Martinnfb

source In 1945, a F4U Corsair was captured near the Kasumigaura flight school by U.S. forces. The Japanese had repaired it, covering damaged parts on the wing with fabric and using spare parts from crashed F4Us. It seems Japan captured two force landed Corsairs fairly late in the war and may have even tested one in flight. The Japanese learned from the analysis of Allied aircraft they had shot down or captured. American intelligence analysts were examining aerial reconnaissance photos taken over the Japanese base Tachikawa late in May 1945 when they discovered a large four-engine bomber on what was code-named the "Tachikawa Field 104." After the war investigators discovered the plane had actually been an American B-17 Flying Fortress, modified and put into the air by Japanese air technical intelligence. Tachikawa happened to be the location of the Army's Aviation Technical Research Institute. Yokosuka housed the Japanese Navy's 1st Air Technical Research Arsenal. Both units sent specialized investigation teams to examine captured aircraft and equipment behind the Japanese assault troops. From Clark Field the Japanese recovered the turbo-supercharger of a B-17 plus other kinds of spare parts. Eventually an entire B-17E was put together from the collection. Another would be recovered in the Netherlands East Indies, put together from the remains of fifteen B-17s wrecked on airfields there, and a third was found in pretty good shape in the same area. Designer Kikuhara Shizuo, who had originated the Kawanishi H8K Emily flying boat, noted how impressed he was that the United States had perfected the B-17's subsystems to such a degree that a minimum of controls were needed in the cockpit. What the Japanese did with the B-17 they tried with many other aircraft, studying crashed aircraft, making photos and drawings, salvaging parts, etc. This effort, like so many others, began as early as the China Incident, where the Japanese recovered a Curtiss P-40E Warhawk fighter and a Douglas A-20A Havoc twin-engine bomber. Within the JNAF these studies were conducted by the same people who did the design work for Navy planes. Thus, of 327 personnel at the Yokosuka main office of the Research Technical Arsenal and 186 at the branch office in Isogo, it has been estimated that roughly 10 officers, 10 civilian designers, and 150 enlisted men worked on studies of foreign aircraft. Navy Lieutenant Toyoda Takago was one designer who worked in the foreign-technology program. He reports that the Japanese Army sent out most of the field teams, subsequently supplying the JNAF with copies of their reports and lending them aircraft as desired. The single team Takogo remembers the JNAF dispatching went to Burma to study a crashed De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito light bomber. But the Navy center would be sent aircraft recovered in the Southern Areas and would send teams to crash sites in the Empire area, including Okinawa, where a Grumman F6F Hellcat was recovered after raids in October 1944. British carrier raids in the Netherlands East Indies earlier that year yielded a Grumman TBM-1C Avenger. Yokosuka's specialists were surprised at the "extremely strong construction." When a Vought F4U Corsair was captured near the Kasumigaura flight school, "we were surprised there were places on the wing covered with fabric." The JNAF recovered the flight manual for the Consolidated B-24 Liberator in the summer of 1944, and flew a captured Grumman F6F Hellcat. The comparable Army unit also flew the Brewster Buffalo, the Hawker Hurricane, the Boeing B-17D and E Flying Fortress, and the Martin PBM Mariner. Flying experience and ground studies were used to compile reports on the foreign aircraft, but because the specialists were preoccupied by their own design work, the studies of foreign planes were fairly basic. Only very late in the war was a special section of three officers and twelve to fourteen men formed just to track foreign technology, first under Commander Nomura Suetsu, then under Iwaya Eichi. (War Relics Eu)

Man, this is so tempting..... must resist !

I hear you Phil, Evil-bay is worth only for the "Buy-it-now" type of deals, preferably from China. Otherwise the shipping kills it.

hmmm.

Best of luck at the show my friend, have a safe and pleasant trip to the coast. You are probably the third person that actually finish this challenge

Nobody builds them for a reason.... Splendid job William, clean transitions, lowered undercarriage , Kozedub standing by. Perfect! Cheers M.

Finally on Netflix

Absolutely, good catch .

Correct, one of the ugliest out of all 23s

my new theme song

Not done yet ? just kidding, she's looking mighty fine ! cheers Martin

Aftermarket needed so far : wheels, turret, props., a round profile to be used as a spar/stretcher tor the main wing and a bucket of putty.

back on topic LOL

a breath of fresh air

yeah I saw that coming

and ABBA too

yeah, Saabs are somewhat unique in terms of design approach and there are definitely a big part of my Swedish vocabulary, together with Volvo, Ikea and Borg ( not the star trek one)

Thanks guys, no progress yet, only one interesting picture showing some neat details.

I won't be able to go, but you guys have a great time and take tons of pictures. Cheers M.

That's such a neat and crisp build, not Mig though , but gorgeous nevertheless . Thank You for sharing Ivan. Cheers M.