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[Whiskey_Sierra_972]

Hi mate!

I'm starting a new Tiger Moth skin to make it as a Japanese plane of the 39-40 years!

I'm unable to find which kind of registartion code they could have in those years!

Can someone help me?

Thanks in advance!

walter

[Pursuivant]

Before World War 2, Japan's civil aircraft registration code was "J". The specific aircraft would then have a 4 letter code after the registration code.

As was customary at the time, the registration code would be painted on each side of the fuselage and on the tops and bottoms of the wings. Registration codes on the fuselage would have been moderate sized. Registration codes on the wings would be large and sometimes scaled to fit the wing's shape.

For example, the Japanese Ki-15 Kiragane "Kamikaze" which made a record-breaking flight in 1937 had the code, J-BAAI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_registration

I have no idea if there were any legal restrictions on what letters could be used after the country code, but not all letters of the alphabet appear to have been used. Most registrations are J-A... and J-B... but there's also J-C..., J-K..., J-T... and a few others.

Also, it appears to be very common, perhaps even law, for the "J" country code to be repeated on the plane's tail and/or tailplane.
Sometimes the "J" on the tail would be in a larger font.

While civil aircraft could be any color, there seems to have been a strong preference for mostly, or entirely, bare metal/silver dope surfaces. Some civil planes also carry the military "rising sun" roundels or had a variation of the Japanese naval ensign (the "rising sun" with red rays of light) painted on the wings. Again, I have no idea what the customs or laws were regarding such markings.

My guess is that a Tiger Moth with a J-A... or J-B... registration code, "J" markings on the tail and tailplanes, and a mostly bare metal/silver dope finish would be just about right for the period. If it had some sort of government function, or was flying into harm's way, then it might have also carried the national markings on the wings.

Links with pictures:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze_%281937_aircraft%29

http://www.straggleresearch.com/2010/05/some-japanese-civil-aviation-types.html

http://www42.tok2.com/home/avionroad/Japanese%20Civil.html

[Whiskey_Sierra_972]

Thanks mate for the reply!

I'll search some nice code words with J-A prefix!!

I have just find the wiki page but the latter references provided are wonderful!!!

All the best!

walter

[Kopfdorfer]

Nice Links Purs,

                      I especially liked the little monoplane Tachikawa Kisaragi 1939, and the twin Mitsubushi Nippon 1939 - which must have some connection to the G3M Nell,; there are too many similarities.
Didn't know about the Japanese civil codes either (guilty for lack of curiosity here).


kopfdorfer

[Pursuivant]

Glad to be of help. Honestly, I didn't know that much about it either. I just did a couple of Google searches and pulled out the best looking links.

My guess is that in pre-war Japan there probably weren't that many civil aircraft, and those that did exist were mostly flown by airlines or corporations. Japan wasn't that rich a country before WW2 (the "Japanese miracle" which saw Japan briefly becoming the world's second largest economy only dates to the 1960s) and given the intense militarism of the era, purely civil aviation might have been seen as "unpatriotic." Mind you, that's only a guess.

If you're wanting the final word on markings and paint schemes for pre-war Japanese civil aircraft, you'd need to post a request on the forums where the real heavy-hitters hang out, like J-Aircraft or World War 2 aircraft.

Anyhow, I look forward to civil versions of the Tiger Moth.

[farang65]

Very Cool Persuivant   

There's a lot of interesting aircraft in your sites like the Me 108 and Dc-2 mainly cause we have them

Few others could be skinned to suit as well.

Thanks

Kirby