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Some more US aircraft.

Consolidated B24J-161 Liberator.
================================
Unit: 43rd BG, 65th BS.
5th USAAF.
'Cocktail Hour'
Serial number: 44-40428,
Port Moresby,
New Guinea.
1944.

5th Air Force Operational History.
14 B-17 Flying Fortresses that survived the Battle of the Philippines left Mindanao for Darwin, Australia, between 17 and 20 December 1941, the only aircraft of the Far East Air Force to escape. After its evacuation from the Philippines on 24 December 1941, FEAF headquarters moved to Australia and was reorganised and redesignated Fifth Air Force on 5 February 1942, with most of its combat aircraft based on fields on Java. It seemed at the time that the Japanese were advancing just about everywhere. The remaining heavy bombers of the 19th Bombardment Group, based at Malang on Java, flew missions against the Japanese in an attempt to stop their advance. They were joined in January and February, two or three at a time, by 37 B-17Es and 12 LB-30s of the 7th Bombardment Group. The small force of bombers, never numbering more than 20 operational at any time, could do little to prevent the invasion of the Netherlands East Indies, launching valiant but futile attacks against the masses of Japanese shipping, with six lost in combat, six in accidents, and 26 destroyed on the ground.
The 7th Bombardment Group was withdrawn to India in March 1942, leaving the 19th to carry on as the only B-17 Fortress-equipped group in the South Pacific. About this time it was decided that replacement B-17s would not be sent to the southwest Pacific, but be sent exclusively to the Eighth Air Force which was building up in England. By May, Fifth Air Force's surviving personnel and aircraft were detached to other commands and the headquarters remained unmanned for several months, but elements played a small part in the Battle of the Coral Sea 7th and 8th May 1942, when the 435th Bomb Squadron of the 19th Bomb Group saw the Japanese fleet gathering in Rabaul area nearly two weeks before the battle actually took place. Because of the reconnaissance activity of the 435th Bomb Squadron, the US Navy was prepared to cope adequately with the situation. The squadron was commended by the US Navy for its valuable assistance not only for its excellent reconnaissance work but for the part played in the battle.
Headquarters Fifth Air Force was restaffed at Brisbane, Australia on 18 September 1942 and placed under the command of Major General George Kenney. United States Army Air Forces units in Australia, including Fifth Air Force, were eventually reinforced and re-organised following their initial defeats in the Philippines and the East Indies. At the time that Kenney had arrived, Fifth Air Force was equipped with three fighter groups and 5 bombardment groups.
In addition, Fifth Air Force controlled two transport squadrons and one photographic squadron comprising 1,602 officers and 18,116 men.
Kenney was later appointed commander of Allied air forces in the South West Pacific Area, reporting directly to General Douglas MacArthur. Under Kenney's leadership, the Fifth Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force provided the aerial spearhead for MacArthur's island hopping campaign.
When the war ended, Fifth Air Force had an unmatched record of 3,445 aerial victories, led by the nation's two top fighter aces Major Richard Bong and Major Thomas McGuire, with 40 and 38 confirmed victories respectively, and two of Fifth Air Force's ten Medal of Honor recipients.



North American B-25J Mitchell
=====================================
Unit: 81st. BS. The Battering Rams, 12th. BG.
12th USAAF.
India - China
May 1945.

