Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Birth of the Ki-43/Chapter 2 Burma/Chapter 3 China/Chapter 4 New Guinea/Chapter 5 The Philippines/Appendices

Promotional Information

Accompanied by detailed appendices and specially commissioned artwork, this book is the definitive account of the experiences of Ki-43 aces and the first volume in English to focus exclusively on their exploits.

About the Author

Hiroshi Ichimura is the son of a JAAF wartime pilot. He has worked as the editor of various modeling magazines in Japan since 1981, and is presently editor-in-chief of Scale Aviation. His publishing house, Dai Nippon Kaiga, has also been releasing Japanese-language Osprey series titles in Japan since 2000 – indeed, he has translated five of them. The author/co-author of four JAAF-related titles, this will be his first book for Osprey. Jim Laurier is a native of New England and lives in New Hampshire. He attended Paier School of Art in Hamden, Connecticut, from 1974–78, and since he graduated with honours, he has been working professionally in the field of Fine Art and Illustration. He has been commissioned to paint for the US Air Force and has aviation paintings on permanent display at the Pentagon.

Reviews

"The Ki-43 Hayabusa (Peregrine) was produced in greater numbers than any other land-based Japanese fighter of WW2, and more Japanese pilots achieved ace status in this aircraft than any other. This title is the first in the English language to focus on their exploits." --Wonderpedia "Hiroshi Ichimura has done a great service by recording the exploits of the most important Japanese army fighter of the Pacific War. The Type 1 Fighter (the Ki-43/Oscar of the book's title) was probably second in importance only to the Japanese navy's Type Zero carrier fighter, for which it was often mistaken, among Japanese warplanes in that conflict. While the navy's Zero had proved itself in combat over China in 1940 and 1941 before war exploded in the Pacific, the Type 1 Fighter was just coming into operational service when the war began... Hiroshi Ichimura is to be congratulated on an excellent effort. This book covers a gap in available literature on the Pacific air war. The book provides insights into a notable fighter, its units, pilots and the campaigns where it operated. This book is a keeper; recommended both for the libraries of Pacific war neophytes and aficionados." --Richard Dunn, www.warbirdforum.com "Full of photos of the aircraft and their pilots, we can see how these men did as the lr carried on. As with all of Osprey's 'Aces' books, there are several pages of color profiles of their planes as well as a table of the aces and their eventual fate. It is an excellent look at a subject that has a lot of interest to many people and one that I know you will enjoy." --Scott Van Aken, www.modelingmadness.com (April 2009)