Warbird Information Exchange

I can assure you that my Pop never was able to "get over it" (Eagles "He** Freezes Over"). I guess you had to be there... CBI 1944 - 1945

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

What a great collection of photos - that banged-up Ki-10 biplane fighter was a surprise, and I always liked the Spruce trainer; it might have made a good postwar crop duster . Are there any Spruces (or Willows) extant?

Also, can someone ID the twin engined job in photo #29?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

the allied coe name for the l2d2 (licence built dc3)is tabby some late ones even had an upper turret

The L2D "Tabby" was an independent Japanese cargo development of the DC-3 (they bought several before the war) rather than a simple C-47 knock-off. It was the same length as a standard Gooney, but had a reconfigured nav/radio compartment with extra windows. The cargo door was also slightly different in shape and location than the C-47, and of course it had Japanese engines and props.

The version with the upper turret was the L2D3. It wasn't actually a power turret, but a cupola with a hand-held gun, similar to the early variants of the "Betty" bomber. It was a late-war prototype, and I don't think more than a handful were built (if that many.)

I did a fair bit of research on the L2D a couple of years ago for a model project. I converted an Italeri 1/72 C-47 into an L2D2. I could have really used a couple of those pictures then..why is it the references you need for a project always seem to magically turn up after it's finished?

Anyway, here's the result...

SN

Martin,
It will not surprise you that I am very interested in the pics you've posted. I recently discovered the photos of the 'hybrid', and they have given me a headache.
Do you know the origin of the pics?
Is it 'taken by a USAAF Dakota crew at Pekanbaru, Sumatra, in 1947', or do you have another version?
Are the other photos you posted from the same source?

Thanks in advance for any info,
Cheers!
Marc

Hey guys thanks for the information on the C-47/DC-3 clone, I thought only the Russians had done this.
Steve;
Nice looking model as well.
Scott.........

I love it when Jack & Martin do the battling photos.

Anybody have any photos of the Atlanta Zero (now with the Flying Heritage Collection) when it was captured or being tested? It was an A6M-5 coded 61-121 when captured at Saipan in Jun 44, it was later marked TAIC 11.

Thanks,

Mac

I'm with you 100%.

"Topsy" was a DC-2, a DC-3/C-47 was called "Tabby"

Actually, the "Topsy" was the Ki-57/MC-20, the transport version of the Ki-21 "Sally" bomber (seen in the photos posted earlier.) The Japanese transport development of the DC-2 was the Ki-34 "Thora." They also had a version of the Lockheed C-60 called the "Thalia." I'm assuming giving transports code names starting with "T" was intentional.

SN