The B-25J 'SUNDAY PUNCH' which was built as a B25J 27NC in 1945. The workers at the K25 Plant, one of the top secret Manhattan Project facilities in Oak Ridge, TN, donated their Sunday overtime pay to buy a B-25J for the war effort. Christened 'SUNDAY PUNCH', the aircraft was turned over to the USAAF at a dedication ceremony on March 18, 1945 at the airport in Knoxville, TN.
'SUNDAY PUNCH' served in the China-Burma-India Theater of war (CBI) with the 81st. Bomb Squadron (The Battering Rams), 12th Bomb Group (the Earthquakers), 10th Air Force, at an airfield in India and then latter in China.
The original crew of 'SUNDAY PUNCH' was Pilot Lt. Thomas Evans, Co-Pilot Lt. Paul DuQuette, Navigator Lt. Lee Fong, Radio-Gunner Staff Sgt. Harlan Mize, Engineer-Gunner Staff Sgt. Vern Rife, Jr. and Armorer-Gunner Staff Sgt. Fred Williams.
'SUNDAY PUNCH' took part in one of the longest B-25 missions of the war, flying 1600 miles to hit Ban Takli Airfield near Bankok, Thailand.
This aircraft was last seen on an airfield in China, where it was turned over to the Nationalist Chinese in 1945 after the war ended.



North American B-25J Mitchell
=====================================
Unit: 498th.BS. Falcons, 345th. BG.
serial:112
Port Moresby,
New Guinea.
1943.

The 345th Bomb Group was activated on November 11, 1942, in Columbia, South Carolina, by Third Air Force order No. 275, and four squadrons designated 498, 499, 500, 501 assigned to it. The 345th started with 40 officers and 350 enlisted men, commanded by Jarred V. Crabb. Full strength, the 345th would contain 250 officers and 1250 enlisted men.
The first two weeks were spent on paperwork and administrative details. The first B-25 arrived in late November, 1942, which enabled the 345th to start training right away. From Columbia they moved to Aiken and then Walterboro, SC. The group was originally trained as a Medium Bomb Squadron, which should have relegated it to bombing enemy targets from 8,000 to 12,000 feet. However, events in the Pacific were to dramatically change the 345th's missions.
In Australia, at a rear base of the Fifth Air Force, Major Paul 'Pappy' Gunn was experimenting on B-25's. Gunn removed the bombardier-navigator from the greenhouse nose, covered it with metal plates and mounted eight .50 caliber guns. The B-25 'Strafer' had been born. The strafer was a brilliant weapon for use against enemy airbases and sea power, so vital to the war in the Pacific. The 345th's original destination was England, but on April 6, 1943, these orders were canceled, as Fifth Air Force commander Major General George C. Kenny had come to Washington to plead for more B-25's, backed up by recent strafer successes in the Bismarck Sea. The 345th picked up new aircraft in Savannah (Hunter Field) then back to Walterboro, where names were chosen for the squadrons. The 498th became the 'Falcons,' the 499th the 'Bats outa Hell,' the 500th the 'Rough Raiders,' and the 501st called themselves the 'Black Panthers.'
The group then flew to El Paso, Texas and then on to McClellan. At the end of April, they moved to Hamilton Field north of San Francisco, and on May 1 they made the thirteen hour flight to Hickam and Bellows Fields in Hawaii. From there they flew to Christmas Island, then some flew to American Somoa while others flew to Canton Island. Then on to Fiji, New Caledonia and then to Australia. By June, 1943, the 345th had moved to Port Moresby, New Guinea and had entered combat.



North American B-25H Mitchell
=====================================
Unit: 498th.BS. Falcons, 345th. BG.
serial:343 45
Nadzab, New Guinea,
1944.

