WildEagles: June 2012

1 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

More

Next Blog

Create Blog

Sign In

Bringing you the wealth of Japanese aviation history

Our site &

on-line store
www.arawasi.jp
ARAWASI
PUBLICATIONS

Eagle Eye #2
"The Eagles of
Manchukuo"

Friday, 29 June 2012

HOT STUFF!!!

Nakajima Type 90-2-1 Recon. Seaplane (E4N1) by

"Avion Road"

Hot Stuff #1

One of the two E4N1 prototypes that were built by Nakajima in December 1930 to
replace the older Type 15 Rec. Seaplane was converted to a transport with two
passengers after the design failed to meet the demands of the Navy. It was known as
Giyu-11 after it was purchased by Kaibo Gikai in December 1934, a civilian
non-profit volunteer association founded in 1922 dedicated to ensuring the safety of
life and property at sea but also closely related to the Japanese Army and Navy.
It flew on the Haneda (Tokyo), Shimizu and Shimoda ( both in Shizuoka Prefecture)
route by Tokyo Koku Yuso Kaisha. This small airline was founded in September 1928
by members of the Nihon Hiko Gakko to fly specifically on this route. By 1929 it had
a twin seat Avro 504 and a Navy supplied Hansa Brandenburg single passenger
floatplane. But most notably it was with this airline that Airgirls (present day cabin
attendants) first flew in Japan in 1931.
Giyu-11 received the civilian registration J-BERG and was scrapped in 1936.

Hot Stuff #4

Hot Stuff #2
Hot Stuff #3
Hot Stuff #5
Hot Stuff #6
Labels
Aikoku (10)
Artists & Artwork (19)
Civilian Aviation (2)
Collector's items (9)
J X-plane Library (7)
Library (4)
Model Commentary (10)
Modelling (111)
Modelling Shows (36)
Nipponki '46 (16)
Panagiotis Koubetsos (15)
Relics & Museums (15)
Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory" (8)
Vintage Covers (32)
VIPs (15)
Visitors (16)
Contact

Eagle Eye #1

Arawasi
International Extra
#1

"Avion Road" shared again (here) with us photos of his marvelous model in 1/72, a
resin kit by Choroszy Modelbud which according to the artist was of very high
quality presenting no problems and fun to build.

Feel free to send us your Japanese

model airplane photos, short
articles, research, questions or
whatever (Japanese Aviation
related) you would like to see
posted. Email us and we'll post it
for you.
Email
arawasi_g2@hotmail.com

OK

ARAWASI
DECALS
Welcome - Please Read Before
Posting Comments

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

2 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

To post your comment just click on

"comments" at the bottom of each
posting. A pop-up displays a box
where you can write your comment
once you ignore the Google
Username and Password boxes and
go to "Name/URL". All comments
are moderated and therefore will
not appear immediately.
"Fancy Nates" 1:72
& 1:48

Google

comments

Anonymous

Publish your comment

"Soaring Falcons"
1:48

Kawasaki Ki-10 "Perry"

"Striking Sonias"
1:48

The best book on the "Perry" by

TENZAN Publications
Japanese Experimental
Transport Aircraft of the
Pacific War

Thank you very much "Avion Road" for your contribution to our blog!

Posted by Arawasi

3 comments:

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

NEW "Flying Papa's" decals: Japanese Hurricanes

"Flying Papa's" has released two new sets of decals in 1/72 and 1/48. One set is for
a Hawker Hurricane MkIIb captured in Java, the second briefly serving with the 64th
Sentai.

By Giuseppe Picarella
Links
Aviation of Japan
Hyperscale
Studio EI

Blog Archive
2015 (33)
2014 (209)
2013 (212)

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

3 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

2012 (229)
December (23)
November (20)
October (19)
September (18)
August (18)
July (17)
June (20)
Nakajima Type 90-2-1
Recon. Seaplane (E4N1)
by "Av...
NEW "Flying Papa's" decals:
Japanese Hurricanes
Mitsubishi G3M (Nell) 1081 Kokutai /
...
Artist Kaiho Hideichi
Kawasaki Type 88
Reconnaissance KDA-2
Mitsubishi Ki-46 (Dinah)
Sasebo Kokutai #2 - Pat
Donahue
The "Flying Papa's" line of decals are exclusively available outside Japan through
Arawasi. Click here for a list and prices.

