Miles M.14 Magister, part one, Asian and Oceanian users

 

The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat trainer monoplane designed and manufactured by Miles Aircraft. It was used by various Commonwealth users, among them the following ones:

• Australia: At least up to five Magisters are known to have served with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), some of them prior to the war and some of them during the war, with Nos. 451 and 456 Squadrons, used mainly as squadron hacks. 
• British Malaya: The Malayan Volunteer Air Force is known to have employed some 'Maggiebombers' (Magisters fitted with small practice bombs) for training roles. As we couldn't find graphical evidence of this, the drawing below should be considered as speculative.
• New Zealand: The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) employed two Magisters with Nos.1 and 42 Squadrons. After the war many were used by private aero clubs, like the one depicted below.
• Turkey: In 1941 the British government sold an initial batch of 25 Magisters Mk.I, followed by 75 more in 1942. Eventually, 76 in total were delivered in 1941, but six of them were lost en route. A Turkish aircraft manufacturer, Kayseri aircraft Ltd., obtained the rights for manufacturing the type and, therefore, five machines were built between 1941 and 1942. Those rights were transferred to THK (Türk Hava Kurumu - Turkish Aeronautical Association), in Ankara, which manufactured additional 20 machines. 
  Every Turkish Magister served with the Hava Harp Okulu (Turkish Aerial Academy), assigned to the two companies of the 1st Training Battalion. They served between the years 1942 and 1950 and, eventually some of them until 1963 after the refoundation of the Turkish Air Force in 1951.
• Thailand: Both Royal Thai Air Force and Royal Thai Navies employed an unknown number of Magisters as trainers after World War 2. 

Sources:

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Magister

2. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/magister.htm

3. https://collection.motat.nz/objects/2475/aircraft-miles-m14a-magister-zk-ayw-painted-as-l8353

4. http://www.tayyareci.com/digerucaklar/turkiye/1923ve50/miles-magister.asp

5.Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine - October 1997 - Miles Military Trainers

Mitsubishi Ki-21, foreign users

 

The Mitsubishi Ki-21 was a Japanese twin-engined bomber which took part in the World War II. Its main user was Japan, however, it was used by some other users:

• France: After the War, some few Ki-21 were used in Indochina by the French Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) during the First Indochina War. They were originally Ki-21-IIb bombers converted ad-hoc into transports with their defensive armament removed. These machines were very worn out so their usage through that conflict wasn't very prolonged and they were most likely, replaced. 
• Manchukuo: The Manchukuo Imperial Air Force had 6 Ki-21-Ia bombers in strength in the year 1941. They were assigned to 2nd Air Unit, based in Fengtian, but, most probably, they were not used very much and were either destroyed on ground or left to rot. 
• Thailand: Nine Ki-21-IIa bombers were sold to the Kingdom of Thailand in 1940 to be used by the Royal Thai Air Force against the Vichy French forces in Indochina. However they couldn't take part in the Franco-Thai War as crews didn't complete training in time. They were part of the 62nd Squadron and were based at Don Muang, in Bangkok. In 1942, when the Japanese Army invaded Burma, the Thai Army invaded the Shan States, using their Ki-21 extensively against the defending Chinese forces. Two Thai Ki-21s were lost on air raids on 2nd May 1943 and 30th November 1944 when they were based in Lampang, North-West of Thailand. The remaining seven were kept in active after the war and it wasn't until 1949 that they were written off service and were immediately scrapped.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Ki-21

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo_Imperial_Air_Force

3. https://www.traditions-air.fr

4. http://wings-aviation.ch/51-Profiles/M/M-Basis-en.htm (translated)

Mitsubishi Ki-30 - Foreign users, part two - Thai users

Due to the American embargo, the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) switched to Japan for their new suppliers in October 1940. They sent a purchasing commision to Japan where they were shown both the Mitsubishi Ki-21 and the Mitsubishi Ki-30. They were greatly impressed by the performance of the Ki-30 so they ordered nine Ki-21s and 24 Ki-30s. Apparently an unknown number of fighters were ordered too, but were never delivered.
The Ki-30 filled the void that the North American NA-69 (a light attack plane) would've filled if it had been delivered. The Ki-30 was found to be easy to fly and maintain and it performed notably much better than the obsolete Vought O2U Corsair. It had a much better bombload and twice the range, compared to the Corsair and its fixed landing gear allowed the type to operate in the rough airfields located specially in the Northern and Eastern parts of the country. They received the nickname of Nagoya by their Thai pilots.
All 24 of them were delivered in November 1940 and, to operate them, two squadrons were formed at the city of Don Muang. Thai crews completed their training quickly and on 7th January 1941, in the context of Franco-Thai War, twenty-three Ki-30s attacked French targets in Cambodia. The next day, 9 Nagoyas, escorted by three Curtiss Hawk 75Ns attacked the airfield at the city of Siem Reap and two days later, they sustained their first casualty as one Ki-30 was shot down by a Morane-Saulnier M.S.406. The Ki-30s took part also in the last air raid of the conflict ,on 24th January, as nine Ki-30s and three Martin 139WS medium bombers, raided the same airfield of Siem Reap, hoping to destroy the M.S.406 fighters. During that raid, one Ki-30 was attacked by two M.S.406s but the Ki-30 managed to scape.
On 22nd December 1941, the RTAF underwent reforms and shortly later, in January 1942 they were rebased to Lampang, to become part of the Northern Air Wing. They were extensively used in the Burmese front, flying both attack and reconnaissance missions without, surprisingly, no Chinese fighter opposition at all. However, the occasional anti-air fire and hazardous weather and terrain conditions, made those missions dangerous.
One of those raids, took place on 29th January 1943 when a mixed force of Ki-21s and Ki-30s raided the Chinese base at Mong Sae, managing to inflict severe damage at the cost of just some damaged bombers. That was the last Thai raid of the Northern campaign because, technically, Thailand wasn't at war with China and a truce was arranged. Thailand had invaded the Burmese Shan States, following orders coming from Japan, and fought Chinese forces present there but, when Thailand signed the declaration of war against the Allies, China didn't respond.
In spite of the efforts to obatin more Japanese bombers, like the Ki-21 and the Ki-30, no more aircraft of either was supplied.
 In April 1945 there were still 21 Ki-30s in active service of which 14 of them were in flying conditions. The last Ki-30 was written off active service in 1950.

