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Post by Peter Lewis on Dec 11, 2012 17:18:08 GMT 12
Hey up, fellas... I suppose you've all got the Pilots manual for the F4U, and most probably have the US training film about the same? Anyway, all of our stuff has arrived from NZ and in it I found a DVD with the training film and the Pilots Notes. I'm prepared to burn one copy to send to someone in NZ who could then burn copies for those who are interested; Have today posted duplicates of the DVD to those who have asked for them.
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Post by Brenton on Dec 29, 2012 22:44:50 GMT 12
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Post by corsair5517 on Dec 30, 2012 23:46:04 GMT 12
Hey up, fellas... I suppose you've all got the Pilots manual for the F4U, and most probably have the US training film about the same? Anyway, all of our stuff has arrived from NZ and in it I found a DVD with the training film and the Pilots Notes. I'm prepared to burn one copy to send to someone in NZ who could then burn copies for those who are interested; Have today posted duplicates of the DVD to those who have asked for them. Thank you for doing that! I hope it's enjoyed.... John
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Post by Luther Moore on May 12, 2013 19:59:17 GMT 12
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Post by Luther Moore on Mar 18, 2014 16:43:33 GMT 12
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Post by planecrazy on Sept 24, 2014 11:49:18 GMT 12
This is a great thread, a question for all you bent wing bird fans out there, RNZAF Corsairs never came up against enemy aircraft in the South West Pacific Area, you never see them with kill markings so I am guessing this is the case? Thank you.........
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Post by Luther Moore on Sept 24, 2014 15:58:06 GMT 12
I asked this question a while back as well. I think by the time the Corsairs were in service the Japanese Air Force was pretty much finished or moved on.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 24, 2014 16:47:13 GMT 12
Actually a number of the Corsair pilots I have talked with reckon they did see enemy aircraft, regularly, particularly if they were attacking Rabaul. But the enemy always chose to stand off rather than come in and fight. I guess they were preserving their aeroplanes from being bombed on the ground by getting them airborne. And the kiwis were there as dive bombers so they never deviated from their mission to go chase the Japanese aircraft in case it was a trap.
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Post by Luther Moore on Sept 24, 2014 17:29:15 GMT 12
In my logbook its says something about going out on patrol and expecting to intercept enemy aircraft.
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Post by angelsonefive on Sept 24, 2014 20:01:28 GMT 12
By the beginning of 1944 Japanese air power in the South Pacific had been crushed. The remaining fighters on Rabaul were withdrawn to New Guinea in February '44. There was activity after that, with transport planes and flying boats coming and going from NG, mainly by night as far as I know.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 27, 2014 21:36:22 GMT 12
Perhaps it was further up where the kiwis sometimes saw them standing off, while they were nearer the equator?
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Post by davidd on Sept 28, 2014 10:51:47 GMT 12
Henry Sakaida in the USA has produced a book (The Siege of Rabaul, 1996, Phalanx Publishing Company, St Paul, Minnesota) on the Japanese "Rabaul Air Force" from February 1944 onwards, with much RNZAF information (some from me there too). However as already mentioned, the bulk of the Japanese air forces (by this time pretty well all Navy) were withdrawn from Rabaul in late February 1944 - but not to New Guinea, they were withdrawn to Truk (Carolines) to the north. All that was left at Rabaul was a handful of Zekes, about two or three Dinahs (Army reconnaissance aircraft) and about two or three Jake reconnaisssance floatplanes. Also a couple of Irving nightfighters. These numbers waxed and waned over the following 18 months, with two Kate torpedo bombers being added in early 1945. Hardly any of the flights these few aircraft made were offensive in character, although reconniassance was one of their main roles, along with attempting to keep up the morale of the garrison (not an easy task!) Also courier flights were important, particularly between Rabaul and Truk (to bring back supplies of atabrine, and A/A shell altitude fuses) as well as occasionally transporting staff officers. Similar flights by the Jakes between Rabaul and Bougainville also took place from time to time. I think it was in early 1945 that RNZAF Corsair pilots located at Green Island were getting very excited about a twin engined aircraft that they fairly regularly encountered near Rabaul during their patrols which they believed was almost certainly Japanese. Their own intelligence people reckoned it was not Allied, and the