Interwar Rarity; Tachikawa Ki-55
The next machine added to my site is the Tachikawa Ki-55 two seat advanced trainer, or offically the Army Type 99 Advanced Trainer. Based on the all-metal Tachikawa Ki-36 Army Type 98 Direct Co-operation Plane, which first flew in April 1938, the Ki-55 was especially modified for the training role, with more warlike accoutrments removed to save weight. Some 1,389 Ki-55s were built by Tachikawa (1078) and Kawasaki (311), with production ending in December 1943. This aeroplane, in the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, Beijing is a K-55, but is often incorrectly recorded as a Ki-36. There are visual differences between the two types; the underfloor observation windows of the Ki-36 are missing, as are the wheel spats and the wing leading edge fixed slots, making this a Ki-55. The display board also states that it is indeed the trainer variant. Inherited by the Communist Chinese after the 'People's Revolution' in 1949, the aeroplane's exact origins are unknown - it is reported to have been one of two captured from the Japanese at the end of the war, the second being the Ki-36 at the aviation museum at Don Muang, Bangkok, Thailand. Its paint scheme is not original and has faded with time; it has been painted in at least two other schemes other than its current one; it wore an all-over silver scheme and Communist Chinese stars and bars national insignia and an all-over orange scheme with the number '101' and the post-war roundels it wears today at one stage, before receiving its current colours. It was on display at the China Aviation Museum at Xiaotingshan for some time; it was likely that it was on display in central Beijing before going to Xiaotingshan, as it has been photographed in the all-over silver scheme in Beijing, but has been photographed in the orange and its current scheme whilst at Xiaotingshan. Black and white wartime images of an aeroplane wearing its '103' markings exist, but it cannot be confirmed that they are indeed of this exact aeroplane. Nevertheless, this is a rare survivor of a troubled time in both China and Japan's history. Click on the image to go to the walkaround page.
