Despite the pilot being sacrificed to complete his mission you wouldn’t want him to become injured before and thus unable to do his job. The seatbelt would keep him in position to properly fly rather than getting rod around due to possible maneuvers he would have to do to avoid flak or via turbulence.
The designer view the pilot nothing more than component of the guide system of the bomb the eyes for accuracy of course they wanted that component protected until the bomb reach its target
My great-grandfather was a pilot for Ohka. However, he was quiet and did not talk about his war experiences at all. I hardly ever spoke to him, and I never saw him smile. He passed away when I was 14 years old. The funeral was held quickly, and I didn't even realize that he was no longer with me. A few days later, when I was sorting through his belongings, I found a small notebook. His experience was written there.The episode was not as spectacular as many people imagined. There was a sense of mourning for the comrades who had died aboard the Ohka, a feeling of worthlessness for surviving in such a situation, and a hatred for the war.And on the last page, written in a small brush was the word "Peace."I couldn't stop crying. Although he never shot anyone or went to war, he was definitely a man who lived through times of war and wished for peace.I still go to his grave once a month and make sure to pay my respects. May all wars end.
You have to wonder if he expected you to find that one day, since you did then you obviously understood his message. If you did then he did his job by giving you helpful information and a mission
The Japanese did not even use parachutes. They were given them and were incentivized to use them, but they often used them as seat cushions. In Japanese culture, dying for your country or clan was considered the most honorable act a warrior could do, and surrender was seen as dishonorable. Many pilots would go down with their planes and many sailors would’ve rather committed sepukku than abandon ship.
@@therealspeedwagon1451 Yea I'm pretty sure somebody watched too much anime. All men are created equal and endowed among other things with equal instincts. Ian from Forgotten Weapons I think showed Imperial Japanese Arasaka rifles with Imperial coats of arms chiseled off, which the soldiers would do before surrendering. Can't dishonor the coat of arms if there is none
@@imperialofficer6185 but it’s true though. Several Japanese soldiers continued to fight long after the war ended. One Japanese soldier continued to fight the war until 1974, long after Japan officially surrendered. Many Japanese officers even tried to shut down the emperor’s official surrender speech. Then again most Japanese citizens couldn’t understand him as he spoke an archaic form of Japanese. The only Japanese person on the Titanic who survived, Masabumi Hosono, was relentlessly shamed and humiliated for surviving and not going down with the ship like a noble warrior for the rest of his life. To surrender in WWII Japan, a heavily militarized society where being a warrior and a soldier was highly respected, was seen as dishonorable and humiliating for you, your family, and your country.
@@therealspeedwagon1451 For one, keeping fighting after the war (in this case WWI) is over because you didn't hear no bell is literally the motivation behind the entire nation of Germany going Nazi, far from a few dozen holdouts, especially considering that the Japanese army had nearly 7 million troops in it at the time of surrender Imperial Japanese officers had almost to a man commited attrocities that would make the nazis blush, trying to prevent the emperor from ordering surrenderwas their only shot at survival and freedom. Besides, it was never really his call to make, like the Brits would be pissed if the king of england went out there and got to starting and ending wars for them Going down with the ship is also a thing in western culture. Not to such an extent maybe but still Not saying japanese culture isn't different from western, may be the most different of all the major ones in fact because of their isolation and whatnot but it's not aliens dude
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Missile guidance systems sure have come a long way. I'd think a side attack as depicted would not be the chosen attack type. You'd be attacking the more armoured part of the ship more slowly giving more exposure to AA fire and less certainty of causing damage. The dive angle indicator is a clue here. A dive onto the target exposes the thinner deck armour and increases your speed which give a greater probability of a successful attack.
In Jr. High school, or shop teacher gave us a balsa wood glider project of this plane, it was copied onto a piece of paper broken down to fuselage, rear horizontal stabilizer, vertical fins and wings, you used a thin piece of cellophane plastic for the canopy, you had details you could add to the flying model or you could build it with its basic form but you had to build it to fly, the wings had to be shaped correctly with a leading edge and a trailing edge including the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical fins which was part of the grading process, there was a version that you could build using a small model rocket engine, and it instructed you how to use clay on the nose to balance it over the center of gravity. Still have mine and a Xerox copy of the original template.
Excellent production and very accurate! I've just finished translating the autobiography of Masa'aki Saeki, one of the few surviving Ohka pilots in which he describes in detail the Ohka pilot training process. He was originally a seaplane pilot and, like all the other volunteers for the program, started his training in war weary Zeros. They'd take the Zeros up, pull the throttle back and practice gliding, making mock attacks, etc.The final test (check ride?) involved completing one drop from a Betty in a practice Ohka (one with landing flaps and a landing skid) culminating in a successful landing. Masa'aki's practice drop was 'less than successful' hence his survival to write his memoir. Not surprisingly, there were a few fatal training accidents as well. He stated that twin tails were used to allow the Ohka to nestle more closely to the Betty's fuselage. His account of his training flight would make a very entertaining YT video....
@@RX552VBK It's not really a book, it's about 35 pages describing his entry into the program, training, base life, and his, er, not very successful test drop, his description of which is both terrifying and hilarious. I've sent it off to a couple of aviation sites and am waiting for a reply. Will post here if something comes of it.
