View source for Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien

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| image=[[File:ki61_3d.gif|300px|Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien]]
| type=[[Unit Types#Fighter|Fighter]]
| owner=[[Japan]]
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|title=History
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The Ki-61 Hien was the only Japanese production fighter plane to use an inline engine, it was also the first fighter to feature an armoured cockpit and self sealing fuel tanks as standard. In 1939 the Japanese acquired a licence to built the German Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine, the same engine was also used in the [[Messerschmitt Bf-109G-6|Messerschmitt Bf 109]] and Macchi C.202. Which caused much confusion as when American pilots first encountered the Ki-61 during the Doolittle Raid in 1942 they reported back that it was a German aircraft. The Ki-61 fought successfully during the first part of the war outmatching the American [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|P-40 Warhawk]], however its inline engine was very complex and difficult to maintain, often more planes were lost to engine failures then to enemy action.    


==References==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_Ki-61 Wikipedia]
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image:ki61.jpg{{!}}
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