Japanese Airfields, Equipment & more #27 - revised

"Pisto"
In Japanese, "pisto" is the place on the airfield, very close to the landing/takeoff area, where the pilots gathered before takeoff.  The "pisto" was a very important element of the Japanese airfield, but it's not an original Japanese word and I have no idea of its origins. It is often translated as "pilot waiting area".

This is a classic "pisto" photo from the Kumagaya school. The trainees gathered in this area waiting for their turn to get on the Tachikawa Ki-9 "Spruce" with the instructor. The senior on-the-ground instructor gave them the final okay and supervised the whole process. Once back on the ground, the students wrote on a board what routine they had performed in the air and returned to their seats waiting for the rest of the students.

The instructors are sitting in the front row, behind the table, the students in the back. Every instructor was responsible for about four students.

The students reported their name and routine, gave a salute and rushed to the trainers after a "yoshi" (good!, all right!) from the senior ground instructor.

The next student is getting ready for his turn.

Students and instructors sit around a charcoal stove to keep themselves warm while training is taking place.

Another photo of instructors using radio to communicate with the students flying solo with their Tachikawa Ki-55 "Ida" trainers. Note the aircraft model the instructor in the middle is holding in his hand.

As can also be seen in previous photos, the instructors sat in folding chairs like the one shown in the attached photos.

While the students sat on wooden benches.

The senior on-the-ground officer responsible for the training usually sat alone in a folding stool with a wooden folding table in front of him.

Model Art #329 featured artwork by Hasegawa Ichiro.

In this different "pisto" photo the officer responsible for the training routine is giving final instructions written on the board. This is a gathering of transport pilots flying parachutists so he explains how they will take off, what formation they will maintain, the exact route and the altitude they will keep from which they will drop the parachutists.

The "pisto" was present on all Japanese airfields. Apart from training, it was the area where pilots on stand-by duty were resting. Their fighter aircraft were very close and when there was a sudden warning, they rushed and took off in a few minutes. In the attached photo, someone brought a couch for more comfort.

In the front-line units, even on Japan's mainland, "pisto" equipment included whatever was available. So often there were not folding chairs and tables but regular ones from the officer's mess. Pilots on duty ate there or played board games like "go" or "shogi" to spend their time.

Note the parachute harnesses, helmets and other equipment hung from the tent edges for faster accessibility.

In this photo taken in an airfield in China, the pilots have brought to the "pisto" any kind of chair they could find. Note that one of them is sitting on a metal bucket.

Conditions in the "pisto" really depended on the unit, the weather etc. Sometimes there were no tents and the "pisto" was surrounded by canvas to protect from the wind.

In winter though heavier tents were usually used. In the attached photos, we can see different types of "pisto" tents.

In this short clip, the 244 Sentai in Chofu shows that it had one "pisto" next to its barracks and another right next to its fighters. And when the emergency siren started blaring, the pilots scrambled from both.

As we can see in the attached photos, the IJNAF also used "pisto" looking exactly the same as the IJAAF. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any good photos of IJNAF "pisto" of combat units outside Japan.

Typical folding chairs found in IJNAF airfields in Japan mainland.

Some guy was selling this Navy folding chair on the Japanese Ebay. He claimed to be original.