Built by North American Aviation and used from mid 1944 and into 1945, this series of the B-25 contained a 75mm cannon in the nose, hand loaded by the navigator cannoneer, that was fired by the pilot simultaneously along with four .50cal. machine guns also mounted in the nose, plus either two or four more machine guns mounted in blister packages on the sides of the cockpit. Designed primarily to be used for interdiction work against shipping and other fortified targets where a cannon could be deadly, the H series was the final development of testing begun by 'Pappy' Gunn in the Pacific and first implemented in the B-25C1 Commerce Strafers.
The production B-25G that followed first employed the 75mm cannon (the M-4) and was initially known as a fighter-bomber, before the AAF adopted that term for bombing fighters. The later B-25H retained the cannon, albeit a lighter version the T13E1, which allowed for more forward-firing machine guns, plus additional armor plating to protect the crew.
The B-25H ended up not being used as much as planned. This was in principle due to its configuration as an attack bomber and changes in AAF tactics, its lack of factory dual controls, higher maintenance due to the wear and tear caused by the cannon, and a widespread lack of targets of the type needing the cannon, such as low altitude bombing missons common in mid and late 1944 in the Pacific.
Although tested by a variety of combat groups in mid 1944, those B-25H models that remained in combat were used by a few squadrons who specialised in this type of use, particularly in the South and Southwest Pacific and in Southeast Asia. The units that made more extensive use of the B-25H include, the 100th BS of 42nd BG 13th Air Force, the 498th BS of the 345th BG, squadrons of the 38th BG, plus the 418th Night Fighter Squadron, all of the 5th Air Force, squadrons of the 341st BG of the 10th and 14th Air Forces in Southeast Asia, plus the 1st Air Commando Group of the 10th Air Force and by the Marine Corps in the Central Pacific.


B-25C Mitchell
=====================================
Unit: Doolittle carrier bourne strike force.
aircraft number 11 of the 89th RS.
Flown off USS Hornet.
Pilot: Capt. C. Ross Greening
serial: 02249
April 1942.

40-2249 Hari Kari'er of the 89th RS attacked Yokohama and went onto crash land NE of Chuchow, China.
The Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The raid was planned and led by then Lieutenant Colonel James 'Jimmy' Doolittle, USAAF. Doolittle would later recount in his autobiography that the raid was intended to bolster American morale and to cause the Japanese to begin doubting their leadership.
The Japanese people had been told they were invulnerable. An attack on the Japanese homeland would cause confusion in the minds of the Japanese people and sow doubt about the reliability of their leaders. There was a second, and equally important, psychological reason for this attack was Americans badly needed a morale boost.
Sixteen U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchell medium bombers were launched from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in the Western Pacific Ocean. The plan called for them to bomb military targets in Japan, and to continue westward to land in China landing a medium bomber on the Hornet was impossible. All of the aircraft involved in the bombing were lost and 11 crewmen were either killed or captured with three of the captured men executed by the Japanese Army in China. One of the B-25s landed in the Soviet Union at Vladivostok, where it was confiscated and its crew interned for more than a year. Thirteen entire crews, and all but one crewman of a 14th, returned either to the United States or to American forces.
The raid caused negligible material damage to Japan, but it succeeded in its goal of helping American morale, and casting doubt in Japan on the ability of the Japanese military leaders. It also caused Japan to withdraw its powerful aircraft carrier force from the Indian Ocean to defend their Home Islands, and the raid contributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's decision to attack Midway an attack that turned into a decisive rout of the Imperial Japanese Navy by the U.S. Navy near Midway Island in the Central Pacific.
Approximately 250,000 Chinese civilians were massacred by the Japanese Army in eastern China in retaliation for Chinese assistance of the attacking American aviators.
 
Some more US aircraft.


A24-B Banshee (SBD-3 Dauntless)
=====================================
Unit: 8th BS, 3rd BG, USAAF.
Serial: 254459
Pilot: Capt. J. Sanders
Port Moresby,
New Guinea.
July 1942.

