Nakajima Ki-84Ia Hayate (Frank)

Plane: Nakajima Ki-84Ia Hayate (Frank)

Weight (Empty/Loaded/Max): 5,864lb/ 7,955lb / 8,576lb

Wing Area: 226sq ft

Wing Loading: 25.9lb/sq ft / 35.2lb/sq ft / 37.9lb/sq ft

Length: 32' 7"

Span: 36' 10"

Wing Aspect: 6.0

Engine: 1800hp Nakajima Ha-45 Radial

Flaps: 3 settings

Visibility:

• Front: Good
• Sides: Excellent
• Rear: Good

Control Feel:

• Slow: Poor roll, Good Rudder/Elevator
• Near Sustained: Poor roll, Good Rudder/Elevator
• Fast: Poor roll, Good Rudder/Elevator

Stall Speed 1k (No Flaps/Full Flaps) 90/80mph

Guns:

Ordnance:
0: none
1: 2x100lb
2: 2x500lb
3: none

Fuel Time/Percent: 52 seconds/percent

Power/weight (Empty/Loaded/Max): 3/2lb/hp / 4.4lb/hp / 4.8lb/hp

Corner Velocity: 270mph

Durability: Fair

WEP time: 10 minutes

Maximum Angle-of-Attack (no flaps/full flaps): 17/17 degrees

Wing Incidence Angle (no flaps/full flaps): 3/4 degrees

Accleleration:

Climb:
1k-5k: 41s
5k-10k: 56s
10k-15k: 70s

Zoom Climb:
1k 400mph: +5800ft
1k 300mph: +3700ft

Dive:

Max Speed

Turn Performance

Corner Speed and Radii (1,000ft):

Speed: 270mph
Radius: 531ft
Sustained Turn Speed: 160mph
Sustained Turn Radius: 650ft
Full Flaps Speed: 115mph
Full Flaps Radius: 440ft

Roll Rate:
150mph: 6.2s
200mph: 4.9s
250mph: 5.1s
300mph: 6.5s
350mph: 9.9s
400mph: 16.0s

Minimum Full-Flaps Full-Power Split-S altitude:
150mph: 900ft
200mph: 1100ft
250mph: 1500ft
300mph: 1900ft

Hoof's Tips and Opinions:

The Nakajima Ki84 could arguably be the best fighter in Warbirds, as it does so many things so well. Unlike the other excellent performer in Warbirds, the Lockheed P38L, this plane takes an experienced hand, and someone familiar with the plane to do well. There are just so many ways to fly this plane wrong.

The Ki84 was developed from the hard lessons of fighting America in the first years of WWII. The designers at Nakajima listened well to the pilots and battle reports of combat, and learned that the prime ingredients of a good fighter were firepower, diving ability, durability, acceleration, and above all: speed. They delivered in spades with the Ki84, and even kept the Ki84 highly maneuverable. Despite it's maneuverability compared to most of the planes it fought, the Ki84 was a rather unmaneuverable plane by Japanese standards, in fact Nakajima had to add the famous Butterfly Flaps to improve it's low speed maneuverability. And these flaps are the key to why this plane is so good.

The two main areas where people go wrong with the Ki84 are low speed and high speed turning. At low speed, most first timers in the Ki84 will forget the flaps, and get eaten alive by even 109Fs. At high speed the very effective elevators of the bird will cause you to turn quick, but burn E very rapidly. It helps to have flown the F4U or P51 extensively before flying the Ki84 as they will teach you the fine art of E retention in high speed maneuvering. And finally, it is real easy to forget to pull those flaps back in when done turning, thus slashing the plane's acceleration/speed abilities significantly.

Most airplane designs focus on one attribute to the detriment of others. A plane optimized for speed doesn't turn so well. The reason for this is that a low wing loading creates an excellent turning plane, but at the same time, all that extra wing area adds drag to the plane, decreasing its top speed. The solution used in the Ki43, and employed very successfully in the Ki84 was to use extendable flaps optimized for combat, thus effectively adding more wing area when extended at low speeds for turning purposes. Naturally these flaps aren't as effective as regular flaps for landing purposes, but flaps designed for landing aren't designed with low drag in mind, as the idea is to *slow down* for landing, as well as provide more lift (thus allowing you to slow down even further before stalling). The Flaps are the key to the Ki84

The Ki84 is one of the fastest planes around, about 10mph faster than an F4U, and able to keep up with a P51 on the deck. It isn't the fastest plane, that honor goes to the infamous Dora, but she is one of the few that can extend reliably from most planes, and once away, can reverse and deal with that pesky Dora on her own grounds. This plane also dives quite well, with full elevator use clear up to 550mph. Unfortunately the ailerons tend to lock up at about 350mph, so be sure you are trimmed using auto-angle trim to ensure you don't die due to ailerons-trim-induced roll. This is important to remember when chasing/being chased by a good high speed roller (P38L, FW, F4U, P40E, P47), as it's often best to pull up and force the target/opponent to retreat/overshoot/burn E.

On the flip side, the Ki84 is rather light for its size, thus doesn't retain her speed above 350mph as well as other good divers. The P47, P51, F4U, and Dora will all dive faster than a Ki84, and will keep their speed for longer. The trade off? Acceleration. Weighing only 8000lbs loaded, the 1800hp engine can accelerate the Ki84 like a bullet, and her high sustained speed limit allows her to keep on accelerating until about 300mph or so (unlike other good accelerators like the Spit9 and 109F). A good tactic upon sighting a bogie is to zoom climb until at 150mph, and accelerate from there, you will get more energy overall than if you continue flying straight/level.

The Ki84, on the deck, can turn with a Spit9, and an F6F. But be careful getting into a sustained turn with these planes above 3,000ft. The Ki84, like the P39, loves to be low as her engine does not have a very good turbo (super?) charging, and thus her performance drops off with altitude. She can climb with a 109K up to 10k, from then on her climbing is not so good. Ironically, it is best to keep this bird above 7k, so you can use her awesome diving and zooming ability to best effect.

And finally, the Ki84 is the *best* vertical fighter out there. She has a low power/weight ratio, allowing her to zoom up almost 6000ft from 400mph, *and* she has the low wing loading to get that nose around once your follower has stalled out. The only other planes that can compete with her in the vertical are the Dora and 109K, both of which can't turn worth beans compared to the Ki84. The Spit9/109F both do quite well too, but the Ki84 can beat them both under 10k in a level turnfight.

Rules of thumb with the Ki84:

• Flaps *in* when above 200mph
• Flaps *out* if below 200mph and turning
• Flaps back *in* when you stop turning
• Don't turn with an F4F, P40, and Zero, the Ki43, or FM-2. Don't turn with a P38 or Spit5 above 3,000ft.
• Fly her with Energy always in mind. She is the best E fighter in the game, but her E fighting ability is useless if you are 100ft on the deck at 150mph.
• Barrel roll for guns defense. Her roll is perfectly timed for net lag, as she rolls just fast enough to allow net lag updates to throw the attacker off, and slow enough to make them think they can follow you. There's nothing like "convincing" a Dora to burn E for a bad shot, then following him up into the vertical after he misses, showing him why he shouldn't go vertical with a Ki84.

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