Ki-87 - Revision history

U136299852: Minor grammar fix

2024-04-22T15:49:48Z

Minor grammar fix

U17577377: Edits

2024-02-14T12:24:07Z

Edits

Show changes

U21187496: Many changes. Pros/cons updates, Mec updates, combat strategies update

2023-12-30T19:14:32Z

Many changes. Pros/cons updates, Mec updates, combat strategies update

U38088265: /* Description */

2023-11-14T13:11:44Z

‎Description

U17577377: Reformatted

2023-11-13T14:18:18Z

Reformatted

Show changes

U44629479: /* Survivability and armour */ Edits

2022-12-05T12:12:13Z

‎Survivability and armour: Edits

U44629479: Edits

2022-12-04T22:01:40Z

Edits

U21187496: /* Manual Engine Control */ Some changes/updates to what i wrote before

2022-12-04T20:42:52Z

‎Manual Engine Control: Some changes/updates to what i wrote before

U21187496: /* Survivability and armour */ 16mm not 8.5mm

2022-12-04T20:33:29Z

‎Survivability and armour: 16mm not 8.5mm

U38088265: /* Manual Engine Controls */

2022-11-21T00:44:20Z

‎Manual Engine Controls

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 == General info ==
 === Flight performance ===
-[[File:Ki87 turbocharger.png|thumb|The Ki-87's turbocharger, used at high altitudes to bomber intercept]]
+[[File:Ki87 turbocharger.png|thumb|The Ki-87's turbocharger, used at high altitudes to intercept bombers.]]
 {{Specs-Avia-Flight}}
 <!-- ''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.'' -->

@@ Line 128: / Line 128: @@
 === Tactics to Win With ===
 [[File:Ki87 gunview.png|thumb|Ki-87 Boom and Zooms a Bearcat]]
 * '''Force head-ons''': The Ki-87 can't energy fight or turn fight with any props (save [[Ta 152 C-3]] and [[P-47M-1-RE]]). It will be outclassed. The only time you should ever turn fight is if the enemy is crippled or in a low energy state. To deal with fighters that are higher than you, you need to step up and force a head-on. Most likely, Allied players will take the head-on. Your guns' good velocity should be enough to kill them. Remember to pull off early, as even a quick burst can kill you. If the enemy is higher than you and appears to engage, dive down. The enemy will most likely level out. Keep your speed high, as this will allow you to pull up and engage in vertical head-ons. This is your last chance to score the kill, as the enemy will now be at an advantage.
-* '''Keep your speed high''': You need to worry about speed and altitude. DO NOT go for ground targets, as you will be an easy target for enemy fighters (a low and slow Ki-87 is as good as dead). Instead, keep your speed and altitude high, and have spatial awareness. Know where your enemy is.
+* '''Keep your altitude''': You need to worry about speed and altitude. DO NOT go for ground targets, as you will be an easy target for enemy fighters (a low and slow Ki-87 is as good as dead). Instead, keep your speed and altitude high, and have spatial awareness. Know where your enemy is.
 === Manual Engine Control ===
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 |}
-You'll need to keep the prop pitch at 98-99% while in steeper climb, and adjust it to 75% when traveling above 700 km/h. The radiators should be kept at 100% (if prop pitch 90% or above) while on WEP.
+You'll need to keep the prop pitch at 80-85-90% while in steeper climb (increase with altitude). This should not be done in prolonged manner as engine will fry very quickly on any other radiator setting than 100% (but this has serious impact on energy retention/speed).
-After you reach desired altitude, and you are about to dive on someone or level out (15-10 degrees), change propeller pitch to 75% and radiator to 10% or lower, if you want to conserve as much energy as possible.
+Change prop pitch back to 100% if you end up in vertical or stall fight (but only after you become slower than 350 km/h).
-Change prop pitch back to 100% if you end up in vertical or stall fight (but only after you become slower than 350 km/h)
+Prop pitch should be gradually increased when in level flight (5-10 degrees) for max performance with increasing altitude.
 === Pros and cons ===
@@ Line 159: / Line 166: @@
 '''Pros:'''
 * Excels in high-altitude bomber intercepting
-* Great gun velocity, you can engage bombers from over 1 km away
+* Excels in high-altitude bomber intercepting.
-* Powerful armament consisting of 2 x 30 mm cannons and 2 x 20 mm cannons
+* Decent gun velocity, you can engage bombers from 1 km away.
-* No wing-mounted fuel tanks
+* Powerful armament consisting of 2 x 30 mm cannons and 2 x 20 mm cannons.
-* 30 mm cannons have a huge amount of ammo
+* No wing-mounted fuel tanks.
-* High red-line speed of 840 km/h
+* 30 mm cannons have a huge amount of ammo.
-* Fast at diving
+* High red-line speed of 840 km/h.
-* Can equip bombs, although it will affect the aircraft's speed and turning time
+* Fast at diving.
 '''Cons:'''
-* Not as manoeuvrable as other Japanese aircraft, feels very sluggish
-* Really bad energy retention, especially when coming out of a dive
+* Manual Engine Controls are required to play plane competitively. Auto settings greatly hinder plane (already limited) performance.
-* Fuselage fuel-tank is susceptible to fire
+* Not as maneuverable as other aircraft, it's very sluggish.
-* Overheats extremely quickly, it's advisable to open the radiators using Manual Engine Controls
+* Really bad energy retention without MEC, especially when coming out of a dive.
-* Mediocre climb rate
+* Fuselage fuel-tank is susceptible to fire.
-* No interceptor spawn
+* Mediocre climb rate (19m/s).
-* 30 mm HEF-T has only a maximum penetration of 2 mm
+* No interceptor spawn, has to spend 8 minutes on side climbing.
-* Begins to lock up at around 700 km/h (435 mph)
+* 30 mm HEF-T has only a maximum penetration of 2 mm.
 == History ==
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 ;Skins
 * [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=ki_87 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]
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 * ''reference to the series of the aircraft;''
 * ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.'' -->
 ;Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
 * Japanese:
 ** [[Ki-94-II]]

