Picture of the Day - Miscellaneous (1 Viewer)

[Viking1066]

Kyushu K11W Shiragiku of the Tokushima Ku WIKI

 

[Viking1066]

Luftwaffe Macchi MC200 Saetta White 227 ASBIZ

 

[Viking1066]

Kawasaki KI-66 one of six prototypes which look similar to the Ki-45 and Ki-102 IKAZ

 

[Viking1066]

Junkers Ju 87R2 Stuka Stab I.StG2 (T6+AB) Kurt Kuhlmey transit North Africa ASBIZ

 

[Viking1066]

Aichi D3A1s returning to IJN Shokaku during battle of the Eastern Solomons August 1942 WIWA

 

[Viking1066]

Junkers Ju 87R2 Stuka 5.StG1 (6G+CS) Mediterrannean theater 1941 ASBIZ

 

[MIflyer]

Aichi D3A1s returning to IJN Shokaku during battle of the Eastern Solomons August 1942 WIWA

Note what appears to be a Lewis gun in the gunner's position. The IJN so admired the RN that they even used .303 machine guns in the Zero and other aircraft. The Aussies were happy to capture Japanese .303 ammo; it worked just fine in their Enfields and Vickers.

 

[MIflyer]

BF-109B come to grief. You know I think that that terrible old Aurora 1/48 ME-109 kit was in reality not a hideous G model but a less hideous B model.

 

[MIflyer]

Mitsubishi A5M4 trainer 1943-1945 KAGE

I recall that Saburo Saki said there were Claudes at Lae. Did any of our forces ever actually engage any Claudes?

 

[tyrodtom]

BF-109B come to grief. You know I think that that terrible old Aurora 1/48 ME-109 kit was in reality not a hideous G model but a less hideous B model.

View attachment 798039

One of the earliest plastic models, maybe the first I built, was that Aurora Bf109, dark red plastic, 1/48 scale, and the rivets way out of scale.
That was around 1958, I wasn't that particular then. But I did think that of all the model makers we had then, Aurora was at the bottom.

 

[MIflyer]

But I did think that of all the model makers we had then, Aurora was at the bottom.

In quality, probably yes, but not in quantity! Their WWI model airplanes were pretty good and produced in far more variety and quantity that anyone then or since.

 

[Frog]

 

[Viking1066]

I recall that Saburo Saki said there were Claudes at Lae. Did any of our forces ever actually engage any Claudes?

From what I was able to find on a quick was that they were phased out by the A6M2bs. There were some when they arrived at Rabaul, but I didn't read anything indicating they saw combat. I will have to look at the Claringbould books.

 

[cammerjeff]

I was just reading "The First Team" by John Lundstrom, and it states that the F4F-3's of VF-6 (Enterprise) battled A5M4's on the stike on Kwajalein Atoll on the 2nd of Feb. 1942. And claimed at least 1 "Claude, Also the Claude's shot up a couple of Wildcats, and shot down some SBD's. On that day the Devastators where lucky and when their delayed level attack took place the Claude's had landed to refuel and rearm. It should also be noted that both the Torpedo and dive Bombers attacked without fighter cover.

 

[MIflyer]

It should also be noted that both the Torpedo and dive Bombers attacked without fighter cover.

Interesting! They must have learnt something because at Coral Sea the Yorktown's TBD's went in with two F4F's as fighter cover. They lost both the F4F's but no TBD's. At Midway the Yorktown did the same thing and in fact put all of the F4F's they could spare from carrier CAP with the TBD's, where they were outnumbered probably 10 to one by the Zeros.

 

[cammerjeff]

Interesting! They must have learnt something because at Coral Sea the Yorktown's TBD's went in with two F4F's as fighter cover. They lost both the F4F's but no TBD's. At Midway the Yorktown did the same thing and in fact put all of the F4F's they could spare from carrier CAP with the TBD's, where they were outnumbered probably 10 to one by the Zeros.

It says they knew they should have fighter cover, but there was only 1 carrier involved and they were short on Wildcats, they used the available fighters that were not assigned to CAP duties to attack another airbase. If I remember correctly they were down 3 Wildcats at the start of the mission from what would normally be assigned to the squadron. They lost 1 or 2 on the way due to accidents. Until reading that book I was unaware of the extreme shortage of F4F's fleet wide during the 1st 4 months of the Pacific war. As an example the Lexington's fighters squadrons flew F2A's until the middle of January 1942, And they even used the Prototype XF4F-4 during that time.

So they knew it wasn't a great idea to not cover the bombers, but the plan depended on surprise (that was not achieved) and the available aircraft.

 

[MIflyer]

So they knew it wasn't a great idea to not cover the bombers, but the plan depended on surprise (that was not achieved) and the available aircraft.

Yorktown got separated from Enterprise and Hornet by about 50 miles, which made mutual air defense support between it and the other two carriers impossible. So they had to retain more fighters over the carrier and thus gave Thatch only something like seven Wildcats for the TBD's. But it is telling that the most experienced carrier there chose to put its limited F4F's with the TBD's while Hornet and Enterprise kept them up high with the less vulnerable SBD's, and thus none of the escorts but Yorktown's got into combat on that fateful first strike.

 

[MiTasol]

Note what appears to be a Lewis gun in the gunner's position. The IJN so admired the RN that they even used .303 machine guns in the Zero and other aircraft. The Aussies were happy to capture Japanese .303 ammo; it worked just fine in their Enfields and Vickers.

The Japanese manufactured the Vickers K (also known as the GO) under licence.

My experience in the 70s with Japanese 7.7 ammunition was that the case was a small amount longer than the British 303 ammo so you could not close the bolt on the Aussie 303 rifles.

The Japanese made a 7.7 explosive round where the projectile would fit in the Aus 303 cartridge case. They sure made a mess of any stack of phone books they were fire into. The Aus/Brit ammo did however fit and work in the Japanese guns.

 

[Viking1066]

Tachikawa Ki-9 Dai 21 Hikoshidan Shireibu Hikodan , Kikuchi Japan August 1945 REDI

 

[Viking1066]

Cant Z.1007 16 of 211 Squadriglia 50 Gruppo over Italy 1940 SIGD