Book Review of
Fighters of the Dying Sun
The Most Advanced Japanese Fighters of the Second World War
Author: Justo Miranda
Fonthill Media Ltd.
ISBN: 978-1-78155-811-9
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: 45.00
ISBN: 978-1-78155-811-9
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: 45.00
HISTORY:
The first B-29 flew over Tokyo on 1 November 1944. It was a photographic reconnaissance aircraft ironically named Tokyo Rose. The Ki-44 fighters of the 47th Sentai took off to intercept it, but as it turned out, the Superfortress flew at such an altitude and speed that they could not reach it.
The Ki-44-II Otsu had been specifically designed for this type of interception and could reach the astonishing rate of climb of 5,000 m in four minutes, however, it was not good enough.
During the following ten months, a devastating bombing campaign of thousands of Superfortresses destroyed 67 Japanese cities and half of Tokyo. The cultural shock and the political consequences were huge when it was realized that the Japanese industry was not able to produce the alloys required to manufacture the turbo-superchargers needed by the fighters in charge of defending the Japanese mainland. They lacked the essential chromium and molybdenum metals to harden the steel.
This thwarted the manufacturing of numerous advanced projects of both conventional fighters and those derived from the transfer of German technology fitted with turbojets and rocket engines.
Fighters of the Dying Sun describes 42 little known projects of Japanese unbuilt super fighters, that were designed at the end of the war.
THE BOOK:
Fonthill Media Ltd. is based in the UK.
This book is hard-bound with a paper-jacket, that has flaps that hold it to the book.
The cover art on the front of the jacket shows a color bottom-view of an experimental Mitsubishi Ki-100 that used German technology, posed against an all gold background.
The back cover shows 5 side-view line-drawings of:
The Kawasaki Ki-10 biplane
The Nakajima Ki-27 Otsu
The Nakajima Ki-43-II-Kai
The Nakajima Ki-43-III –Ko
The Nakajima Ki-44-II-Otsu
The book contains 260 pages in 6 ½” x 9 ¾” page format.
There are no black and white photos in the book, only line-drawings in multiple poses.
Shown are 100 aircraft of Japanese design.
Fifty-five using German technology.
Sixteen cut-away illustrations.
Six radar-equipped versions.
Weapons and engines.
THE AUTHOR:
Justo Miranda is a tech drawer and Spanish Air Force Museum advisor, who uses advanced drawing methods to rebuild historical aircraft. Maranda is a historian specializing in German secret weaponry, whose research has aided the deconstruction of several myths surrounding the Hitler “A” bombs. He has published several books, and thirty monographs on aeronautical subjects. He lives in Madrid with his wife, Paula, a journalist at Reuters and co-author of his works.
On the rear flap of the paper cover there is 5 color cover arts of other books by Justo Miranda: “The Ultimate Piston fighter of the Luftwaffe”, “The Ultimate Flying Wings of the Luftwaffe”, “Axis Suicide Squads”, “Focke Wulf Jet Fighters”, and “Enemy at the Gates Panic Fighters of the Second World War”.
This is a neat book that shows a multitude of Japanese aircraft. Some of them are fascinating and will be of great interest to modelers and aviation historians especially.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Fonthill Media Ltd. books and all Fonthill titles can be viewed on Casemate’s web-site at:
The first B-29 flew over Tokyo on 1 November 1944. It was a photographic reconnaissance aircraft ironically named Tokyo Rose. The Ki-44 fighters of the 47th Sentai took off to intercept it, but as it turned out, the Superfortress flew at such an altitude and speed that they could not reach it.
The Ki-44-II Otsu had been specifically designed for this type of interception and could reach the astonishing rate of climb of 5,000 m in four minutes, however, it was not good enough.
During the following ten months, a devastating bombing campaign of thousands of Superfortresses destroyed 67 Japanese cities and half of Tokyo. The cultural shock and the political consequences were huge when it was realized that the Japanese industry was not able to produce the alloys required to manufacture the turbo-superchargers needed by the fighters in charge of defending the Japanese mainland. They lacked the essential chromium and molybdenum metals to harden the steel.
This thwarted the manufacturing of numerous advanced projects of both conventional fighters and those derived from the transfer of German technology fitted with turbojets and rocket engines.
Fighters of the Dying Sun describes 42 little known projects of Japanese unbuilt super fighters, that were designed at the end of the war.
THE BOOK:
Fonthill Media Ltd. is based in the UK.
This book is hard-bound with a paper-jacket, that has flaps that hold it to the book.
The cover art on the front of the jacket shows a color bottom-view of an experimental Mitsubishi Ki-100 that used German technology, posed against an all gold background.
The back cover shows 5 side-view line-drawings of:
The Kawasaki Ki-10 biplane
The Nakajima Ki-27 Otsu
The Nakajima Ki-43-II-Kai
The Nakajima Ki-43-III –Ko
The Nakajima Ki-44-II-Otsu
The book contains 260 pages in 6 ½” x 9 ¾” page format.
There are no black and white photos in the book, only line-drawings in multiple poses.
Shown are 100 aircraft of Japanese design.
Fifty-five using German technology.
Sixteen cut-away illustrations.
Six radar-equipped versions.
Weapons and engines.
THE AUTHOR:
Justo Miranda is a tech drawer and Spanish Air Force Museum advisor, who uses advanced drawing methods to rebuild historical aircraft. Maranda is a historian specializing in German secret weaponry, whose research has aided the deconstruction of several myths surrounding the Hitler “A” bombs. He has published several books, and thirty monographs on aeronautical subjects. He lives in Madrid with his wife, Paula, a journalist at Reuters and co-author of his works.
On the rear flap of the paper cover there is 5 color cover arts of other books by Justo Miranda: “The Ultimate Piston fighter of the Luftwaffe”, “The Ultimate Flying Wings of the Luftwaffe”, “Axis Suicide Squads”, “Focke Wulf Jet Fighters”, and “Enemy at the Gates Panic Fighters of the Second World War”.
This is a neat book that shows a multitude of Japanese aircraft. Some of them are fascinating and will be of great interest to modelers and aviation historians especially.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Fonthill Media Ltd. books and all Fonthill titles can be viewed on Casemate’s web-site at:
Recommended.