Imagine being so indoctrinated and brainwashed, that you volunteer to kill yourself in a flying bomb. With the intention to harm and kill as many „enemies“ as possible. It’s exactly the same like a terrorist attack, carried out by a suicide bomber. Motivated purely by their beliefs. It’s insane what propaganda can do to humans that are vulnerable to it. Nothing that humanity can be proud about..
Now, 78 years after the end of the war, such reliable explanations are no longer broadcast on Japanese television. The explanations are very accurate, and even as a Japanese person, I am impressed. If there's one thing I'd like to tell you, it's that Shoichi Ota, who invented Ouka, boarded an airplane without permission and took off on the day Japan was defeated in the war. Everyone thought that he committed suicide, taking responsibility for losing the war after developing Ouka, but many pilots died in battle, but he was still alive. According to Japanese historians, the plane he was on crash-landed in waters far from land, and he was rescued by a fishing boat. Having failed in his suicide attempt, he abandoned the name "Shoichi Ota" and also abandoned his wife and child, whom he had married during the war. Therefore, many people thought that Shoichi Ota was dead. After the war, he gave himself a false name, changed his job many times, and no ID was created, so he couldn't go to the hospital even if he got sick, and in the end, he suffered from cancer and died.
@@TheRasalhaag Immediately after the war, Japan's military had disappeared and the political economy was in turmoil, so it was easy to use a false name, but because of the false name, I could not register as a citizen and I had no ID, so I was unable to do formal work or go to the hospital. I couldn't even go there.
In the face of a new war, no government wants to remember past defeats and people whom their predecessors sent to the slaughter for their own interests
@@dec13666 maybe not on TV, but there is interest by many personnel of german companies to comb through their company's history to examine what it was involved in during the holocaust and WWII, also IIRC I think there is a german policy that encourages/requires it. Continental Tire has a good one on their website if you google "continental tire holocaust report". It pulls few punches and discusses how they supplied the german war effort with the help of forced labor from concentration camp detainees.
When attending basic training at Sampson AFB in 1955 we were given a tour of the bases small museum that had an OKA on display . This video so well explained the thing and answered so many questions in regards to the OKA . Can't imagine what must have been going on in the pilots mind on his way down . Kinda sad !
I can't imagine anything going on in there minds during the whole war . I guess dying for their phoney living god was all to them . Well that and inslaving the whole world was paramount I guess . Warped people .
I’m guessing many had a bunch of patriotic bullshit going through their minds. The same kind of stuff that is always fed to young men to get them to go out and die for rich and powerful people back home. Maybe they were convinced they were doing it for their families? Patriotism isn’t always a good thing, sometimes it’s dangerous. War is never a good thing, the poor and the vulnerable always pay the highest price.
Infinitely sad. The realization that all victims of war are victims of the pursuit of monetary profit is the somber cherry on top. Their lives meant nothing thanks to the zeitgeist of the times they lived.
A first rate presentation. Thank you very much for this in-depth view of construction techniques, the MXY7's construction, rocket propellants and their arrangement in a thrust driven plane, generic instrument familiarization, and specific instrument layout for this particular weapon. Wonderful work that covers details most historian posters leave out, thinking them insignificant. Those posters are missing the point. This is how one presents a weapons system for better understanding at all levels of interest.
As a Japanese, I am very happy that you posted this wonderful video. It is very sad that the vertical speedometer was scaled only in the direction of sea level. I will tell you one interesting fact. There was a strong belief in Japan at that time that dying was beautiful. (You can still see it today.) However, there was a big conflict between those who were for and against the "kamikaze". As one engineer put it, "The kamikaze is like a 100% death. A 100% deadly weapon like the kamikaze is a disgrace and a sign of negligence on the part of the engineers." The engineer went on to create an unmanned missile, the "イ号一型乙無線誘導弾" To return to the first story, we in the modern world must never repeat such a sad invention.
A serious approach to explaining this last-ditch weapon which required the dedication of its human pilot to kill himself in achieving his mission. I have never seen an explanation of how the systems worked. As usual with most Japanese aviation developments, it was an ingenious result. My father was a US Army officer. We lived in Yokohama from 1949 to 1952. My memories though rudimentary if that time are of the city being rebuilt from the heavy bombing it had experienced during the last two years of the war. I have revisited Japan several times; each time I have gone to the Yushukan museum on the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine. There is a wing of the museum dedicated to those who died in “special attack” units that flew the Ohka and crewed the Kaiten human-guided torpedoes.
@@sleepCircle А члены СС из зондер-команд, сжигающие деревни в Белорусии вместе с жителями тоже "страдали"? То есть они "жертвы"? И только один Гитлер преступник? Странная логика. Те кто добровольно пошел на агрессивную войну ради захвата чужой земли это не жертвы, это преступники. Жертвы только те кого заставили, то есть насильно мобилизованные. А среди пилотов самолетов камикадзе все были добровольцами.
