Hey gang,
Summer is winding down so I’m getting the building bug again. I have a pair of 1/72 Japanese aircraft partially built, hopefully finishing up before too much longer. Does anyone have any info/pics of a temporary dispersal area for Japanese aircraft? I’m thinking a giant “mat” of bamboo stalks lashed together is something that may have happened rather than more valuable timbers that could have been used for construction.
Ideas anyone?
Your idea has merit. However the Japanese had months if not years to prepare the forward basis from which they operated. Strips on small coral islands were made from crushed coral which made hard surfaces. Islands like Iwo Jima had volcanic sand which too made excellent concrete like material.
The allied forces were the ones who were island hopping and needing to create temporary fields using PSP matting and such. If you read the historical recounts of bases and places the allies conquered you’ll find the facilities for aircraft were pretty decent…human habitat wasn’t up to western standards however.
If you do use bamboo as matting, the bamboo needs to be very small in diameter as the larger diameter might crush under the weight of a fully loaded aircraft. The matting is probably better used as retaining walls around a dispersal pit.
Hmm, good points Hawkeye, hadn’t thought of it that way. So using coral powder in some cases… the hard surface could actually range from whites & grays to, well, coral colours. Interesting…
Japanese forces had their own engineering battalions, named Field Aircraft Construction Units. They show up as Army units in the Orders of Battle. Don’t be fooled when you research them; there would be less than 100 IJA listed, but those are the officers. They’d also have 1,000 or so civilian workers.
Most pictures I’ve seen show crushed rock. Bamboo is highly unlikely, and it doesn’t grow everywhere, particularily on small coral islands. The photos I’ve seen of the bigger fields, like Ie Shima on Okinawa, have what appears to be asphalt.
For revetments etc. I would go with coconut logs. Those were plentiful, and show up in photos for everything.