Nakajima Ki-49 Donryū

what is it?

The Nakajima Ki-49 Donryū (呑龍, "Storm Dragon") was a twin-engine heavy bomber designed and produced by the Japanese aviation manufacturer Nakajima Aircraft Company. Operated by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) as the Army Type 100 Heavy Bomber Model 1, it was known to the Allied by the reporting name "Helen". The design of the Ki-49 was greatly shaped by a forerunning bomber operated by the IJAAS, the Mitsubishi Ki-21.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 20.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 492 km/htop speed
• range 2,000 kmwithout refuelling
• size 11.4 tmax take-off weight
• built 819made in total

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 87 years ago, in 1939.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 20.4 m: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 2,000 km: 11× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1939-08

introduced

1941

retired

1945

status

retired

number built

819

role

heavy bomber

origin

🇯🇵 Japan

makers

Nakajima

engines

2× Nakajima Ha-109 Army Type 2 fourteen-cylinder air-cooled radial

crew

8

length

16.5 m

wingspan

20.4 m

height

4.3 m

max take-off weight

11.4 t

top speed

492 km/h

cruise speed

350 km/h

range

2,000 km

ceiling

9,300 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.