Luftflotte2 wrote:Ki-67-Kai*
as in the Ki-167 or the kamikaze version of the basic bomber (Ki-67 To-Go)? The Ki-167 had a solid nose and so did the Ki-109. Only 2 Ki-167s were made ...
I was going by the listings in Francillon's book (page 190-191). A fine book, but the fine ones might have mistakes too. Looking again, the "solid" nose might in fact be caused by two things:
- Like their German counterparts, Japanese bombers had heavily-framed nosecaps rather than the one-piece blown acrylic ones of some medium US bombers.
We are seeing it blurred through the arc of a spinning propeller, as well as on a film still.
So probably my first impression was mistaken to begin with.
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One of the PacificWrecks.com sources is a booklet from the "Marines in World War II Commemorative Series:"
Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa wrote: ...The surviving plane made a wheels-up belly landing on the air strip, discharging troops as she slid in sparks and flames along the surface.
This seems near-impossible, although the famous "fog of war" can continue into some after-action reports. Hadn't the commandos blown out their Ki-21's nosecap glazing to run out of it?
I can't yet find an account which says that the defenders could hear the
giretsu screaming a battle cry together, as their plane came in on its final run to crash-land. This seems likely to have been
done, but not that it could be
heard from there, could it? More likely it would have been done as they jumped from the plane.
Some maps were reportedly recovered from the dead commandos. What if more or all of their planes had landed on target? It would be interesting to see the full plan of the Yontan raid drawn out on maps, if it hasn't already been done.
-- Alan