Kawasaki Ki-61-Ib c/n 640 in the Precision Aerospace hangar at Wangaratta.

Work on a limited production run of three Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien fighters is gathering pace at Murray Griffith’s Precision Aerospace Productions (PAP) workshops at Wangaratta in Victoria, Australia, reports Giuseppe Picarella.

Renowned for its Curtiss P-40 restorations, PAP is currently assembling the first of these aircraft, Ki-61-Ib c/n 640, which is destined for Jerry Yagen’s Fighter Factory in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. The fighter is now structurally complete; fabrication of the fuselage was fairly straightforward, except for the longerons, these “top-hat” section and box components being complex to produce. The main wing torsion box and leading edge are now completed and fitted to the fuselage, and the trailing-edge structure and flap system is now being fabricated. PAP plans to rework Kawasaki Ha-40 engines in-house from the various engine blocks that have been gathered, which will be a major undertaking.

In addition to the airworthy examples, one static aircraft will be supplied to the Papua New Guinea Museum in Port Moresby, and with so many original components remaining it may be possible to build a second static aircraft.