I have seen a intact MXY. It was laying on the ground in a field with other WW 2 aircraft north of Chicago. Also had a fully intact ME 109 . Circa 1977
As I read in other literature, the pilot got into the 'baka' before the 'Betty' got into the air. He drank saké (probably to strengthen his nerves) and took his katana with him in the cockpit. Then the cockpit was closed and sealed so it could not be opened from the inside. Of course this was done so that he could't change his mind and try and stay alive.
That may have also been the case but it wasn’t exclusive. In our sources we found stories of pilots saying goodbye to the crew in the air before entering the cockpit. Also some models did not have oxygen and were dropped from 10000 feet
Hi.You are wrong. The Ohka pilot waited for his turn in the Betty fuselage during the flight. When the carieer pilot decided that the moment has come he would activate the circuits arming the Ohka releasing mechanism. The kamikaze pilot usually helped by the aircraft navigator and one of the gunners would take his place in the saddle while all the time a red light will signal that the system is armed. After signaling his readiness by changing the signaling light to green and also through the intercom the moment of release would come. 🇯🇵 🇯🇵 🇯🇵
If the pilots requested, he would be given marijuana or other drugs to numb his fear, but since getting drunk would affect his accuracy, he was only given a small amount of alcohol. Things like tying the pilot in the cockpit and not opening the hatch from inside were completely invented, and I think they were probably made because they couldn't understand the Japanese mentality of committing suicide attacks. In fact, when Betty was attacked and it was determined that the attack was impossible, there were many times when the unmanned Ohka was jettisoned and left. And these suicide attacks were also highly ceremonial, with a simple ceremony usually taking place before sortie and the pilots being treated respectfully. The Shinto idea is that those who sacrifice their lives for their country become gods who protect it.
I don't think there is anything any of us can tell you in the comments, other than the remarkably personal ones you have collected. Another amazing depiction of the history of WWII and the weapons derived from it that changed the world.
It would be great if you also did a video on the Kaiten. They were Japanese manned torpedoes, and they're equally, if not more, bizarre than the Ohka. Also, props for focusing on the technical aspects only. Many people have strong opinions about WWII, but for once, it's nice to just learn about weird weapons and how they worked.
I saw one once, IIRC in the (excellent) War Museum in Overloon, the Netherlands. Flying the Ohka must have been exhilarating, with a sense of freedom even in the face of inevitable doom. Manning the Kaiten must have been more like a premature burial.
@@kaasmeester5903 I'd have to agree if you had some kind of set up where you can fly it and land it without it exploding people would come and do it as a tourist trap but I don't think anybody's going to hide in dirty water and poke a boat
Wow, I didn't realize the Okha was so complete... I expected there to be a joystick, rudder pedals and three buttons for the rockets in terms of controls, and an all-wood construction. This thing had all the instruments a plane needs for VFR, lol
A lot of people forget that guided anti-ship missiles go back to WWII, but the guidance computer was a person! (Actually, Japan, the USA, and Germany all had actual radio guided missiles as well.)
Same thing with wire-guided missiles, like the German Ruhrstahl-Kramer X-4 air-to-air missile. It was copied quickly and improved upon after the War, although mainly used for anti-tank work. It had an interesting fuze that was meant to (IIRC) explode when the sound level changed when the missile passed the bomber's engines!
I’m currently binging on the Unauthorized History of the Pacific War channel now and I can’t remember a successful B-17 attack on shipping. The US should have created a specially trained squadron of fortresses that carried a single radio or wire guided 4000lb tall boy that they could use from above the fighter CAP. It would have been cutting edge technology but even one of those would have likely sunk the biggest of Japanese warships.
@@highdesertutah Several transports and destroyers were sunk by B-17s at the Battle of the Bismarck Sea using skip bombing, and I have no doubt that there were other successes throughout the war.
Not knowing date of production, I am surprised the entire device was not made of wood. If mid to late date of the war Japan suffered great shortages of raw materials to make metal especially aluminum which is not easy. Great video!!!!
The Axis and the Japanese had an idea at one point to Cripple the aluminum smelters of North America by going in with submarines, going to shore with saboteurs and destroying the power lines leading to the plants. The aluminum in the casks would harden without power flowing to them pretty quickly and would ruin them and make it necessary to completely rebuild them.
Superb stuff. I'd have loved to see/hear at the end, a brief note on how many were built, how many used and how successful they were. But I understand if you're only concentrating on the 'how it works' aspect. Thank you. I look forward to the next one!
Fyi, the answer to that question is "not very well". The vast majority of launch attempts were failures, with the Betty bombers being shot down or releasing their Okhas (often with the pilot trapped inside) before they were within range of their targets. The majority of those successfully launched were shot down, with very few reaching their targets. It was a huge waste of resources and brave pilots.
The Ohka (the MXY-7 model to be exact!) has always been my favorite of the WW2 aircraft gimmicks along with Germany's "Mistel". The Mistel is really interesting and I believe it is very much worth covering in a future video. Thank you for the in-depth video. I have never seen the Ohka on such a technical level. This is a hidden gem!
Very eloquent video, appreciate the detail that you went into. I was just recently at the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio and they had one of these on display at the end of the World War II collection (MXY7-K1 trainer).
