During the summer of 1943, the Royal Thai Air Force received "Hayabusa" fighters from the Japanese Army* to aid in the region's defense. Twenty-four of these were allocated to the 1st Hikodan. Upon arrival, the 15th Hiko Chutai was established, outfitted solely with these planes, and stationed at Don Muang airfield (Don Mueang) in Bangkok, tasked with the capital's air defense. Several "Hayabusa" were also supplied to the 16th Hiko Chutai, stationed in Lampang, northern Thailand, to substitute for their aging Nakajima Ki-27s "Nate."
Attached is a video showing the arrival of the new fighters at Don Muang and how the Thai markings were applied.
Here's a translation of the Japanese script.
"A white elephant flag is drawn on the tail. Let's intercept the enemy planes that are attacking Thailand and protect our skies by ourselves. Under the guidance of the brave soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army, Thai Air Force officers will work diligently to improve their flight skills with "Hayabusa" fighters and special training. They will join hands with Japan and fight together in the Greater East Asia War.
Enemy planes: come if you dare. With a series of enthusiastic training, the Thai defense camp is steadily getting stronger."
Numerous depictions of RTAF "Hayabusa" exist online, most of them of very bad quality, and the camouflage pattern has been depicted very inaccurately.
Attached is an illustration by Nohara Shigeru featured in Model Art #395. In my opinion, it shows fairly accurately the aircraft seen in the photo above.
*Thai sources mention that the Thai government negotiated a purchase of these fighters; they were not just given by the IJAAF.
5 comments:
Thanks for sharing the stills. I hope to paint a Hayabusa in the Thai scheme someday, but that camouflage scheme is daunting!
Best wishes,
Brendan
I have always wanted to build one of these birds. Thanks for sharing these images, as always.
Dan
I have always wanted to build a Ki-43 in Thai scheme but what prevented me to start the project are those spots interpreted as "white" which I don't find so convincing. My opinion is that it's another colour -maybe a pale sand or grey-green?In fact if compared to the the elephant or band's white the spots look slightly darker. What is your opionion, George?
AFAIK, apart from the early models, "Hayabusa" were delivered unpainted and white paint was not considered a main camouflage color. So, what you see as lighter color between the green and brown blotches is actually the metal of the aircraft. That's my take.
Thank you for sharing this information. I've seen these pics before but no descriptions (probably they were taken from here).
Since I don't understand Japanese, is Don mueng mentioned in the video? Sometimes these shots were said to have been taken in Singapore. If the narrator mention the Thai airport, this can be clarified.
It is interesting to see you noted that there did not appear to be any unit marking. This seems to support a recently found document in Thailand that Thai government negotiated a purchase of these fighters, instead of the long-held belief that they were previously used IJA machines given by the Japanese. The Japanese national markings were removed and replaced by Thai markings in the field. However, the sprayed camouflage was not consistent with any of the Thai practices at the time, leading me to believe that the camouflage was of Japanese origin. What is your thought on that?
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