Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-The Baka Bomb (OKA Cherry Blossom)

The Small Air Force



The Baka Bomb

Japanese terror weapon

21 Oct44 Two airplanes with volunteers flew from the Philippines to attack US carriers.

23-26 Oct44. Off Leyte, 55 Kamikaze pilots, in the first planned mass suicide attacks of the war, co-ordinated with the IJN attack on Leyte Gulf, hit the escort carriers and sank the St. Lo (CVE-63) and damaged the large escorts Sangamon (CVE-26), Suwannee (CVE-27), Santee (CVE-29), and small escorts White Plains, Kalinin Bay, and Kitkun Bay. In all, 7 carriers were hit and 40 other types damaged; five ships were sunk, 23 heavily damaged, and 12 moderate damage.

25Mar45-21Jun45. Off Okinawa -- Ten "Kikusui", swarms of Kamikaze, up to 350 attackers at a time, 1,900 in total, damaged 250 ships with 34 destroyers and smaller ships sunk. Several ships were damaged so badly they were not repaired. One in seven of all naval causalities occurred off Okinawa.

3,500 naval planes and an additional 1,500 army planes are hidden on Kyushu for the "final battle" and just as many for orthodox use; once suicide airplanes were used up, the orthodox pilots would become Kamikazes. This is a number sufficient to sink or damage 1,000 ships of an invading fleet.





No idea whose kit this was ? but I think that it portrays well the Baka machine,the reports above about the effectiveness say it all

Footnote:The real name was OKA which translated means Cherry Blossom,Baka actually means fool in Japanese.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-The story of a tube of adhesive.

Here is a little story that many people here can probably relate to,firstly fortunately having been building models now since nineteen canteen you can imagine that I have accrued quite a few modelling items,my balsa stocks would put a balsa timberyard to shame,and there are drawers full of accessories and bits and pieces accumalated,so apart from the occasional purchase online I do not need much more to complete my models,however like everyone the usual consumables are purchased on a regular basis,things like Cyno,paints,thinners and 'Adhesives'

My small tube of polystyrene cement,the type with those fine nozzles was on its last legs as the last hisses of air were heard from the squeezy plastic container,so a quick trip to the local model shop was in order,imagine my surprise when the shop had vanished overnight ! stripped of everything,not even a note on the door to say anything ? so a trip to the next town was called for,this is not a model shop as such but a long established craft type shop that sells carefully selected items for model building,this time the shop was closed ! a note on the door to the effect that due to commitments the shop would now close all day Wednesday and also the hours were reduced as well,after standing and thinking the only thing to do was go to the next big town ie Coventry where I knew there was another model shop,so off I trotted only to find that the shutters were down,and a note on the door said that the shop had closed for business,it had only been going with these last owners for about 12 months anyway,so things did not go well there did they ? now what to do ? 20 miles one way and still no adhesive in my hands,ah,there is an Hobbycraft branch in the centre so in the car again and off to Hobbycraft where I knew they sold model kits,the model stuff is on the top floor,well what is left of it ? as to be expected Airfix were thin on the shelves,Revell stuff was padded out so the big kits hid nothing behind them just as they do in supermarkets when the Cornflake delivery has not arrived on a Monday,and then at the end of the aisle I espied the Humbrol and Revell paint racks,must be getting warmer,where is this darn adhesive ? well the nearly empty paint racks contained a couple of dozen tins of paint between them,no useful colours,just those garish hippy wagon mauves,pinks and gorrilas armpit greens whose only use would be to paint last years Halloween mask for the kids ! in other words no new stock,the dust on the tins of paint and the racks suggested that they had been like this for a very long time,but still no adhesive in sight ? just as I was about to give up I spotted a tatty box sitting on a plush showcase that looked as if it had cost a fortune ? at last what I wanted a tube of adhesive with those handy nozzles,note that I have said 'a tube' in the singular ! yes you have guessed the very last one.

I took my precious purchase to the till and the young assistant scanned it,with the result it kept beeping as if a protest that it wanted to stay in the building ! still with no luck and a queue building at the back he called over the manager who reached for a pile of catalogues under the till,we dont sell much of this stuff these days he said ! well I just had to say that is no surprise as you do not appear to have much stock in the model section anyway ? the whole shop had that air of despondency about it,one on the till to a long line of buyers,one on customer service looking very bored,and a manager who looked like a newcomer ? I did eventually get the adhesive,with no apology or explanation and left the shop,it was getting late and the rush hour traffic was building up outside,as I battled my way home I weighed up the days events,a round trip of some 40 miles for one old tube of glue,about three hours out of my busy day ? was it really worth it ? in a word no ! I think next time a quick order with Mr Sticky on the internet will be the answer as it will be on the doorstep the next day,the days when every newsagent shop sold adhesives suitable for modelling are long gone,and with this rapid decline in model shops throughout the country they will soon be a thing of the past,good job that I still have that valuable balsa to use plus a healthy stash of kits to keep me going ?

