasaki development were assigned to the Ki-60 project, and by March 1941 the first prototype was ready for flight as the Ki-6001." (Bueschel, 4)
-- "The adaptation of the DB 601 engine to Japanese production techniques began immediately, and the first Japanese-built version, designated the Ha-40 by Kawasaki, was completed in July 1941." (Nijboer, 18)
-- "The liquid cooled engine production of this company was confined entirely to variations of the basic German DB designs. The company had been licensees of the DB company for several years before the war and continued with this basic design up to the end of the war. Production was for the Army only." (ATIG Report 39)
-- "While the company manufactured experimentally a number of variations of the basic model, their main production was confined to two models, the Ha-40 and the Ha-140. Data on these engines [is below]. Two experimental engines of the Ha-240 designation had been built, but had failed the type test. These engines were destroyed in the bombing of Akashi. At the end of the war the primary experimental effort of the company was devoted to supercharging the Ha-140 engine to obtain 1250hp at 6500 meters altitude (21,000 ft). This altitude rating was never actually attained." (ATIG Report 39)
-- "The Mitsubishi high pressure injection equipment was used exclusively. The entire equipment was brought directly from Mitsubishi. Injection at 120 atmospheres was directly into the cylinder head. Difficulties were encountered with fuel leakage and fuel line rupture due to the very high pressures." (ATIG Report 39)
-- "Water injection was utilized at powers above 80% rated power. A fifty percent water-alcohol mixture was injected into the supercharger impeller inlet. Great difficulty from corrosion was experienced and no really effective remedy had been found." (ATIG Report 39)
-- "The Ishikawajima Shibaura company had built one turbo supercharger for the Ha-140 model engine which was mounted in a company experimental airplane. One month of flight tests gave no data on turbine performance because difficulty with the turbo regulator had existed on every flight. The end of the war prevented further experimentation on this installation." (ATIG Report 39)
-- "A design for a threespeed gear driven supercharger had been developed, but none had been built. A 2-stage double entry type had been tested on an electric motor, but had not been incorporated on the Ha-140 for which it was designed. The standard supercharger was a variable speed design using the Vulcan fluid coupling. This required a larger oil cooler than would have been necessary without this type of drive." (ATIG Report 39)
-- [ATIG Report 39 has more details on cooling difficulties, bearings, crankshaft failures, valve overlaps]
-- "No jet or rocket work was being done by [Kawasaki]. The government had asked the company to undertake some of this work in 1943 but the company refused." (ATIG Report 39)
-- "Before the air raids of January 1945 the main experimental effort had been concentrated on supercharger development for the Ha-140. After the January air raids little experimental work had been done and the intensive effort was applied to dispersion and consequent production problems." (ATIG Report 39)
Kawasaki engine data from ATIG Report 39:
Desig. |
Cylinders |
Bore |
Stroke |
Cu.In. |
Power |
RPM |
Power |
RPM |
Ha 40 |
12 |
150 |
160 |
2075 |
1020 |
2400 |
1175 |
2500 |
Ha 140 |
12 |
150 |
160 |
2075 |
1350 |
2650 |
1500 |
2700 |
Ha 240* |
12 |
154 |
160 |
2200 |
1500 |
2700 |
1700 |
2800 |
Ha 440** |
12 |
165 |
170 |
2700 |
1800 |
2700 |
2000 |
2800 |
* "2 engines built, type test never passed, both engines destroyed in bombing of Akashi."
