what is it?
The Kawasaki Ki-56 (Japanese: 一式貨物輸送機, Type 1 Freight Transport) was a Japanese, two-engine light transport aircraft used during World War II. It was known to the Allies by the reporting name Thalia. One-hundred twenty-one were built between 1940-43.
How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 20 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 86 years ago, in 1940.
- Top speed is 3.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 20 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Range of 3,300 km: 18× Amsterdam to Brussels.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1940-11
- introduced
- 1940
- number built
- 121
- role
- light transport
- makers
- Kawasaki Heavy Industries
- engines
- 2× Nakajima Ha-25
- crew
- 4
- length
- 14.9 m
- wingspan
- 20 m
- height
- 3.6 m
- max take-off weight
- 8,024 kg
- top speed
- 400 km/h
- range
- 3,300 km
- ceiling
- 8,000 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q209940, Wikipedia: Kawasaki Ki-56 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.