It's 1942. While the world is engulfed in war, a different kind of battle is about to unfold in a hidden corner of the Pacific. On a secluded Japanese airfield, five aircraft await: an imported German Messerschmitt Bf 109E, a captured American Curtiss P-40E, and three Japanese models- the Ki-43, Ki-44-I, and the newcomer, Ki-61.

Kawasaki's latest creation, the Ki-61 Hien, was Japan’s first-ever model with a liquid-cooled inverted V engine. So unique is its design that Allied intelligence, mistaking it for a European model, had already dubbed it "Tony."

While Kawasaki is confident in their groundbreaking design, top commanders at the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Headquarters remain skeptical. This competition is set to challenge their doubts.

As engines ignite, the sky transforms into an aerial arena. One by one, the aircraft leaps into the air, their pilots pushing machines to their limits. The Ki-61, powered by its 1,175 horsepower engine, begins to outclimb, outmaneuver, and outpace the other models in a series of tests.

With this, the doubt on the officers' faces slowly gives way to outright awe.

Soon after, the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien would be deployed throughout the Pacific Theater. The most un-Japanese-looking fighter was ready to take the skies by storm.



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Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.

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