8TH SQUADRON
Captain Floyd Rogers led thirteen A-24 Dauntless's of 8 Squadron from Charters Towers to Port Moresby. They suffered heavy losses while in New Guinea. They were withdrawn from New Guinea after it was realised that they were not suited for their intended role without adequate fighter protection and they were desperately in need of adequate workshop facilities and spares backup. They were more suited to carrier based operations. The 3rd Bomb Group eventually being re equiped with A20's and B25's. with these new planes the 3rd went onto have great success in combating the Japanese.
The Douglas A-24 Banshee was a land based version of the US Navy's SBD-3 Dauntless dive bomber. The first A-24 was delivered to the Army Air Corps on June 17, 1941. The first operational A-24 unit was the new 27th Bombardment Group. The 27th BG was in the process of been shipped to the Philippines when the war broke out. The airmen were in the Philippines, but their aircraft were on their way via ship from Honolulu. The shipment was diverted to Australia. Some of the 27th BG pilots were evacuated from the Philippines to join their aircraft in Australia. Eleven A-24s flew up to Java in February of 1942 where they attacked enemy ships in the harbor and the Japanese air base at Bali, as well as Japanese ships in the waters near Java, damaging and sinking numerous enemy ships.
After the loss of Java, the A-24 was used briefly in New Guinea. After the loss of 5 out of 7 aircraft on one mission, the A-24 was withdrawn from operational use and allocated to secondary training and support roles. Many were used as training aircraft or to tow targets for aerial gunnery training. Several A-24s were supplied to the Free French forces fighting in Africa and Europe beginning in 1943. The Mexican air force also received several A-24 which were used for antisubmarine patrols in the Caribbean beginning in 1944. These aircraft were later used as trainers and for border patrol. The last of the Mexican A-24s were retired in 1959. The A-24 Banshee was armed with 2 .50 cal. Forward firing Browning M2 machine guns in engine cowling and 2 .30 cal. Flexible mounted Browning machine guns in rear and could carry 2,250 lbs. of bombs.



B-17 Flying Fortress
=====================================
Unit: 43rd BG, 63rd BS, 5th USAAF
Serial: 124454.
'Georgia Peach'
Port Moresby,
New Guinea.
1943.

5th Air Force Operational History.
14 B-17 Flying Fortresses that survived the Battle of the Philippines left Mindanao for Darwin, Australia, between 17 and 20 December 1941, the only aircraft of the Far East Air Force to escape. After its evacuation from the Philippines on 24 December 1941, FEAF headquarters moved to Australia and was reorganised and redesignated Fifth Air Force on 5 February 1942, with most of its combat aircraft based on fields on Java. It seemed at the time that the Japanese were advancing just about everywhere. The remaining heavy bombers of the 19th Bombardment Group, based at Malang on Java, flew missions against the Japanese in an attempt to stop their advance. They were joined in January and February, two or three at a time, by 37 B-17Es and 12 LB-30s of the 7th Bombardment Group. The small force of bombers, never numbering more than 20 operational at any time, could do little to prevent the invasion of the Netherlands East Indies, launching valiant but futile attacks against the masses of Japanese shipping, with six lost in combat, six in accidents, and 26 destroyed on the ground.
The 7th Bombardment Group was withdrawn to India in March 1942, leaving the 19th to carry on as the only B-17 Fortress-equipped group in the South Pacific. About this time it was decided that replacement B-17s would not be sent to the southwest Pacific, but be sent exclusively to the Eighth Air Force which was building up in England. By May, Fifth Air Force's surviving personnel and aircraft were detached to other commands and the headquarters remained unmanned for several months, but elements played a small part in the Battle of the Coral Sea 7th and 8th May 1942, when the 435th Bomb Squadron of the 19th Bomb Group saw the Japanese fleet gathering in Rabaul area nearly two weeks before the battle actually took place. Because of the reconnaissance activity of the 435th Bomb Squadron, the US Navy was prepared to cope adequately with the situation. The squadron was commended by the US Navy for its valuable assistance not only for its excellent reconnaissance work but for the part played in the battle.
Headquarters Fifth Air Force was restaffed at Brisbane, Australia on 18 September 1942 and placed under the command of Major General George Kenney. United States Army Air Forces units in Australia, including Fifth Air Force, were eventually reinforced and re-organised following their initial defeats in the Philippines and the East Indies. At the time that Kenney had arrived, Fifth Air Force was equipped with three fighter groups and 5 bombardment groups.
In addition, Fifth Air Force controlled two transport squadrons and one photographic squadron comprising 1,602 officers and 18,116 men.
Kenney was later appointed commander of Allied air forces in the South West Pacific Area, reporting directly to General Douglas MacArthur. Under Kenney's leadership, the Fifth Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force provided the aerial spearhead for MacArthur's island hopping campaign.
When the war ended, Fifth Air Force had an unmatched record of 3,445 aerial victories, led by the nation's two top fighter aces Major Richard Bong and Major Thomas McGuire, with 40 and 38 confirmed victories respectively, and two of Fifth Air Force's ten Medal of Honor recipients.



