Japanese plane section

[brannow]

Hi All,

I also have this section of cloth from a Japanese plane. What are these worth?

Thanks in advance,

Bill Rannow
Mpls, MN

[blinky]

It's hard to say, the orange means it was a training aircraft and rather than a VAl I'd be willing to bet it came from a Williow (primary trainer, biplane). The price is hard to say, they display great but it's not as "sexy" as a fighter. I'd be conservative and go around $250 to $300. It's still pretty neat though.

Eric

[Der Texaner]

Bill, I've seen metal pieces bring what I would call "funny money" on ebay. With it being the meatball, that certainly helps with the value along with where it was aquired. Eric probably has more knowledge on it than I do and I would agree with his estimate, perhaps a bit more. It might be worthwhile to invest in having it framed and matted. That would help bring more money if you decided to sell it.

[LeeM]

Hello Bill,


If you have solid provenance it would undoubtedly help with value (something other than the writing and although misidentifying the aircraft type does not help, it is certainly understandable.) Items with good provenance that can be traced to aircraft downed in combat can command very high prices. Many aircraft were downed over the sea or crashed in dense jungles (for the PC read rainforests), so numbers of combat downed aircraft accessible on the ground points to the sacristy of such items, not to mention the ability of G.I.’s to carry or ship such items. A helmet, canteen, bayonet, etc. is easily transported when compared to a hunk of wing or fuselage. As this is most likely off a training aircraft, the date and location written on your piece makes perfect sense. Taken during the occupation and on Japanese soil. A piece of fabric from a trainer would have been fairly easy to obtain and to ship or carry back home. As to value, nothing ceases to amaze me anymore and the market forces are difficult to predict. I would offer it on the high side of estimate. If no one shows any interest, then you know you are too high or have a very limited market and can adjust from there. These unique items are just difficult to accurately estimate in today’s world market. I am not saying offer it at an outrageous price, but you don’t want to short yourself either. Just my two cents.


Regards,

Lee

[blinky]

Just as a side note, I just saw a photograph from after the war of some Ki-9 "Spruce" that were tipped up so they could remove the wheels before burning them. Each of them had the hinomaru from the fusulage cut out as souviners

Even though it's from a trainer, it's the type of thing I'd love to have mounted and framed on my wall. You probably would end up getting more for it than I said as long as the cloth isn't brittle.

eric

[A.E. Hamilton]

Aircraft pieces

Aviation items are my primary interest in collecting Japanese militaria. I am always looking to add to my collection and would be interested in any hinomaru ( red circle) or other aviation item. I would be willing to trade hansomely or pay a fair price. Please contact me if interested.

[D.Blume]

Japanese Plane Section

I spoke with a chinese friend of mine whose dad sold airplane parts to the famous flying tigers in China. These were the planes that attempted to lead the Japanese forces into the invasion of China but were totally stopped by the Tigers flying their P-38's or some such, I am not sure. This was not a trainer plane, and it had machine guns mounted in front of the pilot and carried a 100 - 200 pound bomb in addition to it. Just my two cents. Doug

[blinky]

Yes, the "Val" was a dive bomber. By the end of the war it was obsolete and many were used as training aircraft......and painted bright orange. It also had a metal body and wings, therefore this did not come from a Val.

Eric

[D.Blume]

Japanese plane section

Yes, that makes sense. But I believe the earlier models used pre War II were "cloth" body, and subsequently the cloth ones were used in training during the war and were kept in Japan itself, thus the availability for "souviner" hunting at the time of the occupation. All other planes were distributed for action. This is what I was told. So the vet who cut this off was probably accurate in his statement on the cloth. How else could the vet have known what a VAL was?Doug

[blinky]

The D3A1, D3A2 and D3A2-K were all of all-metal construction. It probably "became" a Val for the same reasons why every Japanese fighter was a Zero and every Japanese bomber was a Betty to most G.I.s. The average G.I. looking for a souviner probably couldn't tell the difference from a Val to a Sam to a Judy to a Pine to Mary to a Frank to a Doris to a......


Eric

[Jareth]

Eric, you took the words out of my mouth! Every aircraft guage you see is from a zero. Buy the item & never the story or the inscription.

[Der Texaner]

Bill, I thought you might be interested in the results of this auction in regards to your meatball section.

auction

[Garv]

Rising Sun

Bill,
Your pictures are great. I have several , red sun with green background, also with silver back gound.
My Dad cut them off the Japanese aircraft on the day the peace treaty was signed, in the Phillipines. Can not figure to get the pictures on this page. will try again.
Garv