[Guest]

i know just what you mean barry. There is a bookstore in my town that has an arty section downstairs. They sell Airfix kits and Humbrol paints but they dont sell much. So they have a full range about 5 times over. But i dont like using enamels unless i really have to!!. The nearest model shop i know of to me is in cambridge 40 miles away!

yes we can blame the internet for this. but the internet has also boosted the modeling scene. It has got us modelers all together.

It is annoying having to wait for things to arrive though.

we can just wait untill the day teleportation is invented, then the human race will be so lazy we wont even have footpaths!

[Guest]

I consider ourselves to be lucky in so far as we have an excellent model shop in Halifax. We have what is known as a "Piece Hall", which used to be a cloth market many hundreds of years ago but is now a collection of craft shops, coffee shops etc all of which struggle and change hands on a regular basis.

In the middle of it all however is a very traditional model shop selling all kinds of plastic models and accessories. I sometimes just go in for a browse but more often than not I pop down on the motorbike (I can park it outside) for a pot of paint, tube of glue, packet of plastic profile etc...etc.. and end up having a look round what is new and what's on offer.

A couple of nice lads run the place who both know what they are talking about and are more than happy to help in any way they can.

I realise it is probably the last of it's type in the country, but I am going to enjoy it for as long as I can!!

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Flight Sim 2006X all set for release date in October.

'Flight Simulator X' is the name of the much awaited new DVD format aircraft simulator,due for release on October 18th 2006 Scale-Models is polishing its joystick in anticipation of getting to grips with the brand new features incorporated into this latest generation software,this new offering is the culmination of nearly 25 years of the landmark “Flight Simulator” franchise and the most significant addition to date. The 10th addition to the highly successful “Flight Simulator” franchise, this newest addition will immerse players in a beautifully rich and realistic world, offering a completely new and innovative gaming experience with dozens of new aircraft to choose from, including the AirCreation 582SL Ultralight and Maule M7-260C Orion with wheels and skis. Gamers of all ages, types and skill levels will experience firsthand what it is like to be an aviator traveling the globe either alone or online with others.

Price delivered overnight to the UK by Fed-Ex for the deluxe version costs in the region of £49.00.

We will be doing our very own appraisal here of this exciting new system in due course.

If like myself you cannot wait to get to grips with it,go here http://www.flightsim.com/cgi/kds?$=main/notams06/fsxframe.htm and download a free demo version now,this really is realistic and great fun,especially on a dreary day like it is here at the moment,it is pouring down of rain.

[Guest]

Just in time for my birthday!!

[wonwinglo]

You really must try the freebie,it is very good,just been flying a microlight between two ships ! then landed on a road with moving vehicles,things that you would normally get locked up for.

Interesting that the rudders are fully functional now in flight as well, so you can spin the aircraft,the moving traffic and boats,ships etc really add to the realism,make sure that you set the barometric pressure on the altimeter,those mountains come up so quickly.

Very impressed so far Richard,there are lots of improvements.

[Guest]

Looking forward to it. I haven't bothered with the latest Flight Sim for a while as I haven't felt that they have made enough of an improvement to merit the expense.

I may buy this one though.

[Guest]

You really must try the freebie,it is very good,just been flying a microlight between two ships ! then landed on a road with moving vehicles,things that you would normally get locked up for.Interesting that the rudders are fully functional now in flight as well, so you can spin the aircraft,the moving traffic and boats,ships etc really add to the realism,make sure that you set the barometric pressure on the altimeter,those mountains come up so quickly.

Very impressed so far Richard,there are lots of improvements.

I'd love to have a go but a 636 mb file would grind things to a halt round here and I would be in trouble. I might have a go next time in Canaveral when we have a fast connection.

You get to fly in St Maarten as well. I used to go there regularly and we are very close again at the moment so all very interesting.

[Guest]

i didnt realise it was cape canaveral you stop at. i just knew it was somewhere in florida.

...ever seen a launch?

I am downloading the demo now...gunna take 20 mins

i did post something about this ages ago but i dont think it got much response:

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3403&highlight=flight+simulator

[Guest]

I have seen two launches, the last one was the one that came back in peices.

[Guest]

Here's a few shots taken of them.

The night time shot is a Nasa publicity picture.

[ATTACH]14936.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]14937.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]14938.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]14939.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]14940.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]14941.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Guest]

now that...is pretty dam impressive!!!

[wonwinglo]

Yes it took me half an hour to do the download,it is quite a generous piece of software,when it times out during use just go to your program and open it again,by the way you will not get the undercarriage up on the Beech Baron on the sample,but let me know how you get on with the little Microlight ? you can land and take off anywhere with that one.

Yes Bunkers it would take up all of the ships bandwidth and everything would grind to an halt ! I think it is amazing that you can use the computer onboard anyway,how things have changed ? do you think that they will ever sort this little problem out for the future ?

[wonwinglo]

Yep,I think this one is going to be the biggest jump yet for them,the scenery and graphics is far better than the last one,got to wait until October now having tasted the goods.

The GPS apparently is much easier to use than before making cross country flights much better,but I still like map reading and the challenges they present.

now that...is pretty dam impressive!!!