'Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War' by Rene J Francillon

[tomo pauk]

The book is widely quoted in many Wikipedia articles. It was published, as far as I know, in 1970, 1979 and 1987.
My questions: do the issues agree with each other? What was the source for performance figures? Is there a 'master book' about Japanese aircraft of the ww2? Do the Japanese books agree with this book?

 

[nuuumannn]

My questions: do the issues agree with each other? What was the source for performance figures? Is there a 'master book' about Japanese aircraft of the ww2? Do the Japanese books agree with this book?

Hi Tomo, I have a copy of the book in front of me and while I can't answer all your questions I can suggest you read the Preface, where the author thanks a number of familiar individuals for their assistance in making the book, including Jiro Horikoshi, also; "the staff of the Japanese magazines AiReview, Koku Fan and Maru." It's a great resource and I'm sure someone who knows a great deal more about Japanese aircraft than I do might find errors, but it's a bit of a benchmark in the West. My issue is a 2000 reprint.

Also worth looking out for if you want a good reference on Japanese types is "Japanese Aircraft 1910 - 1941" by Bob Mikesh and Shorzoe Abe by the same publisher (Putnam). In its Acknowledgements the authors refer to "...Tadashi Nozawa's eight-volume series of books entitled Encyclopaedia of Japanese Aircraft 1900-1945, for which co-author Shorzoe Abe worked as a member in the editorial team." The difficulty of trawling through references in Japanese archives is mentioned also. This might give you a bit of help with regards to accuracy.

 

[merlin]

I also have a copy - I believe I got it from a Charity shop for £4.50 ! It says on the sleeve cover - "This is a reprint of the revised and updated second edition".
An excellent informative reference book, and the way the JAAF JNAF developed it easy wonder how a no RAF scenairo would have played out i.e. RFC RNAS post WW1

 

[tomo pauk]

Thanks for the feedback