Misawa - The Colours

We are greatly in debt to the museum staff especially Oyanagi Shigezo-san and Hikichi Katsuhiro-san for giving us special permission to see the plane from very close and try to take colour samples.
The "Hickory" doesn't have any primer as was to be expected from an IJAAF aircraft , the overall gray paint is applied directly on the surfaces. The exterior has been gently cleaned by the restoration team and as a result inevitably a proportion of the original paint has been lost. There are nonetheless plenty of intact panels and the pilot seats from where good colour samples can be taken.
The hinomaru and the tail markings are in fairly good condition and they all seem to have been painted by hand. A fact confirmed by a visitor to the museum who happened to actually build this particular type some 70 years ago at the Tachikawa factories.
There is a debate among the restoration team whether to repaint the a/c or keep it in the present condition. I guess we will have to see where the restoration effort will go.

We used the Federal Standard 595 deck (check HERE for the on-line version) and the JPMA Standard Paint Colors (2005). The light conditions were brightly dim, with no direct sunlight and we took many photos with or without camera flashlight. We tested colour suggestions from various Internet sites and blogs and tried to find matches as close as possible with the decks at hand. As you will see there are no perfect matches but the colour chips in connection with the relic will hopefully give you and idea of the actual colour.*

First the hinomaru red.

It certainly is less bright than the colour used in most decals. FS21136, 21140 and even 21105 are close enough.

IFF stripes on the wing edges.

These were very well preserved and were basically yellow-orange. In the top photo FS13432 is very close but the online chip looks too orange in my screen. The FS13415 is much closer to the original. The second sample is from the JPMA deck and the C17-70X was an almost perfect match even if it doesn't show in the photo.

Propeller colour.

The port propeller was in quite good condition. Most of the colour on the blades was intact and was very very dark brown without a hint of green. It was difficult to find a close match in the FS deck. As you can see in the middle photo FS10075 is too bright. FS10032 and FS10049 are fairly close. FS10111 is also too bright.
C09-20D from the JPMA deck is closer of all.

The same room where the "Hickory" was on display featured a Zero-sen propeller in quite good condition. We had the chance to compare the propeller colours of the two aircraft and to our surprise we found that the Zero prop was much brighter than the "Hickory".

FS10059 is a fairly close match.

The overall hairyokushoku gray.

The remaining colour on the fuselage is much brighter than some better protected  panels. Gray with light green and a little brown. FS15622 (top) is ridiculously bright and blue, FS16350 (middle) is too dark. I was quite fond of FS16357 and found it matching nicely most of he panels (especially as seen on the net sample here) although it doesn't look that good in the bottom photo (sorry) against the fuselage surface which is more ash gray.

That's all folks. We hope you liked this short one on the Misawa "Hickory". Many more photos will be featured in a forthcoming Arawasi magazine special.
As usual feel free to share your thoughts and ask whatever question you might have.
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*One last word for the colour police lurking somewhere ready to put down our effort: get your decks or spectroscopes, go to Misawa and by all means, please, do take better colour samples!
Finally I see fitting the following dialogue from the wonderfully delicious movie...sorry, film "SIDEWAYS" with brilliant Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church).

M: Let me show you how it's done. First thing hold the glass up and examine the wine against the light. We're looking for color and clarity. Just get a sense of it. Thick, thin, watery, syrupy...Now tip it. What you're doing here is checking for color intensity as it thins out towards the rim. That's gonna tell you how old it is...Stick your nose in it. Don't be shy. Mmm a little citrus, there is some strawberry, passion fruit and just like the faintest of asparagus and a flatterer, like natty edam cheese.
J: WOW! Strawberry, yeah, strawberry. Not the cheese.
M: That's what you do with every one of them.
J: When do we drink it?
M: Now!....Are you chewing gum???!!!

Misawa - The Plane

The Tachikawa Ki-54a c/n 5541 rests in a spacious hangar at the far corner of the museum next to an A6M2 replica. Lighting is discreet and good for photography and although the display is still a work in progress it offers all around access to the aircraft from up close.

The pilot seats, the instrument panel and other parts of the cockpit are placed separately in front of the a/c together with the port wheel and wing fuel tank.

