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.

When I first received this model kit for review, the title that Dragon Models gave it, “Heavy Uniform Personnel Vehicle Type 40” had me confused. It clearly looked to me like the Auto Union/Horch 4x4 Type 1a produced by Tamiya in 1/35^th scale way back in the 1970’s. And sure enough, this is what the kit turned out to be! And to be fair to Dragon, the vehicle was indeed a “heavy” (as compared “medium” or “light” weight) 6 man personnel vehicle. The kit is in fact “kits”, as Dragon gives the modeler two identical kits within the same box.

The Aircraft

While the Global Hawk may look like a larger version of the Predator UAV, it’s a different aircraft with a different mission. Predators provide real-time surveillance and reporting of local target and maneuver info, and Global Hawks provide long-range intelligence. Think of the difference between an RF-4 and a U-2.

Global Hawks have set a couple of world records for UAVs, including altitude (65,000+ feet) and range (8214 miles). The range record was also notable as the first flight by a UAV non-stop across the Pacific, Edwards AFB to Australia.

Over the years, model companies haven’t exactly been falling over each other to produce WW2 Japanese military vehicles in the smaller scales: 1/72^nd or 1/76^th. Hasegawa produced a couple of trucks in their 72^nd scale series many years ago, while Airfix produced a Type 97 “Chi-Ha” decades ago in 76^th scale. For the time the Airfix kit wasn’t a bad little model, bar the rubberized plastic tracks which nothing seemed to glue together. So it was a happy surprise to discover that Dragon Models was producing not one, but two 72^nd scale IJA tanks in their “Armor Pro” series, a Type 95 “Ha-Go” light tank, and the subject of this review, a Type 97 “Chi-Ha” medium tank.

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.