NAKAJIMA Ki-44 SHOKI IN JAPANESE ARMY AIR FORCE
Prix régulier 29,00 € TTC 6%
Characteristics
| ISBN-13 | 9780887409141 |
| ISBN-10 | 0-88740-914-8 |
| Book cover finish(es) | sewn paperback |
| Condition | Very good |
| Author(s) | Richard M. Bueschel |
| Publisher | Schiffer Publishing Ltd. |
| Number of pages | 64 |
| Published date | 1996 |
| Language(s) | English |
| Collection / Series | A Schiffer Military History Book |
| Size | 21.5 x 27.9 x 0.5 cm |
| Categorie(s) | • AVIATION MILITAIRE • APPAREILS - CONSTRUCTEURS |
Description
FINAL CHAPTER IN CHINA
In the summer of 1944, the Japanese Imperial Command took advantage of the political turmoil in China and launched an offensive to overtake the Allied airfields nearest Japan. The principal objective was to deny those strategic bases in the East. The new American B-29 heavy bomber known to soon be operational.
From their home base at Canton, the veteran 85th Air Regiment equipped with the Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki, code named TOJO by their opponents, joined the offensive and pushed the 14 AF units deep into Yunan province. Although the opposing air forces were comparatively smaller in numbers than those in other theaters of war, the isolated aerial duels proved to be some of the most vicious of the war. The TOJO with its superior speed often dictated the length of an engagement, and against the latest model of the P-40 Warhawk and only the skill of the opposing pilot gave it an advantage. The resultant logistical stalemate reached in late summer was finally broken as increased numbers of the new generation P-51s and P-38s outclassed the Nakajima sprinter. Air superiority was restored from the TOJO in the Allied counter-offensive of early 1945. The 85th Air Regiment retreated to the Northeast to disband in Korea at the close of the war.
Depicted is a head-on engagement between two 23rd Fighter Group Warhawks and a pair of 85th Air Regiment TOJOs of the 1st Company whose trailing wingman did not survive the initial exchange of gunfire.