KAWASAKI TYPE 93 LIGHT BOMBER KI-3

The Kawasaki Ki-3 (another designation: Kawasaki KDA-3) was a Japanese bomber bomber with a fixed undercarriage from the interwar period. The drive in the basic version was provided by a single, licensed engine BMW IX with 790 hp. The flight of the prototype took place in 1933, and serial production continued in the years 1933-1935, ending with the production of about 240 copies of this aircraft. The deck armament consisted of two 7.7 mm machine guns. The plane could also carry a load of bombs weighing up to 500 kilograms. The Kawasaki Ki-3 was commissioned by the Japanese army command as a successor to the Mitsubishi Type 87 and Kawasaki Type 88 bombers. A team of designers led by Richard Vogt, an engineer from the German Dornier factory, was responsible for the design of the new aircraft. Even the first prototypes of the new aircraft clearly outperformed their predecessors in terms of performance and maneuverability, and initially fulfilled the hopes placed on them. This led to a very rapid implementation of the new bomber into mass production. It turned out to be a mistake, because it was only in the course of operation that it turned out that the BMW IX engine, which provided the Kawasaki Ki-3 drive, had a very short life, and the compressors installed in it were highly emergency. What's worse - their repair in the field was impossible. These facts contributed to the rapid stoppage of the serial production of the Kawasaki Ki-3. Airplanes of this type took part in the initial period of the Japanese-Chinese war in 1937-1945, where despite problems with the engines, they gained rather flattering opinions of pilots flying them.