Author Topic: Burma Ki-43  (Read 2960 times)

Offline lyric1

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Re: Burma Ki-43
« Reply #15 on: July 08, 2016, 12:31:32 AM »
Some new information on this aircraft not sure it will change a squadron designation though.
Allegedly this aircraft shot down a P-51?





"The main subject of the kit, as beautifully illustrated on the box art, is a Burmese presentation aircraft from 1944 with a very nicely printed peacock insignia for the tail. This aircraft, which supposedly claimed a P-51 in a dogfight over Silchar, also displays a presentation cartouche on the rear fuselage with the characters 興亜ビルマ第一賦 ('Koua Biruma Dai Ichi Fu' - Asia Revival Burma No.1 Tribute)* and was one of two aircraft photographed and described for a wartime press release (the other being 'No.2'), both wearing the distinctive reticulated camouflage scheme depicted by Special Hobby. Whether this was applied over bare metal or over a solid painted finish is open to conjecture. Base colours of a solid blueish-grey or reddish brown are known, the latter especially in the CBI theatre.



Most of the presentation 'peacock' aircraft were flown by the 64th Hiko Sentai and bore that unit's arrow emblem behind the peacock emblem, but the two aircraft in the press photograph do not display it. When the Japanese sponsored the creation of the Burma Defence Army (BDA) in early 1942 to replace the Burma Independence Army (BIA) which had been active in the conquest of Burma, they set up a staff training school at Mingaladon under the command of 15th Army Headquarters. This was developed into the BDA Military Academy which from September 1942 processed five classes of Burmese officer candidates, three classes of NCOs, three classes of Yonen Gakkô (youth cadets aged 14-16 years) and one class of pilots who were to be trained in Burma. The press release for the Burma presentation aircraft indirectly suggests that they were flown by Burmese pilots but interestingly they do not appear to display the white senchi hiyoshiki war front sign - the so-called combat stripe - on the rear fuselage."




http://www.aviationofjapan.com/search?updated-min=2015-12-31T16:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2016-05-01T10:05:00%2B01:00&max-results=28&start=10&by-date=false

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_National_Army

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1945-B-D-A-BURMA-DEFENCE-ARMY-JAPAN-ALLIE-ANTI-BRITISH-MEDAL-GEN-AUNG-SAN-WWII-/121357690051
« Last Edit: July 08, 2016, 12:52:37 AM by lyric1 »