@@nirktheman-thingstab-cutter it's not really all that chilling when you consider the Russians who gave a lot of their life up to fix the Chernobyl mass and the very few Japanese people that have been exposed to any radiation trying to clean up that gigantic runoff system of radiation to pollute the ocean. They got everybody psyched up to win the war and they'll do anything but when you're talking about cleaning up the piece you got to go to the Russians to get a good volunteer
@@nirktheman-thingstab-cutter sorry kid over your head go to some engineering school maybe things will make more sense to you when you listen to an engineer or math person
@@nirktheman-thingstab-cutter it's over your head I write material for adults not weird sex stuff like you think is for adults but things that are complicated relationships abstraction. It isn't so much what am I on about its what are you off about so far that I can't go back to your grade school and help you read it again and think about what I said and if it doesn't work for you just give up
@@markmcgoveran6811 Your point was off-topic and presented with an abysmal command of the English language. get off your high horse about your supposed maturity.
I love watching these videos and thoroughly enjoyed the additional animation you included of the actual flight / how the pilot moved and operated. Looking forward for more
The major failure of the Ohka was in the initial delivery prior to launch. The Betty's were slow and cumbersome carrying the bomb and very easy for the American fighter pilots to knock down. A second problem was the Ohka's warhead which could be expected to fly right through the skin of an American destroyer (as happened with my cousin's ship USS Stanly DD478) without exploding.
The whole idea was insane. By the time they were deployed, overwhelming air superiority and numbers of American carrier-based combat patrols meant the bombers were never going to have a prayer of reaching any but the most peripheral, inconsequential U.S. naval vessels- forget about getting close to a carrier. Talk about defective business models (unless you are into wiping out the cream of your gene pool.)
Good video as people are saying. Well done, thorough explanation, wonderful animations. 1. Please include the combat history as to the vehicle’s effectiveness and combat track record 2. Consider doing one of these videos on a tank from WW2. You could break down each crew members responsibilities and a tiger tank video would generate a lot of views. Thanks for the video !!
@@thetruecrimeshow6882 Not many. The Ohka only actually sunk one ship, the Allen M. Sumner class destroyer, Mannert L. Abele, the attack which this video actually simulates. The Ohka did cause the Allen M Sumner class Hugh W. Hadley to be declared beyond repair, but she still managed to make it back to base with 28 deaths and 67 wounded from the entire day's action, which included a bomb hit, 2 Kamikaze strikes, and the Ohka. The only other credible Ohka attack that caused casualties was against the Robert H. Smith class destroyer mine layer, USS Shea, where the Ohka pilot hit the bridge, going clean through before exploding harmlessly in the water. It caused the deaths of 35 men and 91 wounded. The rest of the Ohka's service record is spotty at best, but the only four other ships it hit were the Gleaves Class destroyer, USS Jeffers, which withdrew from battle from the damage, and the transports USS Alpine, Achernar and Tyrell. All 4 of which survived World War 2 and weren't scrapped until the 60s or 70s, with Achernar being transferred to Spain in 1965 before being scrapped in 1982.
Excellent history lesson here on this strange and very disturbing weapon of WW2. I would love to see you cover the tanks used by the Japanese during that war. Thank you.
That was really, really well done. The graphics were state of the art, the missle details were clear and very well explained, and the VO captured the perfect tone to match everything else. Nice one.
Wow, the way you explain is so calming and relaxing, even though your talking about a litteral human missile. This is a great video and I truly can not wait to see more. You earned a sub. Can't wait to see what the future brings for you but if you keep pumping out these videos you will reach 100k by no time.
awesome detailed breakdown of how everything works, you definitely did a good job. Suggestions for new topics for analysis: If you touch on the topic of militaristic Japan, then you cannot ignore at least 2 things: 1. underwater guided kamikaze submarine "kaiten" 2. Japanese intercontinental balloons with an incendiary load (they had a very interesting electro-mechanical brain) 3. Japanese developments in the field of creating the first homing heads (homing heads) Good luck with your creativity!
I love the Health & Safety aspects of the pilot handing the straps retaining the flight levels to someone in the Betty to prevent them causing him injury during the flight, I didn't think the IJ government would be that concerned about compensation litigation?
I've seen two of these in person. One at Chino planes of fame, and the other at Kirtland AFB museum. What a crazy way to go. The Betty carrying one of these would have made a hell of a combustible target for an F=6F
Some of the better expiation of this system I've seen. Some of the words in the narrative were pronounce in non-stand forms, but that can be addressed and updated. You might have an American and British viewer take a listen with you. Look forward for future videos.
Okha required an excellent pilot, not a beginner. How many good pilots lost their lives in that way ? Very good vidéo, I didn't know that the rockets could be switched on separately.
Plenty of the pilots *were* beginners, or at the very least, untested by combat. By 1944, when these were starting to be put into production, a lot of Japan's best pilots had been shot down or sunk with their carriers. They didn't have the incredibly simple thought that the US did, of just rotating your vets back home to train your newbies. The Battle of The Phillipine Sea, or "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" happened precisely because of this.