Consolidated B-24D-25-CO Liberator.
====================================
B-24D The Eagar Beaver.
Serial number 123849.
Based at New Guinea between 1942-45.

Part of the 90th Bomb Group, 319th Bomb Squadron, 5th Air Force. Known as the Jolly Rogers.
The Jolly Rogers lost 91 Liberators between 1942 and 1945 flying from New Guinea in the Pacific Theatre, of these 25 were shot down in combat (11 during repeated attacks against WeWak) and a further 13 were scrapped as a result of combat damage.



Douglas A20-G medium bomber
=====================================
Unit: 312th BG, 388th BS, 5th USAAF
Code: J
Serial: 43-9105.
'L'il Kitten'
Gusap, New Guinea.
1944.

Originally trained to fly P-40s, the men of the 312th transitioned to the A-20G in the field. Calling themselves the Roarin' 20s, the men of the 312th fought their way across the Southwest Pacific from New Guinea to the Philippines.
Attacking with forward-firing .50-cal. machine guns and bombs, the A-20G lived up to its name by creating havoc and destruction on low-level strafing attacks, especially against Japanese shipping and airfields across the Southwest Pacific.
 
Hi Guys,

Some Japanese planes, all periods and regions of the PTO, CBI theatres. There are many, many more Japanese planes then shown here included with RS.

Nakajima Ki-27b 'Abdul'
(Army Type 97b Fighter)
================================
Unit: 3.Chutai 5.Sentai,
Imperial Japanese Army Airforce.
China - Burma.
1940-41.

When in mid 1935 Kawasaki, Mitsubishi and Nakajima were instructed by the Imperial Japanese Army to build competitive prototypes of an advanced fighter aircraft. Nakajima responded with a single seat monoplane fighter derived from the company's Type P.E., which it had started to develop as a private venture by the designers Hideo Itokawa and Yasushi Koyama. A cantilever low-wing monoplane of all metal construction, except for fabric covered control surfaces, the aircraft had a conventional tail unit, fixed tailskid landing gear and power provided by a 650 hp Nakajima Ha-1a radial engine.
First flown during July 1936, this aircraft was followed three months later by the first Nakajima Ki-27 prototype which incorporated minor modifications and refinements that resulted from the early tests of the Type P.E. Service trials proved that the Kawasaki Ki-28 was the fastest of the three contenders, but Nakajima's Ki-27 was by far the most manoeuvrable and, on that basis, 10 pre-production examples were ordered for further service evaluation. They differed from the prototype by having wings of increased span and area, and the cockpit enclosed by a sliding canopy.
Following further testing in 1937 the type was ordered into production as the Army Type 97 Fighter Model A (Nakajima Ki-27a). Late production aircraft which introduced some refinements, including a further improved cockpit canopy, had the designation Ki-27b. Subsequently two Ki-27 KA1 experimental aircraft were built, introducing a lighter weight structure to improve performance, but no production examples followed.

Nakajima could not have guessed that 3,399 aircraft would be built, by Nakajima (2,020) and Mansyu (1,379), before production came to a halt at the end of 1942, but the type's entry into service over northern China in March 1938 gave an immediate appreciation of its capability, the Ki-27s becoming masters of the airspace until confronted later by the faster Soviet Polikarpov I-16 fighters. At the beginning of the Pacific war the Ki-27s took part in the invasion of Burma, Malaya, the Netherlands East Indies and the Philippines.
Allocated the Allied codename 'Nate' (initially 'Abdul' in the China- Burma-India theatre), the Ki-27 had considerable success against the Allies in the initial stages before more modern fighters became available. When this occurred they were transferred for air defence of the home islands, remaining deployed in this capacity until 1943 when they became used increasingly as advanced trainers. As with many Japanese aircraft, their final use was in a kamikaze role.



