Aircraft Unit Identification

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Hello to all!!!

I have finally got all (but one) of my Japanese Military Aircraft books by Eduardo Cea, which has 6 volumes(so far).
But there are a few too many mis-translations!

So I would like to first understand Air unit organization.

Here is what the first book says:
The old Hiko Daitai (Aeriel Battalion) and Hiko Rentai (Aeriel Regiment) were given the name of Hiko Sentai, These Sentai contained 3 Chutais (Companies) . Those Chutais were further split into 3 Shotai (Wings). Each Wing had 3 machines each. Some Sentai's had a 4th Chutai, but most just had a Hombu Sentai (Sentai headquarters). O.k. makes sense but when it comes to showing what unit is what, they give odd names like Hiko Daitai 55 Sentai as a unit?

Like this example; A Army Type 97 Ki-30-I of the Hiko Dai 31 Sentai, picture taken in China, December 1940. Didn't Sentai and Daitai become the same thing, and share the same name?

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Actually if I just ignore the the Hiko Daitai part it makes sense: so it is just the 31st Sentai.

Great now I can start. Most of my photos will be taken from here: http://www.ijaafphotos.com/
Which is a excellent site.

Army Type 98 Kawasaki Ki-32s belonging to the 3rd Sentai; this unit is comprised of 3 Chutais but there were no different symbol/symbol colours to identify each Chutai, The only differing symbols were the katakana symbols on the tail-fin, which show its place within the Sentai. the Symbol is in Red and White. Its air base was at Hamamatsu, in the Shoizuoka Prefecture, 1940.

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Ki-30s from the 90th Bomber Sentai, In Feb. 1939 this unit was given 18 Ki-30s. Before 1941 this Sentai only had 2 Chutais, the first had its tail surface in red, and the second Chutai had its tail in yellow.

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Ki-36 of the 44th Sentai

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Ki-43s and a Ki-44 belonging to the 200th Fighter Sentai

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Though the tail symbol has been blackened in the photo, it seems like this Ki-84 has the same unit symbol as the 51st Fighter Sentai.

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Luftflotte2,

Just to clear some things up: The Shotai might be better thought of as a flight, similar to the German Schwarm. A wing indicates a much larger force, at least in the English language as used by the British and American air forces.

A Sentai was made up of a number of Chutai's (think group and squadron). Full size Sentai's had three Chutai's: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Sometimes they had a "headquarters" (Japanese "Hombu") Chutai (not a Sentai) as well. Normally the color codes were white for 1st, red for 2nd, yellow for 3rd, and blue for headquarters. This color scheme was not always followed and you can find plenty of Sentai's that differed, but most of them followed that scheme.

As for the pictures you posted, very nice! The Ki-43's and a Ki-44 have the marking of the Army's Akeno fighter school.

A good sight for Japanese airforce Sentai markings is Michael Reimer's site:
http://www.michael-reimer.com/CFS2/CFS2 ... files.html

Just scroll down to the section on the Japanese.

[Luftflotte2]

Wow, this is a really good website, my 6-Vol series on Japanese aircraft units seems to still cover most units. Eg the site is missing some of the 900 numbers kokutais which the books cover, but the site has the 952 Kokutai which my series doesn't have.

Many thanks my friend!!!

[Luftflotte2]

Ok how about I start this off right!!

Introduction

Military aviation in Japan was born as a result of the First World War and developed intensively throughout 1915-1932. At this time the large Japanese heavy industry companies which had large factories, such as Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Nakajima started building aircraft of Western designs and also built some under license.



AIR UNITS OF THE ARMY

Names;
Koku Gun---------------Air Force
Hiko Shudan-----------Air Corps
Hiko Shindan----------Air Division
Hiko Dan---------------Air Brigade
Hiko Sentai------------ Air Regiment
Hiko Rentai------------Also known as an Air Regiment
Hiko Daitai-------------Air Battalion
Dokuritsu Hiko Chutai------Independent Company
Chutai------------------Company
Shotai------------------Flight

At the beginning the basic air unit was the Koku Daitai or air battalion. This was made up of 2 Chutais (squadrons) with a force of 9 machines each, it had 3 more machines which came from the Hombu Daitai (Daitai HQ). 3 more machines were held in reserve. On the 5th of May 1925 it was re-organized into Hiko-Sentai (air regiment), which contained between 2 and 4 Chutais, grouped into 2 Daitais. So 2 Chutais per Daitai. Each Daitai had a different role like reconnaissance. But when Japan invaded China these units became more homogeneous in their combat roles.

This system was again replaced by another system in July-August 1938. The old Hiko Daitai (Aeriel Battalion) and Hiko Rentai (Aeriel Regiment) were given the name of Hiko Sentai, These Sentai contained 3 Chutais (Companies) . Those Chutais were further split into 3 Shotai (Wings). Each Wing had 3 machines each. There was also a Hombu Chutai (Chutai headquarters).

ID; The Sentai symbol had different colours (Red, White, Blue and Yellow) which showed which Chutai the aircraft belonged to. Sometimes a stripe across the fuselage indicated a commanding aircraft, but this was not always the case. Also stripes on the tail sometimes meant which Shotai the aircraft belonged to, in most cases there were no stripes




AIR UNITS OF THE NAVY

The Imperial Air Force was a complex organization, possessing a carrier air force and a land-based air force; made of units called Kokutais.

ID; all Navy Aircraft had a tailcode and not symbols like the Army used. Codes contained Roman Letters or Kanji in the first section of the code which was followed by a set of numbers. Sometimes the tailcode was made up of just numbers, or there was a number with the letters, see below.

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B5N belonging to the 931st Kokutai
http://markkaiser.com/japaneseaviation/kate_1.html

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Japanese P-40 belonging to the Akeno Flight School

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1. Ki-27s from Akeno Flight School

2. Ki-27s based in Taiwan, 1941. The fully visible machine belonged to the 3rd Chutai of the 4th Sentai (it's tail symbol is in darker yellow). The 3 red stripes running along the fuselage might indicate that it is the 3rd machine within one of the 3rd Chutais Shotai.

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Ki-27 of the 244 Sentai. The horizontal red stripe on the tail has two white vertical stripes over it, meaning that this machine belongs to the 2nd Chutai.

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The Japanese Army Air Force was very closely tied to the ground army and as such the unit names were close to that of its ground counterparts. Thus the term air regiment, air company, etc. Today we don't usually preface Hiko (air) before other terminology such as Sentai because it's implied. Sentai and Chutai are thought of in the same vein as group and squadron as opposed to their old ground army counterparts because these are their direct equivalents in American and British use and maybe German also (although I'm not familiar with German Luftwaffe unit designations).

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Ki-43-I Hayabusa of the 50th Sentai; Tokozawa Japan 1942.

from photobucket