Good video. I've known of the Ohka since less than the age of ten. I also knew that American sailors nicknamed it the Baka Bomb. All the rest of your information is new to me. Thank you for putting this video together! (I recall reading many years ago--somewhere, I don't know where--that there is no known account of an Ohka hitting a U.S. Navy ship. This may have been disinformation, as I probably read it in the late 1950's or early 1960's) Thank you for making this video! Andy McKane, Maunaloa, Hawaii.
Very well done. The animation is excellent, including the human figure. Perhaps you could include metric measurements for us folks who don't use imperial? Otherwise, brilliant.
@@paulmatschull1923 A meter is 100 centimeters and 100 centimeters is 1000 milimeters, now can you tell me how many feet there are in a yard and how many inches in that feet?
Woah :0 what can I say? I am a bit speechless right now. this was very well done and put together, there is probably somethings that can be improved but I was so immersed in the video I don't think I saw any besides one thing. I noticed that you did pounds & mph for some of the measurements I think is the right term, and thought that mabye you should include both types of measurements for example mph & kph and for the another example would be pounds & tons. I thought of this that way you could include both and not just only use one type of measurement system. I might be wrong, with some of the wording on this comment but just thought I should put this out here is all I guess. Oh and relaxing choice for the music, was nice to relax and learn in a unique way I guess. I can't wait to see what more things I will learn from this channel, and amazing videos I will see and be along for the ride. Keep it up, here's to more amazing content and more amazing explanation videos (whatever you would call this kinda content idk first thing that came to mind) on this channel, I am all for this and can't wait to see what you do next :]
I sat inside one of these at a museum when I was about 13. Had all the gauges and stuff inside it still even. one of the coolest day of my youth, easily
Today we would call this a Cruise Missile. A Cruise Missile today is not so very different, except it is flown by a computer system. The German V-1 Buzz Bomb was also a cruise missile. The German V-1 was unmanned and was considered a HIT if it fell into the city limits of London or Amsterdam. The Ohka was a much more precise weapon.
Absolutely loved this. You have obviously, put a lot of time and effort into this I can't wait for your next video. By the way FYI it is pronounced 'Pee-toe' tube.
This was a very nice video for your first one really, my only complaint is about not showing the data in metric system too. A good portion of the viewers, like me, don't know how to use that shit, and we lose a big part of the experience. Other than that, this was nice, keep it up!
4:53 A small correction is needed to the statement that "the engine output was 588 pound feet of thrust." Perhaps the video makers got their Ohka specifications from the Wikipedia article titled "Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka." For thrust, the article specifies "2.62 kN (588 lbf)," where kN stands for kilonewtons, which is appropriate because thrust is a force. However, "lbf" does not stand for "pound feet" but "pound-force," for which there is a Wikipedia article titled "Pound (force)". Actually, after rounding, 2620 newtons = 589 pounds of force. "Pound feet" would be the same unit as "foot pound," which is a unit of torque (force applied at a distance).
It was a mistake, we should have send pounds force.We got our research from many sources but on the engines from the US research on the Okha after the war
@@BluePawPrint The narrator uses the terms "engine" and "motor" interchangeably. The aerospace industry convention is that solid propulsion uses the term "motor" (which would be the case for the Ohka), and liquid propulsion uses the term "engine".
wow, you can tell alot of detailed research went into making this video, thank you Blue Paw. That was very fascinating, to see how the mindset of the Japanese military at the time went into designing a vehicle that was a one way ticket for the pilot.
The Fleet Air arm museum at Yeovilton in the UK has one and having stripped the paint down to the original layer they exposed various markings and they appealed on social media for translations.
The bulk of the Ohka Bombers were shot down by U.S.Navy Fighters when still attached to the Betty. The Americans were well aware of the threat these little Demons represented and knew that once released, no Hellcat or Corsair would have an easy task trying to shoot down such a fast and tiny target; not to mention that, like with the V1, no one wants half a tonne of TNT exploding 300 yards from your nose. So, they kept Combat Air Patrols in coordination with the ship Radars and since they knew well the general direction the Intruders would show from they were quite effective. Besides, by then there was a huge number of American Navy Fighters available and they could keep dense CAPs from sunrise to sunset.
Yes, the Japanese eventually figured this out and designed a long-range Ohka that could be launched from a greater distance, but like most 'wonder weapons' it was too little too late.
Well made and interesting. My father was on a Royal Australian Navy ship hit by kamikaze planes. He had just left the bridge when it was struck killing everyone there. He never spoke about his experiences until just before he died. War is horrible. Old men sending young men to die.
The narrator uses the terms "engine" and "motor" interchangeably. The aerospace industry convention is that solid propulsion uses the term "motor" (which would be the case for the Ohka), and liquid propulsion uses the term "engine".
It would become an aircraft similar to the Ba349. However, it will not be feasible for the following reasons: ・The 桜花(Ohka) targets naval vessels for attacks. Even if the crew were to survive the attack, there is no range for the rocket-powered aircraft to return to land. In the Allied-controlled waters, there is no means to rescue drifting crew members. Even if there were a miraculous rocket that could return to land, the survival rate would be 0% due to pursuit by carrier-based aircraft. ・The very idea of the Kamikaze was conceived because of the sheer madness of the anti-aircraft fire density in the U.S. fleet's ring formation. Can one calmly calculate the trajectory after being exposed to the intense anti-aircraft fire of the U.S. military, and then hit a target with a single rocket? In a situation where we have lost air superiority to the extent that the capital is under aerial assault, do you think such training would be possible? If such a thing were possible, we Japanese would not have resorted to Kamikaze tactics.
