Friday, 2 February 2024

IJAAF & IJNAF wrecked aircraft - Clark Field, Philippines Pt.3

In the ebay photos that started this thread, we can see two Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu" (Nick) in the TAIU area. This is the first one.

It's the aircraft in the red circle in the panoramic photo of the TAIU area.

We can see a full side view of it in one of the photos featuring the "mo" "Shoki" in the foreground. 
As you can see, it has no tail marking so it is safe to assume that it was a replacement aircraft. It's a Ki-45 Hei or Hei/Tei night fighter with oblique cannons (not clearly visible in the photo) and has been moved to a different place than the one in the ebay and the panoramic photos.

This is the second "Toryu" seen in the ebay photos. It's an old Model Koh but I was unable to find other photos of this particular plane to have a clearer picture of how it looked.

Some sources mention that at Clark Field no less than 45 (!!!) "Toryu" were found by the US forces; I feel this number is a bit too high. This is another photo of an older Ki-45 Model Koh
In my opinion, it's not the same aircraft seen in the previous ebay photo.
Note that it has a kanji "大" (dai - big, great) on its rudder. It doesn't correspond to any known sentai marking.

A close-up of the same "Toryu" from a Nara photo, showing the camouflage pattern of the nose, different from the second ebay Ki-45.

A photo of a Ki-45 Model Otsu also found in the TAIU area, with the same "dai - big" kanji on the tail.

Another photo of the same Ki-45 Model Otsu.

The same aircraft in a movie still. 
Note that the fuselage hinomaru looks a bit fuzzy. Perhaps repainted blue? Note also the Ki-45 Model Hei/Tei night fighter in overall brown camouflage.

The two Ki-45s seen in the movie still are inside the red circle in the TAIU area.

One more photo of the Model Hei/Tei. Note the "US" painted in front of the fuselage hinomaru and that it lacks any tail marking.

A different view of the same aircraft clearly shows the two oblique cannons between the pilot and the rear gunner. 
A "Dinah" and a "Gekko" are in the background.

Here's a brilliant NARA photo featuring a Model Hei/Tei night fighter with the oblique cannons removed (you can see the holes) and a white "大" (dai - big) on the tail (not on the rudder as the model Otsu had it). 
Note the absence of the starboard propeller and spinner and the presence of another prop/spinner on the ground on the right side of the photo with the wing of another plane.

It's the same aircraft seen in this photo from the NASM collection but placed at a different spot.

This is the same aircraft seen in the previous two photos from a different angle. 
Note the propeller spinner and the wing on the ground next to its port side.

One more photo of the same "Toryu" with the "dai - big" on the tail. 
These four photos offer a very rare multi-angle view of the same aircraft.

Here's yet another photo of a Ki-45 with a "大" (dai - big) kanji on its tail. 

Another photo of a couple Model Hei "Toryu" with a "Lily" in the background.

The "Toryu" in the foreground of the photo above, was also seen in the color photo found in the previous post about the "Shoki". 
We can see that at some point this "Toryu" too had its hinomaru painted in blue. Note that in both photos no tail marking is visible, indicating a replacement aircraft.

The two Ki-45s standing next to the "Lily" can be seen in this photo too together with the "sa" "Shoki", placed second from left in the lineup.
None of these aircraft are seen in the panoramic photo of the TAIU area.

2 comments:

Dan G. said...

Why were the hinomaru painted blue?

Arawasi said...

Check previous post.