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 The '''{{Specs|name}}''' was a high-altitude fighter-interceptor designed to counter the American B-29 Superfortress raids on Japan. It was powered by a Nakajima Ha-44-12 radial engine with an exhaust-driven turbo-supercharger, which gave it a high performance at altitudes above 10,000 meters. The Ki-87 had a pressurized cockpit, a four-bladed propeller, and a rearward folding undercarriage. It was armed with two 30 mm and two 20 mm cannons, and could carry a 250 kg bomb under the fuselage. The Ki-87 was developed from 1942, but faced delays due to technical problems and material shortages. Only one prototype was completed and flown in April 1945, but no production aircraft were built before the end of the war.
-It was introduced in [[Update 1.63 "Desert Hunters"]]. Originally a pack vehicle, it was discontinued from the store after the [[wt:en/news/5611-shop-summer-sale-independence-day-en|2018 Independence Day Sale]], but was brought back for [[wt:en/news/6442-special-war-thunder-reaches-its-7th-year-en|War Thunder's 7th Anniversary]] as a premium purchasable in-game for 6,090 Golden Eagles {{ge}}. The Ki-87 is a Japanese super prop with a powerful armament and a turbo-supercharger. It performs poorly in sharp turns, rolls slowly, and overheats on WEP. Manual engine control is needed to optimize its performance. The Ki-87 excels at high altitude combat, where it can outperform many planes and dive at high speeds. The cannons are very effective and can destroy bombers easily. The Ki-87 has a fair climb-rate and is able to maintain energy after a dive to regain altitude. The recommended settings are minimum fuel, 500 m gun convergence, vertical targeting, tracer belts for 30 mm and universal belts for 20 mm.
+It was introduced in [[Update 1.63 "Desert Hunters"]] as a pack vehicle. The Ki-87 is a Japanese super prop with a powerful armament and a turbo-supercharger. It performs poorly in sharp turns, rolls slowly, and overheats on WEP. Manual engine control is needed to optimize its performance. The Ki-87 excels at high altitude combat, where it can outperform many planes and dive at high speeds. The cannons are very effective and can destroy bombers easily. The Ki-87 has a fair climb-rate and is able to maintain energy after a dive to regain altitude. The recommended settings are minimum fuel, 500 m gun convergence, vertical targeting, tracer belts for 30 mm and universal belts for 20 mm.
 == General info ==
@@ Line 146: / Line 148: @@
 |}
 You'll need to keep the prop pitch at 98-99% while in steeper climb, and adjust it to 75% when traveling above 700 km/h. The radiators should be kept at 100% (if prop pitch 90% or above) while on WEP.
 After you reach desired altitude, and you are about to dive on someone or level out (15-10 degrees), change propeller pitch to 75% and radiator to 10% or lower, if you want to conserve as much energy as possible.
 Change prop pitch back to 100% if you end up in vertical or stall fight (but only after you become slower than 350 km/h)
 === Pros and cons ===