There was a panel with screws in the initial test models to be able to cut the prop fuse, later on they welded it shut and eventually removed the bypass completely once they were in service. Mitsubishi has some amazing history/designs
It has to be said the japanese pilots understood the self defeating and morally dubious nature of such tactics. It's only a myth that they accomplished these missions with the true belief it was going to turn the war around.
The symbolic meaning of the cherry blossom was that when they fall from the tree to the ground they never return to the tree. It is believed that some of the pilots blacked-out from the then unknown g-forces as some of the incoming Ohka flew off course and fell short of target. Mitsubishi "Betty" bombers were used to transport them in their bomb bay.
Looking at it, I'd be more willing to bet that there is a design issue that could have either stacked tolerances to overbalance the aircraft when fuel is depleting (making it nose heavy and potentially leading to an unrecoverable dive) or they were exceeding critical mach and fluttering their control surfaces off. Solid rocket engines being what they are it's also possible they had a containment failure and melted the rear empennage... or for that matter just collected enough heat to soften the aluminum. The trouble with 'aircraft' like this is there's not going to be much left to analyze from failures.
The g-forces weren't unknown. They weren't exactly doing high g maneuvers. Most of the time a pilot missed or veered off could be attributed to injuries from being struck by AA fire.
Thank you for this. I am currently building a scale flying Balsa wood model of the OHKA and appreciated the scale measurements and see through elements of the formers, longerons, spars, and stringers along with all the other detail provided. I wish we had the measurements of an original instrument panel. Superb presentation!
I loved the video. I don’t want you to force yourself to stick to rocket planes but the way they work is so cool and strange. Is it possible to show the ME163
The problem with the 163 was the fuel was corrosive and unless flushed out fairly quickly it would eat the fuel tank out from the inside. It sometimes ate the pilot away too upon landing and the liquid sloshing into the cockpit. The 163 was also subject to sabotage by the concentration camp or POW laborers forced to make them. Small rocks inserted into the wing bands could cause the wings to separate violently in flight. Or the laborers would urinate into the glue used to hold the wings together. This would weaken the glue and would again cause the wooden outer panels of the wings to separate at speed and would cause the wing to again separate violently from the aircraft. The pilots survival odds depended on if he was under thrust or not. Once the USAAF and RAF figured out where the 163 bases were it was a fairly simple task to reroute the bombers away from the area and it rendered the 163 inert. Had the BA-239 Natter worked it would have been a different matter but the one test flight of the Natter resulted in the death of its pilot
This is so clear I feel that I could fly one of these myself. Not that I'd ever have the cojones to do so. Amazing level of detail. More please! BTW, your style resembles a very successful channel, Yarnhub, my favourite for this kind of thing. Are you by any chance related?
Yes. It's the same team. This is a new channel that we're going to keep separate from Yarnhub but we hope to do some detailed models we can share across the channels.
@@BluePawPrintI knew that voice, and I should have known because of the quality of the video. Hey yarnhub 👋 I can’t ever get enough of your videos as it is. This is more than welcome.
@@BluePawPrint i knew it! I'm glad there is a separate channel focusing on the technical aspects of these war machines as well as the models. I love how it also tackles how these machines are operated as well! Sort of like yarnhub with a flavor of mustard. I see this channel rising very quickly :>. Cheers!
Good to see they were worried about the pilots safety. God forbid he might get hurt while flying the bomb.
😂😂😂
Despite the pilot being sacrificed to complete his mission you wouldn’t want him to become injured before and thus unable to do his job. The seatbelt would keep him in position to properly fly rather than getting rod around due to possible maneuvers he would have to do to avoid flak or via turbulence.
The designer view the pilot nothing more than component of the guide system of the bomb the eyes for accuracy of course they wanted that component protected until the bomb reach its target
It’s a flying dildo
those bungee cords and thin metal rods don't come cheap you know
My great-grandfather was a pilot for Ohka. However, he was quiet and did not talk about his war experiences at all. I hardly ever spoke to him, and I never saw him smile. He passed away when I was 14 years old. The funeral was held quickly, and I didn't even realize that he was no longer with me. A few days later, when I was sorting through his belongings, I found a small notebook. His experience was written there.The episode was not as spectacular as many people imagined. There was a sense of mourning for the comrades who had died aboard the Ohka, a feeling of worthlessness for surviving in such a situation, and a hatred for the war.And on the last page, written in a small brush was the word "Peace."I couldn't stop crying. Although he never shot anyone or went to war, he was definitely a man who lived through times of war and wished for peace.I still go to his grave once a month and make sure to pay my respects. May all wars end.
You have to wonder if he expected you to find that one day, since you did then you obviously understood his message. If you did then he did his job by giving you helpful information and a mission
What? He was a pilot for a kamikaze plane and survived?
@@tuningsnowthere were many trained Kamikaze pilots who never got the opportunity to fly their mission.