** "Never built. Only crank case and cylinder block cast. Army showed no interest and design was dropped."
BMW VI 450-630hp ... Kawasaki KDA-3 (03/1928) -- Vogt (Wieliczko, 4)
Aichi (Navy)
liquid-cooled V-12 |
unified designation |
horsepower |
aircraft [engine module in-game]
|
Daimler-Benz DB 601 |
|
|
|
Aichi Atsuta 30 |
|
|
Yokosuka D4Y
Aichi M6A
Mitsubishi J2M Raiden (considered only)
|
2x Aichi Atsuta 30 |
Ha-70 |
3400 |
Yokosuka R2Y1 |
Notes:
-- "Aichi had been granted a license by Daimler-Benz as early as November 20 1936, to manufacture the DB 600A--D, 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engine. Two were actually imported that year and three the next, serving as production patterns. At that time, the Aichi Clock and Electric Co. (Aichi Tokey Denki KK), from which Aichi Aircraft Company was derived, was building only the air-cooled Kotobuki 9-cylinder engine. Other Japanese manufacturers had produced liquid-cooled engines for reduced frontal area, but development did not keep up with improvements in aircraft design and performance requirements." (Mikesh, 9)
-- "By early 1938 the Japanese Navy acquired from Germany the Heinkel He 118 V4, along with its production rights. Powered by the DB 601A, the Heinkel's spectacular performance impressed the Naval Staff to such an extent that from it evolved the design of Judy [D4Y] which was to be suited for Japan's aircraft carriers. The success of both airplanes was attributed to the slender lines of the high-powered liquid-cooled engine." (Mikesh, 9)
-- "The Atsuta Engine Plant of Aichi, located in south central Nagoya City, tooled for the Daimler-Benz design. By 1939, eleven of the more advanced DB 601's were imported, and manufacturing rights were updated for Aichi to produce this model for the Navy, and Kawasaki for the Army." (Mikesh, 9)
-- "Atsuta became the logical name for the new engine, derived from the holy Shrine in Aichi Prefecture, after which that section of Nagoya, and the plant, took their names. It was at this plant that all the in-line engines for the IJN were produced, and it remained the only engine of this type that was used during the war. Production was off to a slow start, with only five Atsuta 21 engines completed in 1940. Although the test models of Judy were powered by German manufactured engines, Aichi's preproduction aircraft in the spring of 1942 were able to be powered by the indigenous Atusta 21 1400hp. This set the pattern for the engine that would power Seiran [Aichi M6A]." (Mikesh, 9)
Aichi AE1A Atsuta 21 [Ha.60] 1400hp
-- "The first flight of Seiran took place in November 1943. The planned use of the Atsuta 32 engine failed to materialize and the Atsuta 21 was substituted initially." (Mikesh, 6)
-- "Seiran first took to the air in November 1943. Some sources indicate that the prototype aircraft used the Atsuta 21, however a firsthand account states that only the first was so equipped, and later changed to match all others with the Atsuta 32." (Mikesh, 11)
altitude (m) |
horsepower (hp) |
takeoff |
1400 |
1700 |
1250 |
5000 |
1290 |
-- [AE1A designation and above data] (Mikesh, 29-30)
Aichi AE1P Atsuta 32 [Ha.60] 1400hp
-- "Since a torpedo or bomb had to be in place on the aircraft while stowed within the [submarine] hangar, an inline engine to reduce fuselage sectional area was a logical selection. The Aichi Atsuta 32 was the choice [for the Aichi M6A Seiran]. This 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engine was a near copy of the German Daimler-Benz DB 601A for which Aichi had the production rights. The engine developed 1400hp. Its inverted 'V' design offered good pilot visibility and gave the plane a lower center of gravity than other types." (Mikesh, 3)
-- "Peak output of the Atsuta 32 engine reached 107 in May 1944, but these were shared with Judy, which was produced in greater quantity. Engine production slumped markedly in September and October of 1944 because of mechanical difficulties encountered in machining crankshafts, but recovered briefly in November only to be negated by the shattering earthquake in December. Engine production became so critical that it had a direct effect on the production rate of Seiran as the major supply problem. Difficulties in obtaining engine components along with air attacks upon the Atsuta engine plant also had a profound effect." (Mikesh, 10)
-- "Maintenance difficulties with the Atsuta engine eventually led to the installation of the more reliable Mitsubishi Kinsei 62 radial engine to power Judy, but such a modification was not possible for Seiran confined to the submarine's available space. Fortunately, the inverted-V design placed the cylinders and other components of the engine at an optimum position for maintenance within the submarine hangar. Special attention was also given to the placement of the radiator for ease in maintenance with the wings folded. Seiran, then, became the only Japanese airplane that retained the inline engine installation throughout the war, for the Army's Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony converted to the Mitsubishi Ha-112 radial air-cooled engine, to become Ki-100, Type 5 Fighter." (Mikesh, 10)
-- "Postwar evaluation by teams of engine technicians rated the standard of worksmanship of the Atsuta engine far below that of the Army's Kawasaki Type 2 counterpart, and even lower in comparison with other engines having the usual high standards of Mitsubishi and Nakajima." (Mikesh, 10)
altitude (m) |
horsepower (hp) |
takeoff |
1400 |
1700 |
1340 |
5000 |
1290 |
-- [AE1P designation and above data] (Mikesh, 29-30)
others:
BMW IX ... Kawasaki Ki-3
DB 600G ... Yokosuka D4Y1 prototypes