Picture of the day (general)....

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A U.S. Marine Corps F4U-4B Corsair fighter-bomber receives final checks to its armament of bombs and 5-inch rockets, just prior to being catapulted from USS Sicily (CVE-118) for a strike on enemy forces in Korea. The original photograph is dated 16 November 1950, but was probably taken as early as that August. Note battered paint on this aircraft.
 
"AIR SHOW AT PORT MORESBY "

In the night of 16 May 1942, the famed "Cleanup Trio" Nishizawa, Sakai and Ōta were listening at the lounge room to a broadcast of an Australian radio program, when Nishizawa recognized the eerie Danse Macabre of the French composer, pianist and organist Camille Saint-Saëns. Nishizawa, thinking about this mysterious skeleton dance, now suddenly had a crazy idea: "you know the mission tomorrow at Port Moresby? Why don't we perform a little show, a dance of death of our own? We do a few demonstration loops right over the enemy airfield, this should drive them crazy on the ground."

On 17 May 1942, Lieutenant Commander Tadashi "Shosa" Nakajima led the Tainan Ku on a mission to Port Moresby. That morning they had strafed the Allies at Port Moresby and claimed 5 Airacobras to 2 downed Zeros, with Sakai and Nishizawa as his wingmen. As the Japanese formation re-formed for the return flight, Sakai signalled Nakajima, that he was going after an enemy aircraft and peeled off. Minutes later, Sakai was over Port Moresby again, to keep his rendezvous with Nishizawa and Ōta. The trio now performed aerobatics, three tight loops in close formation. After that, a jubilant Nishizawa indicated that he wanted to repeat the performance. Diving to 6,000 ft , the three Zeros did three more loops, still without any AA fire from the ground. They headed then back to Lae, arriving 20 minutes after the rest of the Kōkūtai. At about 2100hrs , Lieutenant Junichi Sasai wanted them in his office, immediately. When they arrived, Sasai held up a letter. "Do you know where I got this thing?" he shouted. "No? I'll tell you, you fools; it was dropped on this base a few minutes ago, by an enemy intruder!" The letter, written in English, said:

To the Lae Commander: "We were much impressed with those three pilots who visited us today, and we all liked the loops they flew over our field. It was quite an exhibition. We would appreciate it if the same pilots returned here once again, each wearing a green muffler around his neck. We're sorry we could not give them better attention on their last trip, but we will see to it that the next time they will receive an all-out welcome from us."

Nishizawa, Sakai and Ōta stood at stiff attention and tried to suppress laughing out loud, while Lieutenant Sasai dressed them down over their "idiotic behaviour" and prohibited them from staging any more aerobatic shows over enemy airfields. The Tainan Kōkūtai's three leading aces secretly agreed that the aerial choreography had been worth it.

Art by Jack Fellows.

Pilots from left to right :
西澤 広義, Nishizawa Hiroyoshi
太田 敏夫, Ōta Toshio
坂井 三郎, Sakai Saburō

VIA - Samurai! By Saburō Sakai

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