Japanese Army Air Service Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa
MODEL BY:
D. C. Evans
Model Scale:
1/48
MODEL ADDED:
10/17/1992
historical significance
First Albuquerque Visit: 1947
Additional Information:
The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (“Peregrine falcon”), formal Japanese designation Army Type 1 Fighter, is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II. The Allied forces called the Hayabusa “Oscar”.
After WWII, this Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar II was taken to Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque in 1947 for evaluation. It was flown in the local area for tests and then for air shows.
The aircraft was heavily damaged after being dropped while attempting to load it on a flatbed trailer in 1958. In 1960, the plane was sent to Wright-Patterson AFB for restoration. After the repairs were made, the plane was placed on display along with a Bell P-59 in front of the New Mexico Air National Guard (NMANG) Headquarters building on Kirtland AFB.
Both aircraft were eventually removed and sent to salvage. The NMANG supply officer Capt. Rhodes Arnold rescued the planes from KAFB’s salvage yard and sent them to the Air Force Museum where the Oscar was again restored and placed on display at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) museum in Oshkosh Wisconsin in 1990.
An Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar II is on display at the EAA museum.
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