JAAF
68th Sentai
or 78th Sentai
D Pennefather 1973
Roy Worchester 1973
Bruce Hoy 1985
Weeks Museum 2001
Aircraft History
Built by Kawasaki in July 1943, with "Kou" armament of 2 x 12.7mm fuselage; 2 x 7.7mm wings. Uncoded serial number 279. The aircraft was overall silver, with a white fuselage band,
and green "snake wave" camoflage pattern. Its spinner was
brown, with with green striped and yellow striped propller blades.
Wartime History
Likely based in the Wewak area. Force landed in a mangrove swamp near Wom
Point, but suffered suffered only minor damage to the starbord
wing during the crash.
Recovery & Display
Recovered from a mangrove swamp by Roy
Worcester in 1973, and displayed at Roy Worcester Historical Centre. Later, it was
moved to the PNG War Museum at
Port Morseby.
Export to United States
The aircraft was exported to the USA sometime in the early 1980's where
it was initally bought by Justin Hoisington, and stored in his
hanger at Chino, CA. Later, it was resold to Weeks
Fantasy of
Flight Museum.
Bruce Hoy adds:
"The Worcester Tony was bought by Justin Hoisington in Chino,
California. Hoisington is reported to also been the individual
who disassembled Ki-61 Tony 640, and
was only able to retrieve the tail section. While in the United
States in 1985, I
saw in Hoisington's hangar, the Worcester Tony, and two tail units,
one
of
which I am sure
was off the Nuku Tony
[Ki-61 640]."
Display
Today, it is displayed unrestored at Weeks
Fantasy of Flight Museum. According to the museum: "It will
eventually be restored to flying condition".
Restoration
In 2005, this airframe was reportedly being sent to Precision Aerospace in Wangaretta, Australia to be restored as part of a Tony restoration project including Ki-61 640.
References
Thanks to Jim Long for manufacture data.
Ki-61
Photo Archive
