Japanese Aircraft Equipment, 1940-1945

Naval Aviation News, July-August, 2005 by Peter B. Mersky

Mikesh, Robert C. Japanese Aircraft Equipment, 1940-1945. Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 4880 Lower Valley Rd, Atglen, PA 19310. 2004. 198 pp. Ill. $69.95.

There are two men who have become the seminal authorities on WW II Japanese aviation, Richard M. Bueschel (also an author in this prolific publisher's catalog) and the author of this book. Robert Mikesh has considerable hands-on experience as a 9,000-hour U.S. Air Force pilot, with combat tours in Korea and Vietnam, and was the Senior Curator for the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). With these impressive credentials, anything Mikesh writes is worth a look. This large-format, expensive book is no exception.

The book offers an incredibly specific, yet wide-ranging, focus on instrumentation, gun sights and bomb sights, and cockpit colors and interior designs that will bring a satisfied smile to readers. Modelers will be ecstatic at the photographic details and text descriptions of these vital areas. Many of the pictures are in color and there are several great views of various aircraft I have never seen.

Imperial Army and Navy fighters and bombers come under Mikesh's microscope. He also offers a fine narrative of the formation and work by the Technical Air Intelligence Unit-Southwest Pacific Area and its leader Frank T. McCoy--the same man responsible for creating the Allied codename system for Japanese aircraft, e.g., Zeke, Betty, Rufe.

Through his assignments in the Far East while serving with the USAF, and later his position with NASM, Robert Mikesh was able to delve into the little-known, shadowy communities of Japanese design and production. His contacts and experiences have helped him create a seminal work which, while not for the general reader, will certainly be of more than passing interest for those more knowledgeable consumers craving nuts-and-bolts details.