[Juri_JS]

I agree with PhilK, definitely it's my idea... again, a mixture of shrubs, black sand and white ashes would be perfect. I HIGHLY recommend PhilK Iwo campaign, but I'll wait to re-play it again once redko has finished what it will be an outstanding work, I'm sure.

Regarding pre-invasion campaigns, to fly some japanese defenders, correct me if I'm wrong but if we like to be historically correct, the air defender activity was minimum as the americans destroyed all the airplanes and airstrips in the very first raids. Obviously this is only a game so it means that we don't need to be 100% historically correct, it's just an observation

Supposedly two zeros took off from the island to do Kamikaze attacks during the landings. I suppose there could be a mission like that.

It's true mate! I've remembered an interesting fact about the Iwo Jima air defenders: I read some time ago a book about Kamikazes (very interesting book, french 'L'Epopee Kamikaze' by Bernard Millot) and I've run to check it: the first true kamikaze (or jibaku attack) was launched from Iwo Jima after the 3rd raid the 4th of July of 1944. There were left only 8 Jills and 9 Zeros operative, and they were launched against the american fleet in a suicidal attack, but they were repelled by more than 60 Hellcats and the 5 survivors, 4 Zeros and one Jill, took refuge in the clouds (those were the proportions in the Iwo Jima battles, I guess that in IL2 that would mean a very difficult mission, also because planes can 'see' through the clouds
Finally the survivors returned to Iwo Jima but apparently they were completely destroyed the day after when the american fleet came near the island and pounded it. This was much time before the invasion that happened in 1945, so apparently between july 1944 and february 1945, the japanese, without any more operative planes, dedicated themselves to a passive defence to fortify the island. So I don't know about those 2 zeros you mention, maybe you refer to the attack above?

Here some more information on the air defence of Iwo Jima in 1944. In June 1944 80 Zeros of
the Yokosuka Kokutai and the 301st and 252nd Kokutai were stationed at Iwo Jima. Most Japanese planes were destroyed by US Navy aircraft during the battles in June and July. After that the few surviving pilots of the Yokosuka and 301st Kokutai were tranfered to Japan (one of them was Saburo Sakai). Only the 252nd Kokutai stayed at Iwo Jima and opposed the B-24s that constantly bombed the island between August 1944 and February 1945. They only had a small number of Zero fighters and few intercept missions were flown. After B-29s started to fly missions from the Marianas Iwo Jima was used as a base for sporadic strikes against their airfields.

My sources are:
Samurai by Saburo Sakai
Imperial Japanese Navy Aces 1937-45 by Henry Sakaida
Iwo Jima - Portrait of a battle by Eric M. Hammel
The US Navy WW2 communiques - http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/comms/