Hi Guys,

I'd like to build each of Sakai's aircraft, from China through the end of the war. Wikipedia has this photo of an A5M attributed to Sakai, but rather than taking that on face value, I'd like to try to get some consensus on wether or not this is accurate info. What do you guys think? Does anyone have some better info and perhaps a good color profile of this, or of any A5M he flew in combat?



Thanks,

Bill

Hi Bill - the Mushroom Monograph No. 6107 on the A5M authored by Tadeusz Januszewski has a full color profile of this aircraft on pages 62/63 but attributes it to the 14th Kokutai ( Air Group) while my sources indicate Sakai flew with the 12th Kokutai- at least during his time in China. The aircraft in your photo was apparently captured by Chinese troops after a forced landing near Wichow.
If my sources are accurate it seems unlikely that Sakai flew this aircraft .
If you have not already done so , check out Nick Millman's site " Aviation of Japan "
Great source of knowledge on this subject and someone there will likely be able to help you more than I . Meanwhile I will continue to look through my reference's and will post any relative finds on this thread .
Hope this helps - Richard

Addendum- If you google " Saburo Sakai's A5M Claude" many images come up - one with tail code 3-107 purports to be him flying with wingman in 3-108 .
This seems to fit with other images of these a/c being represented as a/c of the 12th Kokutai

Hi Richard,

Thanks so much for your insight and taking the time to reply. I've looked at 3-107 and 108, via Google, and these two are so ubiquitous in search returns that I doubted whether they were properly attributed to any individual pilots. They seemed to be "boilerplate" Claudes.

I'll take another look.

Thanks again,

Bill

Bill- A little more to add- The decal sheets in Wingsy 's Claude and a sheet by Berna both include 3-108 and attribute this a/c as being in the 12th Kokutai and flown by PO 1 C ( Kyosaku ? ) Aoke - China 1938 - the time when Saburo Sakai was stationed there- I could find no reference to him being Sakai's wingman.
There is, however , a painting by well known aviation artist Roy Grinnel depicting Sakai's first and only victory in China. The a/c in the painting bears the tail code
3-118. I would have to believe that Mr Grinnel's subjects are thoroughly researched.
He has a website so perhaps you may be able to contact him via this site.
Hope I have helped more than confused - Richard