Sasebo Kokutai #1 -

Posted by Arawasi

Nakajima Navy Type 3

Carrier Fighter A1N -
...

No comments:

Monday, 25 June 2012

VIPs - DC3

Mitsubishi G3M (Nell) - 1081 Kokutai /

Scalefest 2012

In this NARA photo, a "Nell" belonging to the 1081st Kokutai is seen in Atsugi base
after the end of the War. Tail marking is "E" (YoE), the unit tail code and a number
I see as 910.

Nakajima Navy Type 3

Carrier Fighter A1N -
...

Japanese Airfield Equipment

#2

Nakajima Ki-84 "Hayate"

(Frank) by Joe Brown
Kawasaki Ki-48 (Lily) -

Zero-sen Model 21, 3rd

Kokutai -

Zero-sen maintenance
Mysterious Zero-sen!!!
Mitsubishi A6M2 Model 21
Vintage magazine cover
May (20)
April (17)
March (20)
February (18)
January (19)
The 1081st Kokutai was organized on April 1st, 1944 when it's parent unit the
1001Ku, an airplane transport unit, became too big. 1081Ku was also an airplane
transport unit and originally had Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" and G4M "Betty", 24 escort
fighters and 24 carrier bombers. The unit's home base was Miho aifield in Totori
Prefecture but it was also based in Atsugi. Originally belonged to the Yokosuka
Chinjufu (Yokosuka Naval District, here) but from September 15, 1944 became part
of the 101 Koku Sentai (Combined Fleet).
From July 15, 1945 survivors from the Philippines of the 1021Ku joined 1081Ku but

2011 (33)

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

4 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

at the time there were no airplanes available for them.

Tokumu shoi (special ensign ) Oota Shoichi, who first conceived the "Ohka" flying
bomb in June 1944, was a navigator with the 1081Ku. (Wikipedia's Ohka part needs
correcting).
Posted by Arawasi

2 comments:

Saturday, 23 June 2012

Artist Kaiho Hideichi

One of the most famous aviation artists in Japan is Kaiho Hideichi-san.
He was born in Tokyo on January 23, 1925 and joined IJAAF with the 13th class of
the Shonen Hikohei (Youth Pilot) programme. He was a member of the famous 64th
Sentai and participated in the defence of Japan in the final stages of the War; an
experience that influenced him greatly.
Check these two links: Link One - Link Two for the very interesting story of
Kaiho-san and B-29 pilot Raymond "Hap" Halloran.

Kaiho-san on the left with Raymond "Hap" Halloran

After the War Kaiho-san became a Keirin (here) bicycle racer and later, after his
retirement in 1962, a pilot instructor in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.
His history as an artist starts before the War. At that time he used watercolours
and won first prize in a Navy art competition. After the War he changed to oils and
he became a major influence to many young Japanese aviation illustrators and artists.
He passed away in 2004.

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

5 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

6 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

Small quiz: Can you identify the aircraft types and more importantly the units in the
above paintings of Kaiho-san?
Posted by Arawasi

5 comments:

Thursday, 21 June 2012

Kawasaki Type 88 Reconnaissance KDA-2 -

Two photos from vintage publications.

The top photo is of a Type 88 Reconnaissance under maintenance, the lower is a bit
puzzling. Judging from the struts it's a recconassaince too but getting bombed-up.

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

7 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

As far as I know the only company that has released a model of the type is Choroszy
Modelbud in 1/72.

Posted by Arawasi

No comments:

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Mitsubishi Ki-46 (Dinah) -

A couple photos from a vintage publication of a Dinah probably belonging to the
Shimoshizu Army Flying School.
In the second photo the landing gear is of a Nakajima Ki-44 "Shoki".

Posted by Arawasi

1 comment:

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

8 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Sasebo Kokutai #2 - Pat Donahue

Pat Donahue sent us photos of his beautiful Hasegawa "Pete" in 1/48 based on the
photo of the previous post. Enjoy!

