[Download] 4 Ki-44 Burma Shoki Tojo's
#6

jeanba Wrote:Great !!!
Do you have an internet link about the operationnal history of those aircraft ?

No not really - you could probably find out how many Ki-44 aircraft were deployed at any given time from Japanese airbase records but if a history of the Shoki in Burma does exist it will probably be taken from something like a fighter ace's diary (Captain Fudzitaro Ito flew Shoki's in Burma) and, of course, written in Japanese!
Even photos / newsreel upon which these skins are based is rare often with only one image existing, indeed a couple of them centre around an eye witness' description coupled with known camouflage patterns in common use at the time in other areas.
Ki-44's initially were used in both China and Burma early in 1942 they were not popular with Japanese pilots at first but their high rate of climb (better than the J2M Raiden) and manoeuvrability gave them a big advantage over allied planes at the time, the RAF pilots in Burma were flying Brewster Buffalo’s and early .303 armed Hurricanes when they first encountered the Shoki!

The Ki-44-1s was one of the first operational aircraft of its type used by the IJAAF in Burma based at Mudon, it was the first aircraft of a production series of forty Ki-44-Is', serial numbers 113-152, manufactured between February and October 1942 and issued to the 47th FCS in Burma as a replacement for the Ki-43. The number 13 on the tail represents the last two digits of its serial number.

The 87th and 50th Sentai aircraft at Meiktila are based on compositions taken from a single surviving newsreel and the only remaining photograph from the period with some features / markings reported by RAF pilots.

The RAF in Burma probably shot down quite a few Shoki's but there is no photographic evidence - considering most aerial combat would have taken place over dense jungle that isn't surprising.

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