Nakajima Ki-27a 'Abdul'
(Army Type 97a Fighter)
================================
Unit: 2. Chutai, 10th Dokuritsu Hiko,
Imperial Japanese Army Airforce.
Canton area,
China.
1940.

When in mid 1935 Kawasaki, Mitsubishi and Nakajima were instructed by the Imperial Japanese Army to build competitive prototypes of an advanced fighter aircraft. Nakajima responded with a single seat monoplane fighter derived from the company's Type P.E., which it had started to develop as a private venture by the designers Hideo Itokawa and Yasushi Koyama. A cantilever low-wing monoplane of all metal construction, except for fabric covered control surfaces, the aircraft had a conventional tail unit, fixed tailskid landing gear and power provided by a 650 hp Nakajima Ha-1a radial engine.
First flown during July 1936, this aircraft was followed three months later by the first Nakajima Ki-27 prototype which incorporated minor modifications and refinements that resulted from the early tests of the Type P.E. Service trials proved that the Kawasaki Ki-28 was the fastest of the three contenders, but Nakajima's Ki-27 was by far the most manoeuvrable and, on that basis, 10 pre-production examples were ordered for further service evaluation. They differed from the prototype by having wings of increased span and area, and the cockpit enclosed by a sliding canopy.
Following further testing in 1937 the type was ordered into production as the Army Type 97 Fighter Model A (Nakajima Ki-27a). Late production aircraft which introduced some refinements, including a further improved cockpit canopy, had the designation Ki-27b. Subsequently two Ki-27 KA1 experimental aircraft were built, introducing a lighter weight structure to improve performance, but no production examples followed.

Nakajima could not have guessed that 3,399 aircraft would be built, by Nakajima (2,020) and Mansyu (1,379), before production came to a halt at the end of 1942, but the type's entry into service over northern China in March 1938 gave an immediate appreciation of its capability, the Ki-27s becoming masters of the airspace until confronted later by the faster Soviet Polikarpov I-16 fighters. At the beginning of the Pacific war the Ki-27s took part in the invasion of Burma, Malaya, the Netherlands East Indies and the Philippines.
Allocated the Allied codename 'Nate' (initially 'Abdul' in the China- Burma-India theatre), the Ki-27 had considerable success against the Allies in the initial stages before more modern fighters became available. When this occurred they were transferred for air defence of the home islands, remaining deployed in this capacity until 1943 when they became used increasingly as advanced trainers. As with many Japanese aircraft, their final use was in a kamikaze role.



Nakajima Ki-27b 'Nate'
(Army Type 97b Fighter)
================================
Unit: 2.Chutai 24th Sentai,
Imperial Japanese Army Airforce.
Pilot: Capt. Hyoe Yonaga.
Batan Island,
Philippines.
December 1941.

Ki.27 Otsu flown by Capt. Hyoe YONAGA in December 1941 based in the Philippines. Yonaga was the CO of the 2nd Chutai of the 24th Sentai at this time.
At the beginning of the Pacific War, five Ki-27-equipped Sentais were deployed to support the campaigns in the Philippines, Malaya, Burma, and the Dutch East Indies, while others continued holding the line in China and the Japanese puppet government of Manchukuo. Still others provided the main air defense of the home islands until 1943.
With newer types entering service, the the Ki-27 was restricted to second line duties in Japan and Manchukuo and some were eventually sacrificed as Kamikaze suicide planes at the end of the war. Indeed, the Manchukuo Air Force used the Ki-27b for the entire war. Total production came to 3,399 with 2,020 by Nakajima and the rest in Manchuko.


