[TinyTim]

yap, miht had been safer than the me 109 in landings, but the 109 was lighter and more powerfull.

Well that's true only if you compare the initial, He-112A version with Bf-109. But here we are discussing a later, completely redesigned He-112B, that saw combat action in WW2 here. If you compare this later He-112B with contemporary Bf-109B which uses the same engine, picture becomes completely different:

He-112B:
Engine: Junkers Jumo-210 680 HP
Speed (ground level): 430 km/h
Speed (optimal altitude): 510 km/h
Climb: 700 m/min
Range: 1100 km

Bf-109B:
Engine: Junkers Jumo-210 680 HP
Speed (ground level): 420 km/h
Speed (optimal altitude): 470 km/h
Climb: 600 m/min
Range: 700 km

Add a much better view from the cockpit and cannon armament, and you have the winner.

Comparing He-112B from 1937 with later models of 109 isn't really fair, since they were using engines with 50% more power.

Looks like it might have been a better bird than the 109 overall (less landing accidents for sure with better gear and much lower wing loading).

Well, just because it has elliptic wings it does not mean they are big. He-112B is one of the rare WW2 fighters with wingspan shorter than lenght of the plane! Its wings are not much bigger than 109's, and thus with somewhat higher mass its wingloading is pretty much comparable to 109s:

He-112B:
Wing area: 17m2
Empty mass: 1621kg
Weight/wing area: ~ 95kg/m2

Bf-109B:
Wing area: 16.40m2
Empty mass: 1500kg
Weight/wing area: ~ 91kg/m2

WHat was produced in great numbers in fact the most produced Ki-61 of the war which we do NOT have was the Ki-61-Tei/1d.....That one is much closer to the existing Ki-61's, and though no boost in performance was by far the Ki-61 most encountered past New Guinea.

Hey Kelly,

Apart from rearanged weapons (two Ho-5 cannon above the engine and two Ho-103 HMGs in the wings), and slightly longer nose (190mm, to accomodate larger ammunition for nose weapons), was there any other differences from previous models (significant enough to be modelled)? BTW, do you have any source on the ammo count for this version (I'd guess it's the same as on Ki-100, but that's just a guess).