Although when pulled out of the lake it looked in quite good condition, the cleaning up process unfortunately revealed excessive erosion at places from microorganisms.

Close ups of the canopy, the starboard wheel which was retracted at the moment of the crash landing and one of the two engines.

With the Director of the Misawa Aviation & Science Museum, Mr. Oyanagi Shigezo.

Misawa - The Place

Aomori prefecture. A place famous for it's apples, the fresh and delicious tuna and the summer Nebuta Matsuri. Monday 17~Tuesday 18 we visited the city of Misawa which as Wiki says is "the location of a large military base, Misawa Air Base, which is under joint operation of the United States Air Force's 35th Fighter Wing, and Japan Air Self-Defense Force's 3rd Fighter Wing."
Going there from Tokyo takes some time, about three hours by bullet train to Hachinohe station.

The bullet trains of the Tohoku Shinkasen are called "Hayate" or "Hayabusa". Nice, eh? 

Flip flops (???) on the train.

Arriving to Hachinohe from the hot and humid Tokyo, we were greeted by the dry and chilly weather of northern Honshu blanketed in dense fog. Then changed to the local Aoimori line and arrived to Misawa half an hour later.

We spent the night at the excellent Aomoriya hotel where we sampled delicious local dishes and enjoyed a very nice short performance of tsugaru-jamisen.

A tsugaru-jamisen sample by the great Takahashi Chikuzan.

Evening at the Aomoriya hotel pond.



The next day we visited the MISAWA AVIATION & SCIENCE MUSEUM, AOMORI. It is indeed quite far from Misawa station and unfortunately without a direct transportation connection, except by taxi. It was built ten years ago, located right next to the Misawa base and it's the best aviation museum we have seen so far in Japan with big facilities and very friendly staff.

From the 18th the museum started displaying the Tachikawa Ki-54 trainer/transport that was retrieved from lake Towada on September 5, 2012 (HERE), after the wings were joined to the fuselage and the plane was placed in supports.

Ace IJNAF Pilot Miyazaki Isamu

Ensign Miyazaki Isamu was an ace of the IJNAF that fought in most South Pacific theatres including Rabaul, Guadalcanal, the Solomons and New Guinea where he flew Zero-sen. From 1945, Miyazaki-san was assigned to the Sento (fighter) Hikotai 301 of the famous 343 Air Group flying the latest Navy fighter; Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-kai.

His autobiography entitled "Kaete kita Shiden-kai" (the Shiden-kai that came back) was released by Kojinsha in June 1993 and is full of vivid descriptions of all his War experiences.

A small extract from the chapter "saigo no shutsugeki" (the last sortie) details the very last time he flew during the War and more.
  On August 12, 1945 Miyazaki-san took off with three other pilots on a patrol mission over Yakushima with himself being the flight leader. On the way back while flying at a height of 1,000m over the city of Karatsu the Japanese pilots started receiving heavy anti-aircraft fire from the nearby IJArmy base. Perhaps the Shiden-kai were mistaken with US Grumman F6F and to their bad luck the gunners on that day were particularly accurate. The pilot of the third aircraft Okimoto was shot and had to make a belly landing on a field near the seashore while the pilot of the fourth aircraft, Izawa, crashed in the sea.
  Miyazaki-san's plane was also hit and due to the heavy shock the aircraft sustained, one of the legs deployed forcing him to land with only one leg down at Ganosu airfield where he lost consciousness during the impact. When he recovered he was furious and immediately called the IJArmy headquarters of the Western Area. His words "This is the Navy 343ku and you shot us down. The place is...Send here immediately the person responsible for this." must have certainly hit the target because eventually an Army Major arrived and apologised profusely. Fortunately both Navy pilots were rescued but Izawa suffered serious injuries and had to be taken to the hospital.
  That was Miyazaki-san's last flight of the War but it wasn't the first time Navy Shiden-kai were mistaken for enemy aircraft. During a kamikaze escort flight over Kikaijima an IJAAF aircraft was spotted approaching with his guns blazing. The Navy pilots thought "what the heck is he doing? Is he shooting at us?" So around April-June 1945 a Zero 52, a Shiden and a Shiden-kai flown by members of the 301 went to the tokotai base of Chiran to give the Army pilots a chance to see the Navy aircraft from up close and explain the tactics the IJNAF used against US aircraft.   