Nakajima Ki-27b 'Nate'
(Army Type 97b Fighter)
================================
Unit: 2.Chutai 264th Sentai,
Imperial Japanese Army Airforce.
Pilot: Sgt. Susumu Kajinami.
Kakogawa Air Base
Hyogo,
Japan.
January 1943.
flown by Sgt. Susumu KAJINAMI, Kakogawa Air Base, Hyogo Japan, in the home defence role January 1943. This pilot flew for a time with the 68th Sentai in New Guinea and scored about 18 victories in this theatre.



Beta Mitsubishi G3M-2
=====================================
Navy Type 96 attack bomber Model 22
Allied code name: Nell
Unit: 2nd Hikatai, Genzan Kokutai,
Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force
Serial: G-321
Malaya
1941.

IMPORTANT NOTE ON RELEASE:
This plane is currently a beta product and is designed to be AI only due to the incomplete cockpit files etc. however we decided to include one player flyable version so that it could be picked as a target when flying quick combat missions. there are several Nell's set up as AI only planes for inclusion in mission packs spanning the entire WWII period.
History of represented unit: Flown by Lieutenant Sadao Takai, leader of 2nd Hikatai, Genzan Kokutai, this aircraft was one of a group that attacked the British capital ships HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales off the coast of Malaya on December 10th 1941 resulting in the sinking of both ships with heavey casualties. it was torpedos from Nell's that dealt the fatal blows to Repulse.



Aichi E13a1B.
=====================================
Aichi Type E13a1B
Allied Code Name Jake
Flown from various Cruisers, and island bases throught the Pacific.
charged with reconnoitering the American Navy base.
Pearl Harbor December 7th 1941.

Based on numbers alone, the Aichi production E13A series of floatplanes (dubbed Jake by the Allies) was the most important such aircraft type for the Japanese Navy during the Second World War. The system was fielded in quantity in the early 1940s and were charged with reconnoitering the American Navy based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, prior to the infamous December 7th attack. A tremendous design with durability and endurance to boot, the E13A would serve through the end of the war, notoriously in Kamikaze attacks on advancing American naval convoys.
The E13A was a three-crew low-monoplane aircraft with pontoons fitted in place of traditional landing gear systems. The initial need for the floatplane stemmed from a Japanese naval requirement for a new floatplane to replace the aging Kawanishi E7K2 series. As such, offers to the Aichi, Kawanishi and Nakajima aircraft firms were made to promote a competitive trial. At the end, only a Aichi and Kawanishi design remained, with the Aichi design getting the go ahead. A prototype was then produced and ordered into production after 1940.
Though limited in number at first, the E13A series made some initial carrier-based land-strikes and reconnaissance missions that promoted the use of this aircraft type. As such, the floatplane would be fielded regularly with future cruiser groups and mounted to catapults on Japanese battleships. Standard armament would consist of a single 7.7mm machine gun in the rear cockpit. External stores were limited to a single 551lb bomb or depth charge as needed.
Aichi Jakes were utilized more importantly for their reconnaissance initiative than their strike capability (limited as they were in that respect). Reconnoiter missions would include the scouting of Pearl Harbor and the famous miscommunication reconnoiter mission for American battle groups in the early rounds of the Battle of Midway, leaving many carrier-based attack aircraft ready for action on the Japanese carrier decks, but waiting for the reconnaissance reports to come in.
The Aichi E13A would serve through to the end of the war, though limited with each passing month by the power of the new generation of American carrier-based fighters and the ever-advancing American forces. Jakes, as other aircraft of this type, would later be relegated to Kamikaze attacks on American ships in the hopes of damaging psyche and disrupting supplies and combat capabilities. In the end, the masterful aircraft would be highly regarded as the best floatplane that Japan could field and the 1,418 such production models would attest to that.
You can take off and land on water, take off is not to hard, press E for engines on, press G for gear up, power on full
throtle, when you reach about 80 mph. pull back on stick. Landing is a bit more difficult, reduce power, fly just above the water until it nearly reaches stall speed,cut power to zero, and glide on in, this takes a bit of practice.
 
