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Info Eduard - September 2010
Page 15
HISTORY
in the wings. The production run of the Model 32 lasted
from June, 1942, to the end of the year, and yielded a total
of 343 aircraft.
The rst unit to receive the new machine was the 2nd
Kokutai, which was the rst to take the type into combat
over New Guinea in August, 1942. Progressively, other
units took delivery as well, including Tainan Kokutai, and
with front line units through 1943.
The shortened wing span and the clipped wing
changed the silhouette of the type signicantly.
The difference was signicant enough to misidentify
it as a new type altogether, and allocate it a new
reporting name, ‘Hap’, and later, ‘Hamp’. ‘Hap’
was used in the American code system until
the intervention of General Henry H. ‘Hap’ Arnold,
who was not particularly pleased that his name was
associated with lists of shot down aircraft. When
it was realized that the ‘Hamp’ was a version of the
Reisen, the code name was dropped once and for all,
and ‘Zero’ and ‘Zeke’ were used.
Notes:
1) Kokutai - Air group equivalent to a regiment
2) Reisen - Japanese designation for the ghter that is
historically remembered as the ‘Zero’ and ‘Zeke’.
3) TRG Tactical Reconnaissance Group – US Army Air
Force unit dedicated to tactical reconnaissance
In 1944, the Japanese air forces were immersed deep in defensive operations. Shown here from the air are North American B-25 Mitchells of
the 5th AF on a raid on Dagua on February 3, 1944. Parachute retarded bombs are about to destroy three Kawasaki Ki-61 Hiens from 68th
or 78th Sentai of the Japanese Army Air Force.
BUY P-39 Airacobra over New Guinea 1/48 (1152)
This article is related to P-39 Airacobra
over New Guinea 1/48, LIMITED EDITION,
Released September 2010