Sources:
1. http://www.j-aircraft.com/research/jan_forsgren/j-aircraft_royal_thai.htm
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Ki-30
3. https://www.valka.cz/Micubisi-Ki-30-Ann-t1289

Mitsubishi F1M

The Mitsubishi F1M (Allied codename 'Pete') was a Japanese reconnaissance floatplane of World War II which has the honour of being the last biplane type to serve with the Imperial Japanese Navy. Almost 1200 of them were built in total, between 1936 and 1944.
The F1M1 was powered by a single Nakajima Hikari Mk.1 radial engine which yielded 820hp of power, a maximum speed of 368km/h (230mph) and an operative range of 1072km (670milles) when overloaded. It was armed with two fixed forward-firing 7.7mm (0.303in) Type 97 machine guns placed on the nose and a defensive 7.7mm Type 92 one placed in the observer's post. It could also carry two 60kg (132lb) bombs under the lower wings. It turned to be a very versatile aircraft which served as a mobile operations platform.
It was originally built as a catapult-launched reconnaissance floatplane specialized in gunnery spotting. The F1M1 took on a number of local roles as convoy escort, bomber, anti-submarine , maritime-patrol, rescue, transport and anti-shipping strike with some respectable success rate. For instance the American Motor Torpedo Boat PT-34 was sunk on 9th April 1942 by a F1M1. It was also used as an area-defence fighter and got involved in aerial combat in the Aleutians, the Solomons and many other theatres. In the New Guinea front it got involved in many aerial battles against both Allied bombers and fighters.
Since its production started in 1938, they were assigned to the 21st Naval Air Arsenal at Sasebo, in Japanese homeland before being transferred to their respective destinations. In due course, the F1M2 equipped all but one of the K-Maru and S-Maru classes of converted merchant seaplane tenders raiders and several Japanese Battleships and Cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
They were present at the Battle of Midway as two aircraft were launched from the Battleship Kirishima, but they were lost when the ship was scuttled at the end of the Battle of the Solomons. They were also aboard the Superheavy Battleships Musashi and Yamato as each of them carried several F1M1 and M2s to serve as spotters for their 460mm guns at the Battle of the Marianas.
Apparently, late in the war they were used for kamikaze attacks as they were blatantly outdated and its production ceased the year before, in 1944. After the war as the Japanese retreated from many territories like Indonesia or Thailand, they left behind many equipment, among them some F1M1 which were put into service by the newly created government of Indonesia and used them in their war of independence. Something similar happened with the Thai government which also used some leftover F1M1s  and used them in their navy during the inmediate postwar years. However, as we couldn't find graphical evidence of the F1M1 in service with Thailand, the drawing should be considered as speculative.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_F1M
2. http://www.aviastar.org/air/japan/mitsubishi_f1m.php
3. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_mitsubishi_F1M.html

Aichi E13A - Thai & French users

In this post we cover two users of this Japanese floatplane.

• Thailand: Back in 1942 three Aichi E13A were handed over to the Royal Thai Navy. Those were followed by three more in 1943. They were employed in coastal defence, patrol and search & rescue missions. They operated from the Royal Naval Aero Base Sattahip, located at the Southern part of the country. They served through the inmediate postwar, until 1948 when they were written off and replaced.
• France: When the Imperial Japanese Army left the French Colony of Indochina, they left many equipment behind, among them, eight Aichi E13A that were taken over by the local French Authorities and pushed over into service by the Aéronavale (French's Naval Air Arm) and also, at least one, by the Armée de l'Air which was probably given to the Aéronavale's 8S squadron that was the one that employed them in the reconnaissance role during the First Indochina War. They operated mainly from the B.A.N. Cat-Lai, close to Saigon, that was also the same base that they operated when serving with the Japanese.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aichi_E13A

2. http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=443

3. http://www.combinedfleet.com/ijna/e13a.htm