0:45 AluMINIUM? or 0:55 AluMINUM ?????? WHAT is it people?
Yeahh
I imagine the instructor saying to the class, ""Now pay attention. I'm only going to show you this ONCE!"
They did make two seater trainer version of this as gliders.
The students "we still don’t know how to land "
@@DejectedCaty no
Bulls eye 🎉
"And you'll only do this once." 💀
Thank you for having also metric units in the newer videos!
Why? don't you like to measure in feet, bananas and in degrees based on horse blood???!!
@@Nugget_prime It's okay that you lack the intellectual prowess needed to compute in a superior system.
@@Nugget_prime there is a new measuring system: called idiot per comment section, and its base unit is "1 you"
The entirety of the world minus one imperial boi applauds this.
Very impressive graphics and cutaways. The explanation of the controls was also excellent. Kudos to the producers.
Only thing missing is an ejector seat
Their doctrine was to not, because if the pilot bailed the plane could veer off course
The Japanese did not even use parachutes. They were given them and were incentivized to use them, but they often used them as seat cushions. In Japanese culture, dying for your country or clan was considered the most honorable act a warrior could do, and surrender was seen as dishonorable. Many pilots would go down with their planes and many sailors would’ve rather committed sepukku than abandon ship.
@@therealspeedwagon1451 Yea I'm pretty sure somebody watched too much anime. All men are created equal and endowed among other things with equal instincts. Ian from Forgotten Weapons I think showed Imperial Japanese Arasaka rifles with Imperial coats of arms chiseled off, which the soldiers would do before surrendering. Can't dishonor the coat of arms if there is none
@@imperialofficer6185 but it’s true though. Several Japanese soldiers continued to fight long after the war ended. One Japanese soldier continued to fight the war until 1974, long after Japan officially surrendered. Many Japanese officers even tried to shut down the emperor’s official surrender speech. Then again most Japanese citizens couldn’t understand him as he spoke an archaic form of Japanese. The only Japanese person on the Titanic who survived, Masabumi Hosono, was relentlessly shamed and humiliated for surviving and not going down with the ship like a noble warrior for the rest of his life. To surrender in WWII Japan, a heavily militarized society where being a warrior and a soldier was highly respected, was seen as dishonorable and humiliating for you, your family, and your country.
@@therealspeedwagon1451 For one, keeping fighting after the war (in this case WWI) is over because you didn't hear no bell is literally the motivation behind the entire nation of Germany going Nazi, far from a few dozen holdouts, especially considering that the Japanese army had nearly 7 million troops in it at the time of surrender
Imperial Japanese officers had almost to a man commited attrocities that would make the nazis blush, trying to prevent the emperor from ordering surrenderwas their only shot at survival and freedom. Besides, it was never really his call to make, like the Brits would be pissed if the king of england went out there and got to starting and ending wars for them
Going down with the ship is also a thing in western culture. Not to such an extent maybe but still
Not saying japanese culture isn't different from western, may be the most different of all the major ones in fact because of their isolation and whatnot but it's not aliens dude
This is our first video on this channel. Please let us know of any errors and anything you would like to see. We'd like to grow this channel with the help of the community. Thanks for watching and we hope you enjoy it ! Please consider our Patreon www.patreon.com/BluePawPrint
With so much attention to details and cares, to send someone to their final flight.... this leaves a complex feeling.
Great video but it seems some segments were out of order if you want me to I can time stamp them but they were the propulsion system
Thanks I think I know the ones you mean. We'll fix that on the next one.
Pitot is pronounced "Pee-tow" at least in American English.
I think a detailed investigation of the kamikaze torpedoes would also be very interesting.
5 stars.
Missile guidance systems sure have come a long way.
I'd think a side attack as depicted would not be the chosen attack type. You'd be attacking the more armoured part of the ship more slowly giving more exposure to AA fire and less certainty of causing damage. The dive angle indicator is a clue here. A dive onto the target exposes the thinner deck armour and increases your speed which give a greater probability of a successful attack.
Yeah, they were going to use pigeons at one point (its true, honest)
I believe that the side attack would give a higher probability of a hit than the method you mentioned.
I think this is the most advanced (smart) missile guidance system..😅😅
@@oxcart4172 Project Pigeon/Orcon was American rather than Japanese, but yes.
All true except, you would be exposed to less aa fire across the water line more in a dive
This is the best video on the Ohka I've ever seen. I just found your channel today and subscribed as soon as the video was over.
In Jr. High school, or shop teacher gave us a balsa wood glider project of this plane, it was copied onto a piece of paper broken down to fuselage, rear horizontal stabilizer, vertical fins and wings, you used a thin piece of cellophane plastic for the canopy, you had details you could add to the flying model or you could build it with its basic form but you had to build it to fly, the wings had to be shaped correctly with a leading edge and a trailing edge including the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical fins which was part of the grading process, there was a version that you could build using a small model rocket engine, and it instructed you how to use clay on the nose to balance it over the center of gravity. Still have mine and a Xerox copy of the original template.
Too cool! What were stage coaches like?
Your mom knows how to grease wagon wheels, ask her.@@robertmueller6979
Excellent production and very accurate!
