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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.544
EAN num: 9781846032950
ISBN number: 1846032954
Label: Osprey Publishing
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 80
Printing Date: March 18, 2008
Publishing house: Osprey Publishing
Release Date: March 18, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 39733
Studio: Osprey Publishing
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P-40 Warhawk vs Ki-43 Oscar
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Rated by buyers 
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Worthy addition to any WWII aviation buff's library, especially if you're interested in the Pacific. More needs to be written about the China-Burma-India Theater, particularly aviation post-American Volunteer Group. The illustrations are excellent, though I would have liked a section of profiles similar to Osprey's *Aircraft of the Aces* series. Oddly, Molesworth doesn't cite Dan Ford's now-standard history of the Flying Tigers in his bibliography, nor does he cite Ford's well-known and authoritative website, www.warbirdsforum.com. It's hard to believe Molesworth hasn't consulted either of these two references in his research.
Rated by buyers 
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Carl Molesworth applies the Osprey 'Duel' concept to two WWII aerial stalwarts, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar, in this informative, well-written 2008 Osprey publication. Though Molesworth's focus is China air battles circa 1944-45, his conclusions relative to those two aircraft have wider relevance since the P-40 and Oscar clashed throughout the Pacific. Indeed it may be true that the Japanese fighter most encountered by the P-40 was the Oscar.
Molesworth, a gifted writer, examines the creation, development, strengths and weaknesses of both aircraft, the training received by the pilots, tactics devised and the organization of the opposing air forces. After setting the (combat) stage, he relates the various aerial clashes fought in conjunction with the 1944 Ichi-Go operation along with analysis of the results. P-40 WARHAWK VS Ki-43 OSCAR is a good read, the 'pieces of the puzzle' falling together in an entertaining, educational fashion.
I realize the book's focus is on air clashes but nevertheless I would have enjoyed more material on the fighter-bomber missions flown by both sides during Ichi-Go. Likewise, it's unfortunate Japanese records do not exist which Molesworth could have been utilized to present a fuller account of these air ops.
As with other 'Duel' titles, the illustrative material really adds to the text. Several Jim Laurier colour profiles of each aircraft are included along with view-from-the-cockpit artwork, armament details, maps, several well-done combat scenes and over 40 grey & white photos.
In summary, Molesworth's book gets a five-star thumb's up. Its portrayal of little-known CBI air battles is interesting, educational and well-presented visually. It's a shame we can't hear 'the rest of the story' but...
In any case, highly recommended.
Rated by buyers -
Would have been happier if the book were twice as long and showed more detail with regards to the men who flew these warbirds.
Rated by buyers -
When I was growing up in the 1960s, the Flying Tigers were one of the popular images of the American role in the Second World War (nowadays, American interest in the war is almost solely focused on D-Day and Iwo Jima), but we didn't have too many books on the subject that went beyond superficial anecdotal accounts. In particular, we knew fairly little about the Japanese role in air combat over China. Now, aviation historian Carl Molesworth provides an excellent look at the dynamics of air combat over China, focusing on the battles between American P-40s and Japanese Ki-43 Oscars during the Japanese Ichi-Go offensive in the summer of 1944. This is a narrow, focused effort that does a superb job analyzing two opposing weapon systems in a discrete area and time. Thanks to Molesworth, the American reading public now has a much better idea of what those Flying Tigers were up against. A very good piece of aviation history.
P-40 Warhawk vs. Ki-43 Oscar begins with a 10-page section that details the design and development of both aircraft. Essentially, the Americans opted for pressing a Curtiss fighter into production as quickly as possible to deliver a multi-purpose aircraft. Unlike the Oscar, which the Japanese optimized for air-to-air combat, the P-40 was more of a workhorse that was designed for air-ground as well as air-to-air combat. This section also includes colour plates of both aircraft. The subsequent section on technical specifications spells out the details on the various models of each aircraft, although the only real direct comparisons are the author's mention of the Oscar's superior maneuverability and the P-40's superior firepower. The 6-page section on the strategic situation was not quite up to snuff, since it didn't effectively emphasize what each side was trying to do with its airpower in China in 1944. Essentially, the author ignores American General Chennault's gamble that he could use primarily airpower to blunt the Japanese ground offensive, which called for both tactical interdiction strikes against ground units and Japanese lines of communications. Japanese air power was really more defensive in this area, merely trying to maintain a degree of local air superiority and assisting in the reduction of Chinese fortified cities. Without this background knowledge, readers may believe that these fighter-vs-fighter encounters defined the outcome of the campaign. In short, the American P-40s had a far better kill-ratio against the Oscars but it was essentially futile, since the Japanese achieved their objectives of establishing a ground link-up with Indochina and succeeded in overrunning most of Chennault's fighter bases. Airpower, in itself, failed to blunt the Japanese ground offensive - a fact that is glossed over in this account.
Nevertheless, the author does a very good job once he gets into a discusion of the combatants and the actual fighter-vs-fighter battles. He notes that the P-40 units took far more losses from flak than from Japanese fighters and that the P-40 could absorb quite a bit of damage. These sections of the volume are excellent, supplemented by good use of first-person accounts, B/W photos, sidebars on individual pilots and a colour battle scene. Overall, a very good addition to the Duel series.
Rated by buyers -
I received this book yesterday and was relieved to find the cover artwork ACCURATELY depicting a Ki-43 Oscar, in mottled purple & steel camouflage. It's shown in flight, heading towards the viewer's right. Above that, flying to the rear left, is the Warhawk. The artwork, by Jim Laurier, is superb! He also did the colour artwork inside: 3-views, cockpits, armament scrap views, and a spectacular 2-page battle scene.
There are also many fine, clear, period photos of the combatants and their machines. I don't remember seeing these in my other books on the Oscar and Warhawk. The text by Carl Molesworth is well worth absorbing. Lastly, there are maps, a bibliograpy, and an index.
I have to give Osprey credit for their "Duel" Series. So far, I've collected three of these titles, and I think they represent some of the very best that Osprey offers, of all their various publications.
Highly recommended!
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