This mitsubishi ki51 sonia was surrendered at labuan in borneo in 1945 to no. This site deals with various technical aspects of imperial japanese aviation, primarily the aircraft. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia ground attack reconnaissance aircraft. There is a fine advanced build article of the ki51 by tetsuya inoue here, honouring his grandfather who was a test pilot on the type for mitsubishi heavy industries.
In the new model art ijaaf bomber book, shigeru nohara says he has seen a color photo taken after the war which cannot be published at this time that had a. The interior looks alright, with the exception of the pilots seat. It is a nice kit, which belies its age with decent detail for a 70s kit and nicely recessed panel lines. The box art as with most other nichimo aircraft kits was by mr. Their mitsubishi ki51 sonia remains unique in 148th scale and is another ever popular kit in its much debated blue colour scheme. To be truthful, it provides a little more coverage of the ki51 or sonia as it was dubbed by the allied air forces than the ki36 dubbed ida under the same system. Allied nickname sonia was a light bomberdive bomber in service with the imperial japanese army during world war ii. This kit was soon reboxed by hasegawa and has been available on and off over the years up to the present. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia, nichimo s4818 1975 scalemates. It was developed from the mitsubishi ki30, a light bomber that made its maiden flight in february 1937 and entered service in 1938. Initially deployed against chinese forces, it proved to be too slow to hold up against the fighter aircraft of the other allied powers.
Category aviation books, subcategory aviation magazin, isbnbox. Sonia was a more successful design than helen, serving throughout the pacific. The mitsubishi ki51 was an earlywar lowwing monoplane intended for the light bomberdive bomber role and was deployed by the imperial japanese army ija for a time in the conflict particularly during actions over china and burma. To meet an imperial japanese army specification of december 1937 for a groundattack aircraft, which it was suggested could be a development of the ki30 light bomber, mitsubishi produced two prototypes under the designation mitsubishi ki. The mitsubishi ki51 sonia page contains all related products, articles, books, walkarounds and plastic scale modeling projects dedicated this aircraft. Mitsubishi ki 51 sonia at warbirds resource group mitsubishi ki 51 sonia at pilotfriend. The design originated in december 1937 with a specification issued to mitsubishi for a ground attack aircraft based on the ki30 ann. The mitsubishi ki51 sonia was a very successful japanese ground attack aircraft that remained in service throughout the second world war. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia, hasegawa b5 198x scalemates. Also, if the seat is inaccurate, what did the actual seat look like. Can anyone confirm or deny the accuracy of the seat. The mitsubishi ki51 sonia page contains all related products, articles, books, walkarounds and plastic scale modeling projects dedicated to this aircraft. Army message board threads areas that are new or have been updated are identified by the red date to the right.
N11z is the second replica converted, and is actually a conversion. But the sonia, as it was called by the allies, was never a genuinely outstanding aircraft. Nevertheless its toughness, reliability, and maneuverability made it a fine ground attack and support plane. Between 1940 and july 1945, a total of 2,385 mitsubishi ki51s came off of the production line. Allied nickname sonia was a light bomberdive bomber in service with the. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia wears green surrender crosses labuan, borneo photo eddie geary collection via geoff ford this aircraft now on display at awm.
The first sonia to appear in injection modeled plastic was issued in 1975 by mania of japan. The conversion of a fairchild funk f23b ag aircraft to serve as a mitsubishi ki51 allied code name sonia world war ii imperial japanese army light bomber ground attack replica was first suggested by malcom laing, museum director of the texas air museum in slaton, texas. It looks more like one of the seats in my moms minivan than that of a combat aircraft. The mitsubishi ki51 type 99 assault plane allied codename. Coverage of the sonia includes from requirement to specification. Sonia was a military attack aircraft used during world war ii by the imperial japanese army air force. Work on the ki51 began in december 1937 at the suggestion of captain yuzo fujita. One of just a few japanese aircraft to see service throughout world war ii, mitsubishis ki51 looks vaguely like a frail, skinnier val dive bomber. The mitsubishi ki51 army designation type 99 assault plane. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia attacker, reconnaissance plane. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia ground attack reconnaissance. Flown by the japanese army air force in wwii, the type 99 assault plane was codenamed sonia by the allies. The mitsubishi ki51 was an earlywar lowwing monoplane intended for the light bomberdive bomber role and was deployed by the imperial.
Mitsubishi lent its considerable development and production talents to more than just zeroes during world war 2. Though somewhat slow, it was unusually well protected for a japanese design, was easily maintained, and was wellliked by its crews. The first production model of the ki51 series was the ki51i model which had a single mitsubishi ha26 engine which was capable of propelling it at speeds of up to 423 kilometers per hour. Home book shop wars battles biographies timeline weapons blog full index subjects concepts country.
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