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The Aichi Val was perhaps the deadliest dive bombing weapon in the early stages of World War II. By April of 1942, the Kudo Butai aircraft that ranged from Pearl Harbor to Ceylon were able to mount as high as a 90% accuracy with their delivery of ordinance on target. The Aichi D3A1 Val was an incredibly agile aircraft that could deliver it's load onto a designated target, then with it's two forward firing and single rearward firing 7.7mm machine guns either defend itself against the allies early fighter craft, or continue the mission with ground suppression and strafing efforts. The Vals as shown on the left, used in the movies are converted T-6 or BT-13 training aircraft of the United States Army Air forces of the same time period. There are no surviving D3A1 Vals known to be in existence let alone flying condition. Most Vals were in the Grayish green as depicted in the background color as determined by relics collected from downed aircraft from Pearl Harbor. It is FS 595B Color 36150. AII-245 is from the IJN Carrier KAGA as noted by its tail code AII-2XX. All Vals at Pearl started with a number of 2XX. See the A6M2 Zero page for a complete description of tail stripes and codes. BI-231 on the right was flown by Cmdr. Egusa, who was overall dive bombing command for the second wave at Pearl Harbor. Commander Takaishi Egusa was recognized as one of the leading dive bombing leaders and authorities of the Japanese Navy. His aircraft was colored in order to allow other dive bombing aircraft to form on him after their individual strikes. There is some argument as to whether his aircraft was green on the topside with a red tail and yellow stripes or gray with red flames on the fuselage. Eyewitness reports from surviving Japanese aircrew support the latter, but also their is definite confirmation of this scheme when engaged in action off Ceylon on April 10, 1942. AII-245 Model by Jim Sezbo. BI-231 by Mike Gawell. |
