Back in 2018, we put up on this blog a series of posts regarding the Japanese airfields, equipment and more, focusing on the IJAAF. Since March we have been reposting this series on our Facebook page, expanded to include more material and the IJNAF. So here it is:
IJNAF chocks.
Photographic evidence shows that the chocks of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force (IJNAF) were of 3-4 different designs, some more solid, some more simple, some with numbers and markings, some without. All seem to be made of wood.
Chocks of pre-WWII IJNAF aircraft were of various designs. There was really no conformity.
This is a rather rough design that was found even until the end of the war.
This design is more box-like. Not solid mind you, it was hollow inside.
By far the most common was the cone/pyramid design with small variations.
That didn't mean that two different chock designs weren't placed at the wheels of the same aircraft.
I found many photos with the chocks placed behind the wheels. Build a small diorama and place the chocks behind the wheels and show them these photos if somebody told you you're wrong.
Ground crew members often stepped on the chocks to communicate with the pilot if the aircraft type was high, like the "Shiden" in the top left photo. The top right photo shows ground crew members ready to remove the chocks while the bottom left shows the ground crew removing the starboard chock of a Zero. In the middle, we can see a ground crew waving at the aircraft crew holding their chocks. Note that they are of different design. Finally, the bottom right photo shows another ground crew member waving and showing the bottom of the box-like chock.
Nohara Shigeru created illustrations of the various IJNAF chock design featured in the most useful book "Imperial Japanese Navy Air Units Battlefield photograph collection" by Dai Nippon Kaiga, 2013.
IJAAF chocks.
Photographic evidence shows that during WWII, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) used a rather large variety of chocks. A couple designs looked similar to the IJNAF but most of them were completely different. As with the IJNAF chocks, most seem to be made of wood but a couple could be made of metal and wood.
A quite common design was the "2-step with sides".
There was also a "3-step with sides" design. The top photo shows the chocks on a Tachikawa Ki-9 "Spruce", bottom left is the port wheel of a Tachikawa Ki-55 "Ida" and bottom right is the wheel of a Mitsubishi Ki-21 "Sally" bomber. So, it seems that the difference between the 2 and 3-step chock doesn't have to do with the size of the airplane.
From the available photos, it seems that the rather basic "2-step no side", more like a ladder, chock was the most popular.
Apart from the previous ones, there was a large variety of designs as can be seen in this and the next set of photos.
As we saw with the IJNAF, combining different chock designs on the same aircraft was not uncommon with the IJAAF. Contrary to the IJNAF, though, I could not find a single IJAAF photo with the chocks placed behind the wheels. Odd I guess.
Also, IJAAF had the occasional habit of placing the chock cords on the wheels or the spats, something I didn't notice on any IJNAF aircraft.
Model Art #329 featured artwork by Hasegawa Ichiro showing three types of chocks. The one on the right is a correct depiction of the "2-step with sides". The middle "4-step with sides" chock existed as we can see in at least one previous photo, but it wasn't that common. The one on the left is the most common IJNAF chock, with the "cone/pyramid-like" or "triangular prism" shape. I could not find any photos of IJAAF aircraft with this kind of chock, except...
...for the chocks of the Kawasaki Ki-78 / Ken3.
Last but not least, here's with a short clip from the NHK collection featuring Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" (Oscar) fighters, probably belonging to the 25th Sentai, taking off from an airfield in China. Note the color of the wheels, full of mud, and the chocks getting removed.
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