decision was made to attempt to shoot it down the next time it was spotted (previously it always seemed to escape into cloud, which frequently built up over Rabaul in the afternoons.) It was tentatively identified as a Nick, based on pilots' descriptions. However before the shoot down could be achieved, an urgent signal from South West Pacific Area intelligence advised that the stranger was in fact an RAAF Beaufort engaged on regular weather flights in the area - red faces all round, particularly as the RAAF also had a couple of real live Beauforts at Piva (Bougainville) at this time (which most RNZAF aircrew passing through would be aware of!) How the rather well-fed Beaufort could be identified as the slender Nick demonstrated the rather elementary identifications skills of the NZ pilots, although to be fair they never did get very close to it. RNZAF Corsair pilots from Green Island did sight Zekes on numerous occasions in late 1944 and into 1945 (and so did a few Ventura crews engaged on night heckles from Green), and probably the closest encounter (by P/O H P Crump of 14 Squadron) managed to "identify" a Val dive bomber. He attempted to shoot it down but it escaped into cloud. Henry Sakaida attempted to have Crump credited with this aircraft in the early 1990s, as it more or less matched Japanese evidence of a two-seater Zeke lost in that area at the time (12th January 1945). This incident of course had been gone into at that time, and Crump (who by this time, September 1945, was awaiting, if not already discharged from RNZAF) denied that he even opened fire on the "Val", due to oil on his windshield and other factors. So the case for crediting this shoot down was considered "without merit" (my slant on this case, although this is also Henry's opinion). Interestingly this two-seat Zeke was salvaged off Cape Lambert in the 1990s, and is now on display in Tokyo, Japan. David D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 28, 2014 22:37:42 GMT 12
What was a two-seat Zeke used for? Squadron hack?
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Post by davidd on Sept 29, 2014 8:50:47 GMT 12
Definitely NOT a squadron hack Dave! It was mainly used as a fast reconnaisance aircraft, with an observer as second crew member. When your air force has been largely destroyed and no actual squadrons exist any more, the employment of the very few surviving airworthy aircraft was a matter of some importance, with morale boosting flights and reconnaissance seeming to be top priority. Whether an aircraft was used at all on any particular mission would no doubt hinge on the importance of the mission and the risks involved. Obviously the capability of each surviving aircraft would tend to dictate what each aircraft was best suited for. The Zekes and Dinahs tended to be used for daylight missions, and the Kates and Jakes at night, the latter pair being rather slow and therefore too vulnerable to risk in daylight considering the Allies had total local air superiority and extensive radar coverage. Operational use of these aircraft therefore tended to be rather rare and sporadic, with night missions being flown at relatively low altitudes. From memory, the Dinah courier/transport flights between Rabaul and Truk were also flown at night. Presence of cloud cover also seems to have been an important consideration as there were few if any Allied radar-equipped night fighters in the theatre, and so long as you flew infrequently and low you were generally fairly safe. I think the local P-61 (Black Widow) squadron had been moved further north by this time and the USMC, RAAF and RNZAF had no dedicated night figher aircraft at their disposal. Allied ground-based radar coverage far from Allied air bases was rather spotty - non-radar fighters under ground radar control at night therefore would have had little chance of catching lone Japanese aircraft at low altitudes. David D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 29, 2014 9:05:36 GMT 12
OK, makes sense. Was the two seat Zeke a field mod? Sounds like our current Air Force
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Post by davidd on Sept 29, 2014 14:15:30 GMT 12
It was definitely a local (that is, field) modification - they still had quite number of technical personnel at Rabaul, and plenty of wrecks to transfer "good bits" from, and time aplenty. As to your comment re comparison to our present air force, I don't think it is QUITE that bad yet Dave! Dave D
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Post by planecrazy on Oct 31, 2014 7:37:06 GMT 12
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Post by agalbraith on Nov 2, 2014 8:04:58 GMT 12
I quite like this one.....RNZAF official
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Post by suthg on Nov 2, 2014 8:21:55 GMT 12
Nice shots - plenty of "weathering" on both. Swampy airfield?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 2, 2014 9:03:31 GMT 12
Super photos there Anthony. I wonder how many aircraft those Ardmore drains have claimed over the years?
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