Ki-43's, Ki-44's, Ki-61's, Ki-84's ...

[Mark Allen M]

Nicely done! Dan 'my man', wouldn't have expected any less from ya. Good stuff.

Kobayashi's Ki-61 would look great on one of the new ones down the road.

[tom d. friedman]

mark, those pics are as good as the japanese "koku fan" brand japanese printed / circulated reference books!!

[Dan K]

All good stuff, Mark (including a few I hadn't seen before).

We'll end the night with this attractive NMF Ki-84 of the 73rd Sentai. The pic was snapped in the Philippines probably in late 1944. By the following March the unit virtually ceased to exist.

[Noha307]

Part 5 Ki-84's

This photo was likely taken post surrender. IIRC, all remaining Japanese aircraft had their propellers removed so that there would be no unauthorized flights.

[Mudge]

Quality's poor, but check this out:

Still image from the 1968 Bob Hope movie The Private Navy of Sergeant O'Farrell - looks like the same plane?

Why are the "kill" flags on backwards?

Mudge the curious

[Noha307]

Quality's poor, but check this out:

Still image from the 1968 Bob Hope movie The Private Navy of Sergeant O'Farrell - looks like the same plane?

Why are the "kill" flags on backwards?

Mudge the curious

I noticed that too. It reminds me of how the American flag is worn backwards on the U.S. military uniform. I've never seen kill flags backwards before though.

[shrike]

I noticed that too. It reminds me of how the American flag is worn backwards on the U.S. military uniform. I've never seen kill flags backwards before though.

They are not backwards. The staff (canton) side is always to the fore, as if the patch (or decal) were a actually flag being flown by the wearer. Ditto with flags on the tails of aircraft.

As to why they are backwards as kill markers, I'm guessing it's meant as an additional subtle insult.

[Steve Nelson]

Considering those "kills" are just some 1960s Hollywood dressing, I would assume they were simply applied by someone in the art dept. who didn't know squat about flag etiquette or WWII Japanese markings. Wartime Japanese aircrft usually displayed kills as airplane silhouettes or cherry blossoms..I don't think Iv'e ever seen them use flags, outside of the movies or TV. The closest I can think of was a Zero that had some kill marks in the form of white stars on blue circles.

SN

[shrike]

Considering those "kills" are just some 1960s Hollywood dressing, I would assume they were simply applied by someone in the art dept. who didn't know squat about flag etiquette or WWII Japanese markings. Wartime Japanese aircrft usually displayed kills as airplane silhouettes or cherry blossoms..I don't think Iv'e ever seen them use flags, outside of the movies or TV. The closest I can think of was a Zero that had some kill marks in the form of white stars on blue circles.

SN

And it was only late in the war that the Japanese started keeping individual tallies. Earlier on, kills were credited to the squadron as a whole to encourage cohesion and commonality of purpose

[tom d. friedman]

Considering those "kills" are just some 1960s Hollywood dressing, I would assume they were simply applied by someone in the art dept. who didn't know squat about flag etiquette or WWII Japanese markings. Wartime Japanese aircrft usually displayed kills as airplane silhouettes or cherry blossoms..I don't think Iv'e ever seen them use flags, outside of the movies or TV. The closest I can think of was a Zero that had some kill marks in the form of white stars on blue circles.

SN

i concur!! i've also seen pics of that zero.