Tachikawa Ki-94 II

Tachikawa Ki-94 II

Tachikawa Ki-94 II

The Tachikawa Ki-94 II was a single-seat, piston-engine monoplane fighter, developed for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force along the same requirements as the Nakajima Ki-87, which had been the Army’s fall-back design for the original Tachikawa Ki-94 I Intended to counter B-29 raids, it was optimized for high-altitude interception with a pressurized cockpit and heavy armament.

This design was approved by the Koku Hombu, and the aircraft was designated Ki-94-II (the scrapped earlier Ki-94 design was named the Ki-94-I). An order was placed for one static test airframe, three prototypes, and eighteen pre-production aircraft. Only 2 prototypes were built in the event; the first was equipped with a single 2,541 hp Nakajima Ha219 engine, driving a 4-blade propeller because the 6-blade one was not ready. The second prototype was to be fitted with a 6-blade propeller. The war’s end however stopped the construction of the second prototype and also found the first prototype still being readied for its maiden flight, the Ki-94-II never taking to the air.