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

9 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

Thank you Pat for your support.

Posted by Arawasi

1 comment:

Sasebo Kokutai #1 -
After the formation of Yokosuka Kokutai the Navy decided to continue its aviation
expansion program. At the tip of the Nagasaki peninsula the shallows were landfilled
and an airfield was created. Sasebo Kokutai was formed on December 1st,
1920 using the airfield for its base but since it was too short, land-based aircraft of
the unit were actually based in Oomura. As a result Sasebo-ku became a primarily
seaplane unit.
On December 15, 1944 local anti-submarine patrol units were incorporated in three
big kokutais. West Japan became the responsibility of the 951st Kokutai which
included Sasebo-Ku, Maizuru-Ku, Okinawa-Ku, 453-Ku, 256-Ku and
Chinkai-Ku (responsible for the patrol of Korean peninsula and located in today's
Jihae-gu in S. Korea). The other big unit was the 903rd Ku which was responsible for
East Japan and the Tokyo area. The last big kokutai was the 901st which was
responsible for the mainland and the areas of Asia occupied by the Japanese Navy.
The NARA photo below taken at the end of the War shows a Mitsubishi F1M Reikan
(Pete) with katakana "" (SA) on the tail, the Sasebo-ku unit marking but also the
number 951 underneath denoting the 951-Ku.

Posted by Arawasi

2 comments:

Saturday, 16 June 2012

Nakajima Navy Type 3 Carrier Fighter A1N -

One more photo from a vintage magazine of an A1N this time belonging to the
Oomura Kokutai. Starting from September 3, 1932 and for six days, Navy
manoeuvres were contacted in the sea area south of Osaka. Apart from the Navy
fleet, air units also participated including Tateyama, Yokosuka, Sasebo and Oomura
kokutais. This photo was taken in the Army training field of Osaka where 17
airplanes from Oomura Kokutai had gathered getting ready to participate in the
manoeuvres.

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

10 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

7936

Posted by Arawasi

No comments:

Friday, 15 June 2012

VIPs - DC3
Between June 26 and August 19, 1939 a long series of meetings took place between
then British ambassador to Japan, Robert Craigie and the Japanese Government
headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Arita Hachiro. The subject was the Tientsin
Incident (here) and among those who participated were naturally Army commanders
of the Japanese Army stationed in China. The photo below was taken at Haneda
Airport on August 14, at 6:00am upon the return to China of the Army officers who
participated in the meetings. Front row on the right sits Major General Muto Akira,
next to him sits Lt Colonel Ota, while behind Muto sits Major Ota (Kempei) and next
to him Major Miyamoto. They all wear Model 1938 service dress, field caps instead
of peaked caps and Maj Gen Muto is wearing brown aiguillette indicating he is
serving in the field while the other two are wearing gold, the usual formal color.
The airplane interior is of either a DC-2 or a DC-3. Any thoughts?

146
8149

DC2DC3
Our friend Iskender Mailibayev sent us the following comment:
I'm fairly sure it is a DC-3. As far as I know the standard DC-2 passenger cabin
arrangement included rows of single seats on the left and right, divided by an aisle.
DC-3 had its fuselage widened by 60+ cm. compared to DC-2, which allowed for 3
seats arrangement (2+1), and that's exactly what we see on this picture.
Thank you very much Iskender!
Posted by Arawasi

No comments:

Scalefest 2012
Our good friend D. Chouinard sent us a photo report of the model show he recently attented.

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

11 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

Model show: "Scalefest 2012" was put on by the IPMS North Central Texas, May 19th 2012 in Mesquite,
Texas.
With such a small turn out for Japanese aircraft models, and nothing that really stood out, it's hard to say
anything else. The two "what if" models seemed to stand out more than the "normal" J-planes on the tables.

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

12 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

Posted by Arawasi

1 comment:

Thursday, 14 June 2012

Japanese Airfield Equipment #2

The IJAAF and the IJNAF used these wagons to carry around their heavier bombs.
But they were mostly found in the bigger airfields of the homeland like the ones in
the NARA photos below.

