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Informationen zum Autor Nicholas Millman is one of Britain's leading researchers of Japanese military aviation. In addition to publishing articles in specialist journals, his own range of reference materials and supporting the research of other authors, he runs a website dedicated to the subject which attracts visitors from 175 countries. He is a member of Pacific Air War History Associates, an exclusive international group of authors and researchers working in this specialist field. Having spent much of his working life in the Far East he has an abiding interest in the history of military aviation in this part of the world, and first hand knowledge of the geography, languages and people. Klappentext This is the story of the elite Japanese Army Air force (JAAF) aces that flew the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (Swallow), and the Ki-100 Goshikisen in the Pacific Theatre of World War 2. The former, codenamed 'Tony' by the allies, was a technically excellent aircraft, possessing power, stability and a good rate of climb - differing radically from the usual Japanese philosophy of building light, ultra-manoeuvrable fighters. Its pilots soon realised, however, that the type was plagued by a number of dangerous mechanical issues. Then as the war moved relentlessly closer to Japan's doorstep, a desperate, expedient innovation to the Ki-61 airframe by fitting it with a radial instead of inline engine resulted in one of the finest fighters of World War 2 - the Ki-100. This book uses the latest findings to provide a gripping account of some of the most remarkable and hard-pressed fighter pilots of the war. It reveals how these men, unlike so many of their unfortunate late-war colleagues, could surprise Allied aircraft in high-performance fighters and claim successes in the face of enormous odds.The Ki-61 Hien (Flying Swallow) was the only inline engined (liquid-cooled) monoplane fighter to be used operationally by the Japanese armed forces during World War 2, and when first encountered by Allied pilots was presumed to be of Italian origin rather than a homegrown machine. The Ki-61 was committed in quantity to the fighting over New Guinea but was plagued by engine problems, which together with other factors, and despite the valiant efforts of its pilots, seriously impeded its undoubted impact on the campaign. Used operationally on other fronts, but only in small numbers, it never achieved its expected potential. During the air defence of Japan it became the equipment of several elite fighter units, and when the airframe was expediently but successfully married to a radial bomber engine due to a shortage of the original in-line engines, it became the formidable Ki-100 Goshikisen, the mount of several notable aces in the closing months of the war. Zusammenfassung The story of the elite Japanese Army Air force (JAAF) aces that flew the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (Swallow), and the Ki-100 Goshikisen in the Pacific Theatre of World War 2. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction A Difficult Birth The Rush to Combat - New Guinea 1943-44 Attrition - The Philippines and South-East Asia The Noose Tightens - The Island Campaigns A Desperate Battle - The Air Defence of Japan Seven Week Fighter - the Ki-100 Appendices ...
