Tachikawa Ki.74 ("Patsy"/"Pat")

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The Ki-74 was first conceived in 1939 as a long-range reconnaissance aircraft to operate from Manchurian bases. Its development was shelved when further research was needed to design its pressurized cabin. Late in 1941 the project was revived as a long-range high-altitude bomber-reconnaissance  aircraft capable of bombing the United States mainland. The war ended before the aircraft could be deployed in sufficient numbers. When the Ki-74 designation was first identified in a captured Japanese document, it was thought to apply to a fighter type and was coded with the boy's name "Pat". Later, proper translation of captured documents finally confirmed that the Ki-74 was actually being developed as a bomber type, the codename was feminized to become "Patsy". The gender change of the name was an embarrassment to TAIC (the Allied group in charge of the aircraft codenames), and was one of the very few code name changes late in the war.

Tachikawa Ki.74

Type:           Experimental high-altitude long range recon-bomber
Service: 	Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF)
Crew:           five
Armament:       one 12.7mm Ho-103 machine gun
		up to 2205 lb (1000 kg) bombs
Reference: 	Francillon: 244

Specifications:
        Length:         57' 11" (17.65 m)
        Height:         16' 9" (5.1 m)
        Wingspan:       88' 7" (27 m)
        Wing area:      860.8 sq. ft (80 sq. m)
        Empty Weight:   22,481 lbs (10,200 kg)
        Loaded Weight:  42,758 lbs (19,400 kg)

Propulsion:
        No. of Engines: 2
        Powerplant:     Mitsubishi Ha-104 Ru radial
        Horsepower:     2000 hp each

Performance:
        Range:          4971 miles (8000 km)
        Cruise Speed:   249 mph (400 km/hr) at 26,245 ft
        Max Speed:      354 mph (570 km/hr) at 27,890 ft
        Climb to/in:    26,245 ft (8000 m) in 17 min 0 sec
        Ceiling:        39,370 ft (12,000 m)

Production:		16 prototype and pre-production Ki-74s total

Additional information on this aircraft can be found at Wikipedia HERE.

For a very nice scale color drawing of this aircraft, see here.

Additional color schemes for this aircraft can be found here.

(go to Nakajima page)

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