Arawasi had the privilage to meet Miyazaki-san on a number of occasions during the annual meetings of the "Kansai Rei-sen Tojoin-kai" (Kansai Zero Pilot's Association). We had the chance to relish the long conversations with a veteran in his 90s with a clear state of mind, remembering every small detail about either the Zero or the Shiden-kai, enjoying his beer and smoking like a chimney. Unforgettable will remain the moments when we heard all the veterans singing Navy songs on the first meeting after the death of Tanimizu-san.

Miyazaki-san (right) with "Kansai Rei-sen Tojoin-kai" president Ota-san,
a member of the 303 Fighter Hikotai of the 203 Air Group.

Miyazaki-san passed away in 2012. He will be sorely missed.

The Luigi Scarano Collection Pt. 6

Some photos of my Kawanishi N1K2-J "Shiden-kai", 343 Fighter Group, pilot Miyazaki Isamu. This is my old work (2002), Hasegawa kit 1/48 scale, Testors Model Master paints and Gunze clear paints.

Enjoy - Luigi

Gliders - Maeda "Komadori"

Around 1941 the magazine "Koku Asahi" organised an essay competition to celebrate the release of the first issue of the magazine. The subject was simply "Aviation" and students from Junior high, high school and universities could participate. The price was one glider for each school of the winners of the three categories.

In April 1941 the results were announced, no less than 733 essays were submitted, 697 of them from Junior high schools. The winner in this category was Kawamura Riuchi one of the 120 members of the glider club of his Sanbongi Nogyo (agriculture) Gakko school of Aomori prefecture.

The prize award ceremony was held on April 29, the chief editor of "Koku Asahi" was present with all 500 students and teachers of the school as well as hundreds of female students from near-by girl-schools and about 2,000 residents of the area. The ceremony started at 11:00 and from midday two glider pilots made demonstration flights for the pleasure of the spectators who had never seen gliders in flight before. The two pilots stayed for two more days to train students.

The glider presented to Kawamura-kun was a very colourful Maeda "Komadori".  

The photos below are from the prize award ceremony.

 Note the logo of the magazine "Koku Asahi" on the tail.

 Kawamura-kun enjoying his glider.

Our good friend Zygmunt  Szeremeta created artwork especially for our blog. 

The full registration number is not visible in the photos, therefore the "B-83" is only a suggestion.

The "Komadori" (robin) was designed by Maeda Koken Kogyo and first took to the air in October 1940. It was designated Maeda Model 105kai but also Asahi-shiki "Komadori" primary glider. Maeda built about 1200 of this very successful glider but unknown numbers were also built under license by other manufacturers and even schools.

Until the introduction of Maeda 105kai it took about an hour to assemble a primary glider; "Komadori" took only five minutes. It had shock absorber and the main wing and the fuselage could fold making it especially easy to store. It was so light that it could be transported by a bicycle-drawn cart.

Drawings also by Zygmunt  Szeremeta. Dziękuję.

Vintage magazine cover

Cover of August 1930 issue of magazine "Koku Jidai". Artwork by painter Suzuki Gyosui  born 1898 in Akita prefecture and a graduate of the Tokorozawa Rikugun Hiko Gakko. In 1927 his artwork illustrated aviation stories in the magazine "King" and in 1929 contributed artwork in another magazine, "Shonen Club". A year later he dedicated himself in creating aviation subjects earning the nickname "Air Force Suzuki Gyosui".  Died in 1982.

The aircraft on the cover is a Junkers F-13 seaplane with the registration J-BALG which according to the civilian register site belonged to Teikoku Kaibo Gikai, then to Nippon Koku KK until it crashed n March 1934.

Civilian Aviation - National Foundation Day

In Japan, National Foundation Day is a public holiday celebrated on February 11 every year. In 1937 the celebrations included a commemorating flight organised by the Teikoku Hiko Kyokai (Imperial Aeronautic Association). No less than 38 civilian aircraft flew over Tokyo split into three groups and taking off from Tsudanuma (Chiba), Susaki (Tokyo) and Haneda (Tokyo) airfields.

