Japanese Airfields, Equipment & more #9 - revised

Tarps & covers
IJAAF & IJNAF ground crews used tarps to protect their planes from the elements, especially the engine area. When the aircraft were maintained or were ready for take-off, these were removed and discarded on the ground near the aircraft. As the attached photos show, sometimes the ground crews were more tidy and neatly folded them, and sometimes just casually threw them around.

In this photo, tarps cover the cockpit, cowling and propeller of a Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate". The number "157" applied on the cowling cover and the propeller is the same with the serial number of the aircraft.

In this photo, the number painted on the tarp cover is the number on the tail of the Nakajima Ki-44 "Shoki". Perhaps also part of the serial number of the aircraft?

Neatly folded tarps beside a Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu" (Nick).

When tarps were unavailable, other fabric covers were incorporated as this photo of a Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate" testifies. But these really depended on the theatre and the time. Home-based units, for example, are never seen without proper tarps.

Of course, IJNAF also used tarps to protect its aircraft from the elements. Note how neatly wrapped and tied the tarp is on this Mitsubishi G45M "Betty" bomber. Note also the barrels, mentioned in a previous post, that helped the ground crew reach the engines.

Similarly a Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" is having its port engine maintained while the starboard is still covered with a tarp.

A variety of IJNAF aircraft with their cowling under tarps of different colour found at the end of the war at Oppama Base, Yokosuka.

As we saw before, the IJNAF too used various fabric covers to protect its aircraft. In this case, the cowling of a Mitsubishi A6M7 Model 62 or 63 of the Yatabe Kokutai is under a quilted cover.

A short clip taken in Rabaul, featuring a Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bomber getting serviced as well as an Aichi D3Y "Val". Note the tarps, the barrels and the platforms mentioned in earlier posts.