Found after the end of the War at the seaplane base in Otsu, capital of Shiga
prefecture, next to lake Biwa, the biggest lake in Japan. The bottles in the foreground
on the left wrapped with paper are somewhat of a mystery. Occasionally sake bottles
are wrapped with paper like that but no idea what they are doing next to floatplanes
and bomb wagons. *

This photo was taken in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Note the quite large bombs,
probably 250kgs, and the concrete airplane shelters in the background.
*And now for the language/culture lesson of the day. In Japanese the word sake
(pronounced "SA"-as in "SAmantha" and KE-as in "KEvin"; not as in "key") and
osake (with the honorific "o") means any kind of alcoholic drink (whiskey, vodka
etc). The word the Japanese use for the drink known to the Western World as sake, is
nihonshu. Enjoy your sushi or sashimi with cold or hot sake.
My personal favorite is hirezake which Wikipedia describes as: The fins of the fish
[Fugu or pufferfish: the well-known poisonous fish] are dried out completely, baked,
and served in hot sake.
Posted by Arawasi

No comments:

Tuesday, 12 June 2012

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

13 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

Nakajima Navy Type 3 Carrier Fighter A1N -

The type was based on the Gloster Gamecock Gamber. There were two versions, the
A1N1 had an air-cooled 420hp Jupiter VI, the A1N2 was equipped with a 460hp
Kotobuki engine. A very successful fighter, saw major action during the Shanghai
Incident of 1932. This particular airplane belongs to the Yokosuka Kokutai. More on
the type HERE.

Posted by Arawasi

1 comment:

Monday, 11 June 2012

Nakajima Ki-84 "Hayate" (Frank) by Joe Brown

Joe Brown from Canada shared with us photos of his lovely "Hayate". He explained:

"It's the Hasegawa kit in 1/48. It comes with deployed flaps but mine were damaged, so I raised them up and faired
them in and rescribed the underside. Added eduard seatbelts. Other than that it's out of the box. The decals are from
Aeromaster (48-623: 520 Temporary Interception Regiment). Painted with Polly Scale paints, paint chipping done with
a silver pencil."

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

14 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

Posted by Arawasi

1 comment:

Sunday, 10 June 2012

Kawasaki Ki-48 (Lily) -

In the top photos from a vintage publication a Kawasaki Ki-48 of the Tokorozawa
Rikugun Koku Seibi Gakko (Army Maintenance School in
Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture) is having one of the propellers back on after a
thorough engine check. In the second photo another "Lily" from the same school is
undergoing engine maintenance. Note that the prop colors are different; all brown in
the top photo, unpainted in the second.

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

15 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

The prop warning sign, in katakana, on the fuselage side reads "" (kiken)
meaning "danger".

Posted by Arawasi

2 comments:

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

16 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

Friday, 8 June 2012

Zero-sen Model 21, 3rd Kokutai -

Following the beginning of the Pacific War and starting from December 23, 1941 the
3rd Kokutai relocated to Davao in Mindanao island from its original base in Takao,
Taiwan. Three weeks later the unit advanced to Manado on the Celebes in January
1942. This official IJNAF photo showing Zero Model 21s was taken in Manado
during that period. Note the data stencil applied on the cowling side.

After the capture of Java the 3rd Ku was stationed there to fight the remnants of the
enemy forces and for air patrol. From April 1942 the main force of the 3rd relocated
to Kupang airfield on Timor island. From there together with field attack units, they
were engaged in raids against Australia's Port Darvin. The photo below was taken in
Kupang.

Posted by Arawasi

2 comments:

Thursday, 7 June 2012

Zero-sen maintenance
A series of photos from a 1944 magazine featuring maintenance group students
practising on Zero-sen. Good reference for uniforms and ground equipment. Notice
the tool box in the first and last photo.

2015/03/15 09:17 PM

WildEagles: June 2012

17 of 17

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

Posted by Arawasi

2 comments:

Newer Posts

Home

Older Posts

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Travel template. Powered by Blogger.

2015/03/15 09:17 PM