In the photo below a group of civilian Yokosho K2Y flown by students of the Nippon Student Air League in formation over Tokyo bay. Their civilian registrations are: J-BAQP, J-BAFP (or J-BAPP) and probably J-BAMF.

Taken from the passing aircraft a photo of Sumida river with a fleet of river boats taking part in the celebrations.

A photo of the second group taking off from Susaki airfield in the Tokyo bay. The two clearly visible aircraft are Salmson 2.A2 belonging to the Asia Flying School with civilian registrations J-BFDR and probably J-BFDY.

Susaki was the lesser known airfield of Tokyo located in Koto Ward.

We hope you don't mind a touch of culture, sharing the marvellous ukiyo-e by master Hiroshige. It is the 107th image of his "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" and is entitled "Fukagawa Susaki and Jūmantsubo"

Nakajima Ki-4

A photo from the same publication of August 1st, 1938 showing an Army Type 94 Reconnaissance Aircraft or Nakajima Ki-4 liaise with ground troops.
The ground unit would set up two poles connected with a string at the top and a message canister hanging in the middle. The aircraft would make a very low pass and fish the canister with the message using a line with a hook operated by the rear observer. This was a most efficient, albeit rather primitive, method of communication at an age when the radio was not sufficiently developed. Reconnaissance aircraft like the Ki-4 and later the Tachikawa Ki-36 "Ida" would guide ground troops to their target or warn them of enemy units in the area during the Sino-Japanese War.
Any suggestions about the trucks in the photo?

The tail marking is not clear enough but the caption mentions that "after the fall of Xuzhou, Lanfeng and Kaifeng the next major target of our advancing troops is the city of Zhengzhou". From this information it is apparent that the photo was taken during the Battle of Northern and Eastern Henan province.

Monograph #96 mentions:
"Air Operations Over North China to Support the Wu-Han Operation
After the Tungshan Operation, the North China Area Army was charged primarily with keeping peace and order in the occupied areas.
  In early August, when the North China Area Army Air Unit9 was organised, the Area Army commander ordered the Sudo Unit (one fighter squadron and two light bomber squadrons)10 to Anyang and Tungshan with the mission of gathering enemy intelligence and supporting the ground operations of the 1st Army garrison groups (the 5th and 114th Divisions and the 5th Independent Mixed Brigade garrisoning Shantung Province and the area around Tungshan, the 110th Division guarding the Peiping-Tienching sector and the Cavalry Group on the east side of the New Huang Ho). 

9. The Order of Battle of the North China Area Army Air Unit was published on 2 August 1938. The unit was composed of the 3rd squadron of the 64th Air Regiment, 27th Air Regiment, 90th Air Regiment and two airfield battalions.
10. The original Japanese manuscript states that the Sudo Unit was composed of three air reconnaissance squadrons. This is incorrect. The unit, which was commanded by Col Einosuke Sudo, was composed of the 3rd Squadron, 64th Air Regiment (one fighter squadron) and the 27th Air Regiment (two light bomber squadrons)."

Ofcourse all this was from August after the publication of the magazine.
The 5th Rentai (Wing) moved to the China theatre in June 1938 with four chutai. In July the 1st and 2nd chutai became the 1st Daitai (Battalion) commanded by Col Shibata and equipped with Ki-4s (the 3rd & 4th chutai became the 2nd Daitai). On August 1st 1938 the 1st Daitai became the 27th Sentai, mentioned as 27th Air Regiment in Monograph. 
Therefore this author believes that the photo was taken during operations of the 1st Daitai in July in the North Eastern China Area before it became 27th Sentai in August.

Nakajima E8N "Dave"

A photo from a vintage August 1st, 1938 magazine of a Navy Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane or Nakajima E8N "Dave". According to the caption the photo was taken during bombing operations over the city of Guangzhou (Canton).
Unfortunately the tail marking is not visible in order to pinpoint the unit.
Note the heavy anti-aircraft barrage.