Author Topic: interesting history Saburo Sakai (Read 1063 times)

boneyfreak · « **on:** January 13, 2007, 04:27:28 PM »

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/stevens.html

Karnak · « **Reply #1 on:** January 13, 2007, 04:51:44 PM »

Saburo Sakai seems to have been one of the good ones. One of the guys who any air force would have been proud to have.

mussie · « **Reply #2 on:** January 13, 2007, 04:55:19 PM »

wow, what a story

Thanks for the link

BaldEagl · « **Reply #3 on:** January 13, 2007, 06:25:11 PM »

Great story. Thanks.

porkfrog · « **Reply #4 on:** January 13, 2007, 09:18:40 PM »

yes, brought a tear to my eye. thanks for sharing the link.

Bruv119 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 14, 2007, 08:26:50 AM »

His story

Samurai!

Has been my favourite read yet. There has been many re-prints of his biography. I managed to pick up a 1970's one for a pound in good condition.

The Fury · « **Reply #6 on:** January 14, 2007, 08:51:43 AM »

Very touching story thnx for sharing.

That guy is a True Hero.

Viking · « **Reply #7 on:** January 14, 2007, 08:58:19 AM »

Beautiful story. Thanks for sharing!

jedi25 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 14, 2007, 09:54:36 AM »

What a story guys..

Helrazr1 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 14, 2007, 10:00:41 AM »

Great read, thanks for the link!

palef · « **Reply #10 on:** January 14, 2007, 04:47:27 PM »

See? You do have to be one eyed to fly a Niki.

TimRas · « **Reply #11 on:** January 15, 2007, 12:11:03 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Bruv119
His story

Samurai!

Has been my favourite read yet. There has been many re-prints of his biography. I managed to pick up a 1970's one for a pound in good condition.

Then maybe you should read this too:
http://www.warbirdforum.com/samurai.htm

"First off, let me say that this is one of the grand combat memoirs of World War II--but you knew that, right? If you haven't already done so, go ahead and buy it. It's definitely worth owning.
Now let me mention some of its flaws. They begin with the true author, who was not Sakai but the late sci-fi and aviation writer Martin Caidin. It's a shame that this unique story fell into Caidin's dream factory, in which speed generally trumped accuracy."

"It might surprise the reader to learn that, despite the millions of copies of Samurai being sold since its publication in 1957, Sakai has never received a penny in royalties due to him."

Oldman731 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 15, 2007, 01:53:43 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by palef
See? You do have to be one eyed to fly a Niki.

"Take that idiot [Minoru] Genda. He could barely fly, but he jumped up and down about the Shiden-kai ["George"], so everybody else pretended to like it, too. That plane was a piece of crap, put together by a third-rate firm [Kawanishi]."

- Saburo Sakai interview, 11 August 1998, http://www.warbirdforum.com/sakai2.htm

- Oldman (with thanks to TimRas)

eilif · « **Reply #13 on:** January 15, 2007, 03:19:28 PM »

Very good read, thanks for sharin'.

palef · « **Reply #14 on:** January 15, 2007, 04:33:23 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Oldman731
"Take that idiot [Minoru] Genda. He could barely fly, but he jumped up and down about the Shiden-kai ["George"], so everybody else pretended to like it, too. That plane was a piece of crap, put together by a third-rate firm [Kawanishi]."

- Saburo Sakai interview, 11 August 1998, http://www.warbirdforum.com/sakai2.htm

- Oldman (with thanks to TimRas)

Thought about quoting that, but thought I'd say something tongue in cheek on my own.

I'm certain that most WWII fanbois (myself included) will be aware of the discrepancies between stated performance and actual performance of late war Japanese aircraft. Abysmal quality control and fuel made from nuts can render the most excellent weapons systems impotent.