About the Hayate (FRANK)

A plane which since July 1932 the Nakajima Aircraft Mfg. Company
had designed and manufactured for trial under the name of KI-84
was officially adopted in April 1944 by the Army as the Fighter
Type 4 "Hayate" and the mass production was started. The number
of the Hayate produced by the end of World War II totaled about
3,500 which ranks next to that of the Zero and the Hayabusa but
is the largest in the Japanese aircraft history in view of the
number produced in about a year. The performance of the Hayate
was equal to, or higher than that of the Allies' fighters of
those days. This was the first fighter worthy of the name having
excellent speed (climbing ability), firepower and maneuverability
that became available to the Army. Those days when Japan feared
she might lose the command of the air even over Japan proper, the
Hayate called "the Decisive fighter to turn the fate of the
Greater East Asia" was accepted by fighter units with hopes as a
new fighter to beat enemy combat planes. It made its first
campaign over Central China as a member of the 22nd Air Flotilla.


As the main-strength fighter of the Japanese Army, it later
showed activity against overwhelming American planes in the
Battle of Leyte in the Philippines and the Battle of Okinawa.
Many were used as bomb-laden suicide attack planes to smash
bodily into the enemy. The Hayate also bravely intercepted B29
bombers and ship-planes of US task forces invading Japan proper.
The Allies' pilots had an extreme horror of the Japanese fighter
and called it " Frank". The Hayate had a maximum speed of 624
km/h, which was higher than that of any other fighter in Japan.
The high speed was much due to the excellent performance of the
Nakajima's HA - 45 engine employed. The engine had take-off
output of 2,000 hp and was 1,180 mm in maximum diameter, i.e.
output per unit front area was 1,83 hp/sq cm, which was
remarkably high for an air-cooled engine. Thus the engine was
ideal for a fighter that was expected to fly faster. (A large
number of the HA-45 engines were also mounted on the Navy's
famous high-speed reconnaissance planes such as the Sain and the
Shidenkai under towards of Homare engine.) Many of the engines
produced towards the end of the war, however, did not whow such
high performance as originally designed because of the shortage
of materials and lowered working technique.

Consequently, the Hayate's working ratio and flying performance
were extremely lowered, and the fighter could not display its
ability in full. The bad condition of the engines also resulted
from the fact that the octane rating of fuel was lowered towards
the end of the war. When the Hayate using fuel of 140 octane
rating and high-quality ignition plugs was tested in the United
States after the war, it made a record of a maximum speed of 689
km/h, and was praised as "the best one of all Japanese fighters
appeared in the Pacific War".