ARTICLES
Lockheed P-38 Lightning – Icon of the Pacific Air War Part II
With January 1944’s campaign in full swing, P‑38J and H Lightnings—freed from their early teething troubles—joined Corsairs, Hellcats, and Kittyhawks in high‑altitude escorts and fighter sweeps from Bougainville to Rabaul’s Gazelle Peninsula. Yet...
Ultra-Long Range Reconnaissance/Attack Operations in early 1942
On February 5, 1942, a routine Japanese administrative order was issued: “13 Experimental large model Flying Boat is adopted and designated Type 2 large Flying Boat, model 11.” Administrative Ordnance Order (Naireihei) No. 8-42. The Shi 13...
XB-17 History – Reflections on Strategic Contracting & Bureaucracy
The XB-17 holds a significant place in aviation history, representing a turning point in military procurement and the evolution of strategic bombing. Its development was shaped by a complex web of government contracts, Army Air Corps policies, and...
The Mystery Japanese Twin-Engine Fighters in World War II
Many publications use Allied code names for Japanese twin-engine aircraft in ways that suggest that Allied pilots as well as the author knew what the aircraft was and correctly identified it. Authors have used code names for time periods when the...
Grumman Hellcat – Scourge of the Pacific
The superlatives about the Grumman Hellcat abound. The F6F was credited with over 5,000 victories in air combat. It was said to dominate the Japanese navy’s Zero fighter a key opponent. Some of its claims for success are amazing. The Hellcat...
Lockheed P-38 Lightning – Icon of the Pacific Air War
Next up in the How Great series is the P-38. “P-38 Lightning Might Have Been the Best Fighter of World War II” and “P-38 Lightning WWII’s twin engine wonder” or even “Unsung Hero of WW II” read headlines of articles on my computer homepage....
The Hankow Warhawks – Japanese Exploitation of Captured Aircraft
The story of captured Allied aircraft in Japanese hands offers a fascinating glimpse into the improvisation and ingenuity necessitated by wartime constraints. Among these tales, the saga of the Hankow Warhawks—a squadron of P-40Ks abandoned on a...
The B-24 Liberator in Chinese Skies – Summer 1943
Survived the Hankow raid 8/24/43The B-24 Liberator in China played a pivotal role in shaping the air campaigns of World War II, particularly during the summer of 1943. As one of the most versatile and far-reaching bombers in the Allied arsenal, the...
Part 2: The Myth of the Spitfire – The Spitfire Over Burma
Continuing the story of the Spitfire in the Asia-Pacific, this article reviews the Spitfire in combat with Japanese army Type 1 fighters over India and Burma in late 1943 and early 1944. During most of 1943 the Royal Air Force contested air...
Unmasking the Myth: The Spitfire’s Struggles in the Pacific War
The homepage on my computer cycles various items of interest across the screen. These may be news or current events (fashion and celebrity gossip among them) but also include some historical subjects, even aviation history. Among the latter are...
Mitsubishi Zero 21 – A Question of Speed
This is an updated version of Zero 21: Unraveling the Performance Data - New and improved with additional data and new insights. A lot of widely disseminated but inaccurate data is debunked and – sorry, while it gets close to a definitive answer...
The Real Hero of August 1, 1943 – An Excerpt from SPAW
On the first of August 1943, PT-109 was rammed and cut in two by a Japanese destroyer. The story from the American perspective is well known because the skipper of PT-109 was future President of the U.S. John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The following...
Additional Publications
- Tuluvu’s Air War (Cape Gloucester)
- Masao Yoshihara’s Story: May 14th-25th, 1943
- Error Oft Repeated – The Anabuki Hoax
- Murakami: September 11th, 1942 – The Rest of the Story
- First Kamikaze? Attack on HMAS Australia — October 21st, 1944
- 248th Hiko Sentai: A Japanese “Hard luck” Fighter Unit
University of New Hampshire Magazine
Book Reviews
- Ki-43 Hayabusa aces of World War 2 (via Wayback Machine)
- P-40 Warhawk vs. Ki-43 Oscar (via Wayback Machine)
- Jimmy Doolittle, Hap Arnold, and the Battle of Britain: The 100-Octane Story (2020)
- Uncertain Wings: Curtiss Hawk 75 in China (2008)
- Illusive Target: Bombing Japan from China (2006)
- Chennault and the Flying Tigers – Heroes but were they legal? (2005)
- Double Lucky? The Campaigns of the 77th Hiko Sentai (2005)
- Japanese aircraft code-names in perspective (2005)
- Curtiss-Wright CW-21 (2005)
- Vultee P-66 in Chinese Service (2005)
- Zero Model 21: Unraveling the performance data (2004)
- Republic P-43 and China’s Air War (2004)
- Nakajima Type 1 Model 1 Army Fighter (Ki-43-I) Armament — A Reassessment (2002, 2004)