@@ Line 85: / Line 85: @@
 <!-- ''Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.'' -->
-* 70 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front.
+* 70 mm (63°) Bulletproof glass in cockpit front.
-* 16 mm Steel plate behind the pilot.
+* 16 mm (12°) Steel plate behind the pilot.
 === Modifications and economy ===

@@ Line 157: / Line 157: @@
 After you reach desired altitude, and you are about to dive on someone or level out (15-10 degrees), change propeller pitch to 75% and radiator to 10% or lower, if you want to conserve as much energy as possible.
-Change prop pitch back to 100% if you end up in vertical /or/ stall fight (but only after you become slower than 350km/h)
+Change prop pitch back to 100% if you end up in vertical or stall fight (but only after you become slower than 350 km/h)
 === Pros and cons ===
@@ Line 189: / Line 189: @@
 == History ==
 <!-- ''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).'' -->
-Improved metallurgy and engineering in the 1930s saw a massive leap in aircraft performance, especially the once bulky, boxy, lumbering bombers reborn as sleek and sexy machines that left old fashioned wooden fighters in its vapour trail.  It was not long before those flying rag fighters were also updated with gleaming aluminum and once again surpassed the bombers top speed. Yet bombers still had a trick up their sleeves, altitude.
+Improved metallurgy and engineering in the 1930s saw a massive leap in aircraft performance, especially the once bulky, boxy, lumbering bombers reborn as sleek and sexy machines that left old fashioned wooden fighters in its vapour trail. It was not long before those flying rag fighters were also updated with gleaming aluminum and once again surpassed the bombers top speed. Yet bombers still had a trick up their sleeves, altitude.
 [[File:Ki87 port.png|thumb|Ki-87 at the cargo port]]
-Flying above 9,000 m (29,500 ft) in super cold thin air and rarefied oxygen was both a technical and physiological challenge.  The long wings and large interiors of bombers offered space needed for extreme high altitude flight, example the Ju 86P/R bomber which flew above 12,000 m (40,000 ft) with impunity over England, beyond the RAFs reach for months.  The B-17 and B-24 could also operate at altitudes the Bf 109 and Fw 190 had difficulty reaching.
+Flying above 9,000 m (29,500 ft) in super cold thin air and rarefied oxygen was both a technical and physiological challenge. The long wings and large interiors of bombers offered space needed for extreme high altitude flight, example the Ju 86P/R bomber which flew above 12,000 m (40,000 ft) with impunity over England, beyond the RAFs reach for months. The B-17 and B-24 could also operate at altitudes the Bf 109 and Fw 190 had difficulty reaching.
 [[File:Ki87 fromtruck.png|thumb|The Ki-87 from another angle in Cargo Port]]
-Predicting the same for Japan, the military wisely ordered research into high altitude single engine fighters as early as 1942 and by 1943 work was underway on the future Nakajima Ki-87 and the alternate Tachikawa Ki-94.  At 12,000 m the air density is about 1/4 that of sea level necessitating a huge supercharged engine, but its internal "blower" needed an additional boost so a "turbo-supercharger" was added, powered by high velocity exhaust gas.  This combination is exactly like the P-47 Thunderbolt has, except this time the turbo was mounted on the right side of nose on the prototypes and not in rear fuselage.  High aspect-ratio wings were chosen for the thin air (compare Fw 190 with Ta 152), but with limited space to mount the dual pair of 30 mm and 20 mm cannons in an unusual step Nakajima chose a landing gear retraction like on P-40 Kittyhawk.  High altitude flight is also extremely uncomfortable for the pilot so the cockpit was partially pressurized and extra tanks of oxygen installed. Pilot armour, thick bulletproof glass, self-sealing fuel tanks, and hard point for bombs were also added. Finally enough fuel for at least 2 hours flight resulted in a massive aircraft for the Japanese, well over twice the weight of the A6M2 Zero.
