December 12, 1938

At the Nakajima factory near Ota, the Ki-43 Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon) fighter rolls out. It flies for the first time a few weeks later. Given the Allied code name “˜Oscar,’ the Ki-43 was the Japanese Army’s workhorse fighter, serving on all fronts until near the end of World War II. Late in the war, many Ki-46s were modified as kamikaze aircraft.