The Legendary Betty pilot is alive!

[Jenisch]

Hey Shinpachi, if possible, ask him if he remembers what was the internal color of the G3M "Nell".

Also, if possible as well, ask him what are the opinion of his friends who were fighter pilots, the early war Zero pilots specifically, if they felt confident they could smash the Red Air Force, and if they belive it would be better to attack the Russians instead of the Western Powers.

 

[herr81]

amazing thanks for posting !

 

[Shinpachi]

You are welcome sir.

 

[ccheese]

Just found this thread, Shinpachi-san....... wonderful is the only word I can come up with. Thank you for sharing...

Charles

 

[Shinpachi]

You are welcome Charles

 

[Shinpachi]

Sorry guys but I forgot to tell.

This thread was introduced in Aeronca - a local letterzine of the flight club to which Jun Takahashi belongs in March 2012.
He was so happy and honorable to be introduced and to receive so many heartful comments from you all.
I think he was too shy to post here.

Link to the original pdf file
Please check page 5.

 

[vikingBerserker]

It would be awesome just to shake his hand. Thanks again Shinpachi!

 

[Shinpachi]

Thank you, David

I have just noticed that the IP address is linked here!

 

[Lucky13]

Can't believe that I just found this thread Shinpachi-san! As has already been mentioned, words fails me! This young gentleman is one of those, that you could spend hours, a whole day, listen to what he has to say and in the end, you'll notice that you wouldn't have said a single word yourself, because you'd be so taken away by it all!

Thank you ever so much for sharing and should you perhaps talk to this gentleman, please forward my outmost respect!

 

[Shinpachi]

Many thanks for your kind comment, Jan!

Wondering if new US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy would find my thread about her in the future, I have suddenly remembered Jun Takahashi's post about this thread Sorry for my late information.

 

[gunsou]

Via the article about the Mitsubishi 4GM on Wikipedia, where I saw the photo of Takahashi's plane attacking with his name under the photo, I came to this forum and found this highly interesting thread. Getting curious to learn more about him, I made an internet search with his name in Japanese writing and discovered a huge amount of related photos and articles - though in Japanese. For anybody who is interested, here is his name in Japanese: 高橋淳 Just copy and paste, and you can take a look yourself.

 

[Shinpachi]

Thanks for your kind post and research, gunsou.
He is still alive and enjoys the fame as the oldest active pilot in the world.

 

[Marcel]

Sorry I didn't find this thread before. Thanks for the info Simpachi, good to see the Japanese side of the story.

 

[parsifal]

I never tire of that photo and all that it represents. War for sure, but courage and skill as well. Those Bettys are heading into a sheer hail of fire, about as close to the ocean as a plane can get and still be flying!

That does not diminish the courage of the men they are attacking, but acknowledges the men in those Bettys for the bravery so obviously on display. I find it inspiring to be honest.

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Shinpachi]

Thank you very much for your so kind messages Marcel, Michael, Wayne and Dave for your like.

Jun Takahashi was verified as the oldest active 'commercial' pilot by the Guinness World Records as of 5 March 2014.
He spoke on TV last February "How wonderful it would be if I could still fly when I hit 100 years old !"

 

[gunsou]

Here you can see him on YouTube telling about his life:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkZcPzE7dVg

 

[vikingBerserker]

That is just fricken awesome!!!!!

 

[GrauGeist]

Much respect for Mr. Takahashi!

He sure looks right at home in that 172, doesn't he?

 

[Shinpachi]

Yeah, he is a true airman.