+Predicting the same for Japan, the military wisely ordered research into high altitude single engine fighters as early as 1942 and by 1943 work was underway on the future Nakajima Ki-87 and the alternate Tachikawa Ki-94. At 12,000 m the air density is about 1/4 that of sea level necessitating a huge supercharged engine, but its internal "blower" needed an additional boost so a "turbo-supercharger" was added, powered by high velocity exhaust gas. This combination is exactly like the P-47 Thunderbolt has, except this time the turbo was mounted on the right side of nose on the prototypes and not in rear fuselage. High aspect-ratio wings were chosen for the thin air (compare Fw 190 with Ta 152), but with limited space to mount the dual pair of 30 mm and 20 mm cannons in an unusual step Nakajima chose a landing gear retraction like on P-40 Kittyhawk. High altitude flight is also extremely uncomfortable for the pilot so the cockpit was partially pressurized and extra tanks of oxygen installed. Pilot armour, thick bulletproof glass, self-sealing fuel tanks, and hard point for bombs were also added. Finally enough fuel for at least 2 hours flight resulted in a massive aircraft for the Japanese, well over twice the weight of the A6M2 Zero.
-It was an enormous technical challenge for Japanese industry taking a long time to overcome teething issues.  Japanese aircraft rarely utilized turbo-superchargers in their planes, so experience in operation was limited, and although the 90° retracting gear was a favourite design, it took Nakajima months to get it to operate correctly.
+It was an enormous technical challenge for Japanese industry taking a long time to overcome teething issues. Japanese aircraft rarely utilized turbo-superchargers in their planes, so experience in operation was limited, and although the 90° retracting gear was a favourite design, it took Nakajima months to get it to operate correctly.
-The prototype flew for the first time in April 1945 at a time when the anticipated B-29 bomber was pounding Japan, but by then it was too late.  Disruption by bombing and dwindling resources prevented the second prototype from flying and attrition of what little fighter defence Japan had.  Ironically, with such weak home defence, the B-29s flew much lower so they could bomb more accurately, negating the purpose of the high altitude Ki-87.
+The prototype flew for the first time in April 1945 at a time when the anticipated B-29 bomber was pounding Japan, but by then it was too late. Disruption by bombing and dwindling resources prevented the second prototype from flying and attrition of what little fighter defence Japan had. Ironically, with such weak home defence, the B-29s flew much lower so they could bomb more accurately, negating the purpose of the high altitude Ki-87.
 == Media ==
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 ;Videos
-{{Youtube-gallery|4vA1mwpSG2Q|'''{{PAGENAME}} - Mr Spark Ruins The Bomber Hunting Party''' - ''Napalmratte''|xklKT8qdvPo|'''The Shooting Range #20''' - ''Metal Beasts'' section at 00:42 discusses the Ki-87.|eaefVIIZo78|'''Premium Review: {{PAGENAME}} [Headon Monster]'''  - ''Jengar''|khGg-GvfWLo|'''Japanese Thunderbolt - {{PAGENAME}} Review - 1.63''' - ''MikeGoesBoom''}}
+{{Youtube-gallery|4vA1mwpSG2Q|'''{{PAGENAME}} - Mr Spark Ruins The Bomber Hunting Party''' - ''Napalmratte''|xklKT8qdvPo|'''The Shooting Range #20''' - ''Metal Beasts'' section at 00:42 discusses the Ki-87.|eaefVIIZo78|'''Premium Review: {{PAGENAME}} [Headon Monster]''' - ''Jengar''|khGg-GvfWLo|'''Japanese Thunderbolt - {{PAGENAME}} Review - 1.63''' - ''MikeGoesBoom''}}
 == See also ==

@@ Line 153: / Line 153: @@
 |}
 [[File:Ki87 blueairfield.png|thumb|A Ki-87 sporting a blue camouflage]]
-You'll need to keep the prop pitch at 98-99% while in a climb, and adjust it to 90% when traveling above 700 km/h. The radiators should be kept at 100% while on WEP.
+You'll need to keep the prop pitch at 98-99% while in steeper climb, and adjust it to 75% when traveling above 700 km/h. The radiators should be kept at 100% (if prop pitch 90% or above) while on WEP.
-After you reach desired altitude, and you are about to dive on someone, change propeller pitch to 75% and radiator to 50% or lower if you want to conserve as much energy as possible.
+After you reach desired altitude, and you are about to dive on someone or level out (15-10 degrees), change propeller pitch to 75% and radiator to 10% or lower, if you want to conserve as much energy as possible.
 === Pros and cons ===