Nakajima Ki-43-II Hayabusa 'Oscar': Engine cowling propeller and mount

Engine cowling propellor and mount from a Nakajima Ki-43-II Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon) all metal single engine low wing monoplane fighter aircraft.

This machine is believed to have been constructed in 1943. It has no identifiable serial number or data plate, and any markings that did exist had been removed prior to the engine entering the Memorial's collection.

The engine is an Army Type 1 fourteen cylinder air-cooled radial unit driving a constant speed 3-bladed metal propeller. The assembly includes the Army Type 1 engine, the propeller with damage from a crash landing, the front cowling ring, some cowling support parts and the tubular steel engine mount. Although this assembly is of the correct type for Ki. 43-II, it is not the original from aircraft 5462 (REL/12326.001 & .002) as the engine has only three mounting points, wherease the fuselage has four engine mounting points.

This engine was found lying next to aircraft 5462 at Madang.

This engine has been subject to mis-identififcation with another in the Memorial's collection, REL/08243, which was traded in 1995 for Beaufort aircraft parts. Although REL/08243 was physically removed from the collection in 1995, its database record remained active, causing the two engines to be mistaken each for the other over subsequent years. Extensive research in 2020 into the Memorial's collection of Nakajimia Ki43 Marks I & II Oscar components revealed the error, and REL/08243 has had its documentation updated to reflect this finding. ELECAV 2020-1-11-09.

The Nakajima Ki. 43 was the principle type of fighter aircraft used by the Japanese Army Air Forces (JAAF) during the Pacific conflict. Together with fighter aircraft of the Navy, machines of this type participated in all the significant Japanese land actions of WW2 after 1941, and the Ki. 43 (Allied code-name "Oscar") was used extensively in New Guinea against Australian forces. In September 1984 a combined Australian War Memorial/ RAAF team recovered this damaged airframe from Sek fighter airstrip at Alexishafen near Madang, New Guinea. An engine with cowling and propeller was also recovered from the same location. The machine bears evidence of extensive straffing damage and the probable impact of a para-fragmentation bomb. It is believed this aircraft was abandoned at the airstrip after suffering a landing accident. The fin bears the faded remains of a yellow V with red edges, which may be the insignia of the 63rd Air Combat Regiment, 3rd Company. The machine also bears a white combat stripe around the rear fuselage. The serial no. 5465 is applied on the port side just below the tail plane. The aircraft was originally camouflaged with an irregular pattern of sprayed patches of Japanese Army Airforce medium green. The airframe has been conserved following immersion in a chemical bath and the conversion of corrosion products into a stable form using electro-chemical techniques.