One of the other countries supporting the Japanese.

we have approximately 184 player flyable aircraft in the initial release, which gives an extremely good representation of the aircraft used in all theatres across all time periods. And we have more on the go for subsiquent updates.

regards Rob.


Nakajima Ki-27b 'Otas'
(B.Kh12, Fighter type 12)
================================
Unit: Foong Bin 16,
Royal Thai Air Force.
Pilot: P.O. Kamrop Bleangkam.
Lampang, Thailand.
November 1943.

The fighter squadrons of the RTAF operated Curtiss Hawk III's and Hawk 75Ns. Their intended replacement was the North American N.A.-68, six of which had been ordered in late 1939. It was intended to produce sufficient numbers of N.A.-68s under licence to replace all Hawk III's and Hawk 75Ns. But, due to a US embargo in October 1940, no N.A.-68s were delivered to Thailand . New fighter aircraft, 12 Nakajima Ki-27bs, arrived in early 1942. Prior to the delivery of the fighters, Japan provided training and technical assistance to the RTAF. The Ki-27bs were ordered from the Mansyu company in late January 1942. The Ki-27b was in large scale service with the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, IJAAF, being known to the Allies as 'Nate.' The Thais named some of the Japanese aircraft types after the the city where they had been manufactured. Thereby, the Ki-27bs were known as Otas, after the city of Ota . They also received the designation B.Kh12, Fighter type 12, as well as being known in the separate classification system as the Type 15. They were painted in the standard IJAAF colours of dark green upper sides and light green undersides. However, some Ki-27bs were painted in a two tone dark green and brown upper sides during the war.
Upon delivery, the Otas were allocated to the Foong Bin 16, supplementing Hawk 75Ns. From February 6, 1942 , when the first mission was flown, the Ki-27bs flew escort for the Ki-21s and Ki-30 bombers during bombing and reconnaissance missions over the Shan states, as well as maintaining combat air patrols over northern Thailand . In late 1943, Foong Bin 16 was based at Lampang in northern Thailand. During the closing months of 1943, Consolidated B-24s of the Chinese based 308th BG on three occasions raided Chiang Mai and Lampang. During the third raid, on December 31, six Ki-27bs tried to intercept the US bombers. During 1944, more and more raids were flown against targets in Thailand . On November 11, 1944 , nine P-51 Mustangs from the 25th FS and eight P-38 Lightnings flew an offensive reconnaissance mission over northern Thailand. Their targets included the railway line between Chiang Mai and the Ban Dara bridge, as well as the airfields in the area. A locomotive was attacked, and damaged, and the American fighters also attacked Lampang airfield, destroying a single-engined aircraft on the runway.
The Thai defences had been alerted to the raid, and scrambled five Ki-27bs from Foong Bin 16. After the Lightnings and Mustangs had completed their strafing run, the RTAF fighters were bounced by the US pilots. Although the Otas were more nimble than the P-38s and P-51s, they could not match the speed and armament of the US fighters. During the rather one-sided melee, the Thais claimed one P-38 as shot down, but in turn lost all of their Ki-27bs. The USAAF lost one aircraft, most probably the P-38 claimed by Pilot Officer Kamrop. According to Thai sources, three Mustangs were damaged during the dogfight, two of which crashed in northern Thailand and the last in the Shan states.
 
AMAZING!

A P-43? One of my favorite underdogs. CFS3 is getting yet another renaissance, now if we could just get the graphics up to 2011 standards.
 
I want you all to remember this." I don't know how to build missions ". At least that's what was aid about 6 months ago by someone who thinks of himself as the Mission Guru. So you only get a few missions from me. Hope they are up to everyones standards.
 
i jsut want to extend a personal thx to talon for doing the paints jobs on al my ship for pearl:salute:, now if ppl woudl stop sinkig them during testing:icon31:
 
The team has done great work for all of us to enjoy..
BRAVO..
:salute: :salute: :salute:
This will be a wonderful addition to our CFS3 family of expansions ..
 
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