KI-4 SINGLE FLOAT VERSION

The Nakajima Ki-4 was a Japanese fixed-landing biplane reconnaissance aircraft from the interwar period and World War II. The drive was provided by a single engine Nakajima Ha-8 with a power of 750 hp. The prototype flight took place in 1933 or 1934, and the machine entered the line in 1934. About 520 aircraft of this type were built in the course of serial production. The deck armament consisted of four 7.7 mm machine guns. The machine could carry a load of bombs weighing up to 50 kilograms. The Nakajima Ki-4 was commissioned by the Army's aviation headquarters, which in the early 1930s was looking for a new reconnaissance aircraft with the best possible performance and able to provide direct support to land forces. In the course of serial production, only one version of this aircraft was created (designation: Nakajima Ki-4 or Nakajima Type 94), but prototypes of the Ki-4 converted into a hydrofoil with a fixed float landing gear appeared. However, due to the lack of interest of the Navy, these variants were discontinued. Nakajima Ki-4 planes were used very heavily during the initial period of the Japanese-Chinese War (1937-1945), also as light attack aircraft. However, from 1941, as machines already obsolete, they were moved to liaison and communication tasks and transferred to a certain number of Manchukuo. The last Nakajima Ki-4s were withdrawn from service in the Japanese Air Force by 1943.