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Nakajima KI-27 Otsu in Profile
The Nakajima Ki-27, known to the Allies as "Nate", was a low wing monoplane with a fixed undercarriage and was renowned for its exceptional maneuverability. It is also famous for its service in China and Manchuria and for being one of the first opponents of the AVG - the American Volunteer Group, aka the Flying Tigers.
Imperial Japanese Army markings can be broken down to show the flight, squadron and group that the aircraft belonged to based on the various symbols, stripes and bands an aircraft wore.
- Sentai (Group) marking was usually worn on the fin/rudder
- Chutai (company or squadron) was shown by the colour of the Sentai emblem and also by the colour of the fuselage bands ... ie the 2nd Chutai may have had the emblem and band in red, while the third would have them in another colour.
- Shotai (flight) would be shown by the number of bands on the fuselage. In some cases this could be broken down further to show the individual place in the Shotai, if the band colour represented the shotai and not the Chutai
Individual aircraft would often be shown by numbers of Kana symbols worn on the tail. These are generalizations and there are almost as many exceptions to the rule as there are those that followed them.
The Ki-27 Otsu (Ki-27b) differed from the earlier Ki-27 Ko (Ki-27a) in having the rear canopy as a complete glass enclosure and the radio mast in front of the cockpit.
Initial finish was an overall light grey-green with Hinomarus on the wing surfaces. A white band was added to the rear fuselage of combat aircraft in Manchuria and this later became accepted as a form of theatre marking, and could also be seen on other aircraft in the early war years. By 1942 it was largely gone however. Sentai and Chutai markings remained as coloured emblems on the fin/rudder, while shotai was designated by fuselage bands.
Later aircraft began to have their uppersufaces camouflaged. This could be either a solid colour or multi-coloured segments. Undersurfaces remained as grey-green.
When assigned to Home Defence from 1942 on, white 'bandages' were added to the wings and fuselages as fields for the Hinomaru. Initially Red and then yellow leading edge stripes were also standard at this time.
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Nakajima Ki-27 Ko
1st Sentai, 1st Chutai
Manchuria
1938-39
The 1st Sentai used different colours of fuselage bands and rudder to show the Chutai
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Nakajima Ki-27 Otsu
4th Sentai, 2nd Chutai
Japan
1942-43
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Nakajima Ki-27 Otsu
5th Sentai, 3rd Chutai
Japan
1940-41
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Nakajima Ki-27 Otsu
24th Sentai, 2nd Chutai
Phillipines
1941
This Nate was flown by the commander of 2.Chutai and is interesting in that it differs from the usual practice of 24 Sentai in having two stripes on the fin and four on the rudder to denote '24'
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Nakajima Ki-27 Ko
64th Sentai, 1st Chutai
China
1939
At this period the 64th carried a Hawk emblem below the cockpit of their aircraft. Individual aircraft had yellow numbers on their tail, but it was not discernable in the photo used.
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Nakajima Ki-27 Otsu
64th Sentai, 2nd Chutai
1941
In early 1941 the 64th changed their marking to an arrowhead on the fin/rudder
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Nakajima Ki-27 Otsu
77th Sentai 3rd Chutai
Malaya
December 1941
In common with many other JAAF units, 77 Sentai used a stylzed 7 7 on the tail of their aircraft ,, however, and also in common with many other units, this only reads correctly when viewed from the right hand side of the aircraft.. . funny how most profiles show the left side.
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Nakajima Ki-27 Ko
84th Dokuritsu Chutai
China
1938
The 84th Independant company was initially formed from the third Chutai of the 64th Sentai and as such continued to use the 64th's hawk emblem. The unit marking was a red nose and horizontal stripe on the fuselage, with the various Shotai having different coloured diagonal band and tail numbers.
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Nakajima Ki-27 Otsu
111th Kyoiku Hikorentai
References:
- Emblems of the Rising Sun: Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Unit Markings
Peter Scott; Hikoki Publications 1999
- Japanese Army Air Force Camouflage and Markings WWII
Donald Thorpe; Kookaburra Publications
- Nakajima Ki-27 Nate
Leszek A Wieliczko/Zygmunt Szeremeta; Kagero Publications
