The mitsubishi ki51 soniapage contains all related products, articles, books, walkarounds and plastic scale modeling. The box art as with most other nichimo aircraft kits was by mr. Can anyone confirm or deny the accuracy of the seat. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia attacker, reconnaissance plane. Sonia was a military attack aircraft used during world war ii by the imperial japanese army air force. It is a nice kit, which belies its age with decent detail for a 70s kit and nicely recessed panel lines. 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.
Between 1940 and july 1945, a total of 2,385 mitsubishi ki51s came off of the production line. The first sonia to appear in injection modeled plastic was issued in 1975 by mania of japan. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia among the flying aircraft at the texas air museum are several replicas of the mitsubishi ki51. 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 ki51 sonia ground attack reconnaissance aircraft. Nevertheless its toughness, reliability, and maneuverability made it a fine ground attack and support plane. The mitsubishi ki51 sonia was a very successful japanese ground attack aircraft that remained in service throughout the second world war. Army message board threads areas that are new or have been updated are identified by the red date to the right. The mitsubishi ki51 was a light bomberdive bomber in service with the imperial japanese. Initially deployed against chinese forces, it proved to be too slow to hold up against the fighter aircraft of the other allied powers.
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. Allied nickname sonia was a light bomberdive bomber in service with the. It was developed from the mitsubishi ki30, a light bomber that made its maiden flight in february 1937 and entered service in 1938. The mitsubishi ki51 was an earlywar lowwing monoplane intended for the light bomberdive bomber role and was deployed by the imperial. But the sonia, as it was called by the allies, was never a genuinely outstanding aircraft. The mitsubishi ki51 type 99 assault plane allied codename. Flown by the japanese army air force in wwii, the type 99 assault plane was codenamed sonia by the allies.
Mitsubishi lent its considerable development and production talents to more than just zeroes during world war 2. Their mitsubishi ki51 sonia remains unique in 148th scale and is another ever popular kit in its much debated blue colour scheme. Also, if the seat is inaccurate, what did the actual seat look like. The design originated in december 1937 with a specification issued to mitsubishi for a ground attack aircraft based on the ki30 ann. The interior looks alright, with the exception of the pilots seat. 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. Home book shop wars battles biographies timeline weapons blog full index subjects concepts country. Category aviation books, subcategory aviation magazin, isbnbox. 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. Mitsubishi ki51 type 99 sonia november 5, 2015 pe matt aircraft, axis aircraft, ijaaf 0 in december 1937 the japanese army requested that mitsubishi work on a development of their ki30 light bomber, with an emphasis on creating a new light bomber that could operate from advanced airfields very close to the fighting front. The mitsubishi ki51 sonia page contains all related products, articles, books, walkarounds and plastic scale modeling projects dedicated to this aircraft. 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.
Sonia was a more successful design than helen, serving throughout the pacific. The mitsubishi ki51 army designation type 99 assault plane. Allied nickname sonia was a light bomberdive bomber in service with the imperial japanese army during world war ii. 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. Work on the ki51 began in december 1937 at the suggestion of captain yuzo fujita. Nichimo 148 scale mitsubishi ki 51 sonia wwii japanese. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia wears green surrender crosses labuan, borneo photo eddie geary collection via geoff ford this aircraft now on display at awm. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia, hasegawa b5 198x scalemates. It looks more like one of the seats in my moms minivan than that of a combat aircraft. Mitsubishi ki51 sonia ground attack reconnaissance. This kit was soon reboxed by hasegawa and has been available on and off over the years up to the present. 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. 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, nichimo s4818 1975 scalemates. Mitsubishi ki 51 sonia at warbirds resource group mitsubishi ki 51 sonia at pilotfriend. N11z is the second replica converted, and is actually a conversion. Coverage of the sonia includes from requirement to specification.
73 1567 1608 1099 1062 1453 1233 1488 1447 635 22 652 122 676 951 739 1459 1025 21 1189 1090 1278 764 708 1471 780 1604 782 629 1125 621 76 429 1452 354 7 1454 466 34