Note: While this book has been out of print since approximately 1992 it can still be found at Amazon.com. A softcover was released in 1992, priced at $15.00. The original was published in Japan by Kobunsha Co., Ltd., in 1970.

While unpacking my book collection from 6-year old moving boxes, I came across a treasure trove of books long forgotten. “Eagles of Mitsubishi….” came out of the box and, after taking a look, I decided that this was worthy of a review.

“Eagles of Mitsubishi….” is written by Jiro Horikoshi, Chief Designer of the Zero-sen fighter. The Zero-sen was the premier fighter for the Japanese Navy during throughout WW II. Much like the Messerschmitt Bf-109, the Zero went through upgrade iterations, starting with the original design stemming from the Imperial Navy’s design requirement released in October of 1937. Much like the Bf-109, the airplane was forced to soldier (sailor?) on throughout the war as the prime fighter for the air services.

Yellow-Wings Decals have again filled another gap with this release of the U.S.A.A.C. P-39D Headquarters Aircraft 31st, Pursuit Group, Carolina Maneuvers of 1941. According to Yellow-Wings the 31st Pursuit Group were made up of the 39th, 40th and the 41st Pursuit Squadrons. Even though each squadron had their own color markings: 39th Red, 40th Yellow and 41st White, it was the general practice to incorporate all of these colors and have them painted on the spinner or cowl which is printed on the decal sheet. Other markings on this sheet include our National Insignias, fuselage stripes and wing walk stripes. The 31st pursuit Group Icon and numbers are also included.

Also contained in their package are drawings of the P-39D aircraft, which show the locations of the decals on the aircraft and another sheet with the instructions for the recommended way to lay them down.

History

JV44 was a special jet fighter unit, a sort of “Dream Team”, created right at the end of the war by Gen. Adolf Galland, after he was demoted during the final months of the war for being outspoken against the incompetency of the Hermann Goring and the Luftwaffe’s highest leadership. Galland was able to gather some of the highest scoring Luftwaffe aces, including Heinz Bar, Gerhard Barkhorn, Walter Krupinski, Gunther Lutzow, Johannes Steinhoff, Heinrich Brucker, and Heinz Sachsenburg, all Knight’s Cross holders, and others, who then received rudimentary training on this revolutionary aircraft before flying combat missions. The basic purpose of the unit, and the motivation of the men involved, was to prove to the Luftwaffe leadership, that the ME-262, when used properly, could have helped to regain Luftwaffe air supremacy during the latter stages of the war, when other leaders, notably HItler and Peltz, wanted to use the ME-262 as a bomber.

Aires Stabilators are made for any of the Academy 1/48th scale F-15E kits. They are a one-for-one replacement for Academy kits, but can also be used on Revell kits. They are perfectly cast in a light tan resin, and require no cleanup, except on the mounting stubs, which are also cast slightly larger than the hole on the fuselage. There are very few differences between the kit parts and the Aires parts, except for panel lines and shapes. Two horizontal panel lines that are present on the kit stabilators are missing on the Aires castings, one of which should be present, by all drawings and pictures I have looked at. In looking at my references and walk around photos, the shape of the stiffener at the root of the stabilator is incorrect, and should just be a rivet pattern, not a separate panel. I cannot find any reference photos that show it to be a raised panel, as it is cast. But, the quality of the casting, the shape and the dimensions are great.

Aires now offers a resin replacement exhaust set for the F-16I Sufa. This set has very well-detailed resin pieces as well as a small photo etch afterburner. They are molded in the standard Aires grey resin and are flash and bubble free. They also include a 2 page, blue paper diagram, which is also a real help.

The resin pieces include the burner cans, turbine faces, and nozzles. There is also a photoetch piece for the afterburner which will really make the exhaust detail just pop out at you when looking at the model from the rear, especially when compared to the original kit parts.

After the resin pour blocks are cut away and the parts are assembled, it’s pretty much a drop-in assembly. The set also includes the fuselage end to fit the new exhaust parts.

I highly recommend this set if you really want to spruce up the back of your Sufa.

Many thanks to Aires and IPMS USA for the opportunity to review this set. Keep up the great work, Aires.