P-47D Thunderbolt vs Ki-43-II Oscar: New Guinea 1943-44

An extensively researched and accurate examination of the eight-month confrontation between two key World War II fighter planes in New Guinea.

Although New Guinea's Thunderbolt pilots faced several different types of enemy aircraft in capricious tropical conditions, by far their most common adversary was the Nakajima Ki-43-II Hayabusa, codenamed “Oscar” by the Allies. These two opposing fighters were the products of two radically different design philosophies. The Thunderbolt was heavy, fast...