Mitsubishi Ki-46

The Mitsubishi Ki-46, the Army Type 100 Command Reconnaissance Aircraft code-named Dinah by the Allies, was a twin-engine long-range reconnaissance aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second World War. Mitsubishi began it after a December 1937 specification asking for six hours endurance and speed enough to evade any fighter, and a team under Tomio Kubo gave it a slim oval fuselage and closely cowled engines. The first prototype flew in November 1939 and proved underpowered, so the Ki-46-II with Ha-102 engines went into production, followed by the faster Ki-46-III. Mitsubishi built 1,742 between 1941 and 1944, and one complete Ki-46-III survives at the Royal Air Force Museum.