I've just finished translating the autobiography of Masa'aki Saeki, one of the few surviving Ohka pilots in which he describes in detail the Ohka pilot training process. He was originally a seaplane pilot and, like all the other volunteers for the program, started his training in war weary Zeros. They'd take the Zeros up, pull the throttle back and practice gliding, making mock attacks, etc.The final test (check ride?) involved completing one drop from a Betty in a practice Ohka (one with landing flaps and a landing skid) culminating in a successful landing. Masa'aki's practice drop was 'less than successful' hence his survival to write his memoir. Not surprisingly, there were a few fatal training accidents as well.
He stated that twin tails were used to allow the Ohka to nestle more closely to the Betty's fuselage.
His account of his training flight would make a very entertaining YT video....
Interesting reason for the twin tails, it certainly makes sense.
Wow! I'd love to read that book Saeki's life and his failed mission.
@@RX552VBK It's not really a book, it's about 35 pages describing his entry into the program, training, base life, and his, er, not very successful test drop, his description of which is both terrifying and hilarious. I've sent it off to a couple of aviation sites and am waiting for a reply. Will post here if something comes of it.
Imagine being so indoctrinated and brainwashed, that you volunteer to kill yourself in a flying bomb.
With the intention to harm and kill as many „enemies“ as possible.
It’s exactly the same like a terrorist attack, carried out by a suicide bomber.
Motivated purely by their beliefs.
It’s insane what propaganda can do to humans that are vulnerable to it.
Nothing that humanity can be proud about..
How do you end up doing something like that in life. 😅
Now, 78 years after the end of the war, such reliable explanations are no longer broadcast on Japanese television. The explanations are very accurate, and even as a Japanese person, I am impressed. If there's one thing I'd like to tell you, it's that Shoichi Ota, who invented Ouka, boarded an airplane without permission and took off on the day Japan was defeated in the war. Everyone thought that he committed suicide, taking responsibility for losing the war after developing Ouka, but many pilots died in battle, but he was still alive. According to Japanese historians, the plane he was on crash-landed in waters far from land, and he was rescued by a fishing boat. Having failed in his suicide attempt, he abandoned the name "Shoichi Ota" and also abandoned his wife and child, whom he had married during the war. Therefore, many people thought that Shoichi Ota was dead. After the war, he gave himself a false name, changed his job many times, and no ID was created, so he couldn't go to the hospital even if he got sick, and in the end, he suffered from cancer and died.
@@TheRasalhaag Immediately after the war, Japan's military had disappeared and the political economy was in turmoil, so it was easy to use a false name, but because of the false name, I could not register as a citizen and I had no ID, so I was unable to do formal work or go to the hospital. I couldn't even go there.
In the face of a new war, no government wants to remember past defeats and people whom their predecessors sent to the slaughter for their own interests
Thank you for sharing your memories.
Imagine Germans giving detailed explanations in open TV about their WW2 procedures...
Remaining silent is for a reason 😉
@@dec13666 maybe not on TV, but there is interest by many personnel of german companies to comb through their company's history to examine what it was involved in during the holocaust and WWII, also IIRC I think there is a german policy that encourages/requires it. Continental Tire has a good one on their website if you google "continental tire holocaust report". It pulls few punches and discusses how they supplied the german war effort with the help of forced labor from concentration camp detainees.
When attending basic training at Sampson AFB in 1955 we were given a tour of the bases small museum that had an OKA on display . This video so well explained the thing and answered so many questions in regards to the OKA . Can't imagine what must have been going on in the pilots mind on his way down . Kinda sad !
I can't imagine anything going on in there minds during the whole war . I guess dying for their phoney living god was all to them . Well that and inslaving the whole world was paramount I guess . Warped people .
I’m guessing many had a bunch of patriotic bullshit going through their minds. The same kind of stuff that is always fed to young men to get them to go out and die for rich and powerful people back home. Maybe they were convinced they were doing it for their families?
Patriotism isn’t always a good thing, sometimes it’s dangerous. War is never a good thing, the poor and the vulnerable always pay the highest price.
Infinitely sad. The realization that all victims of war are victims of the pursuit of monetary profit is the somber cherry on top. Their lives meant nothing thanks to the zeitgeist of the times they lived.
@hibbs1712 this is a fact. And a hard pill to swallow for many military vets and families.
Psycho stick
A first rate presentation. Thank you very much for this in-depth view of construction techniques, the MXY7's construction, rocket propellants and their arrangement in a thrust driven plane, generic instrument familiarization, and specific instrument layout for this particular weapon. Wonderful work that covers details most historian posters leave out, thinking them insignificant. Those posters are missing the point. This is how one presents a weapons system for better understanding at all levels of interest.
By far the best explanation on the OKHA I have ever seen. Thank you!!!
As a Japanese, I am very happy that you posted this wonderful video.
It is very sad that the vertical speedometer was scaled only in the direction of sea level.
I will tell you one interesting fact. There was a strong belief in Japan at that time that dying was beautiful. (You can still see it today.) However, there was a big conflict between those who were for and against the "kamikaze". As one engineer put it, "The kamikaze is like a 100% death. A 100% deadly weapon like the kamikaze is a disgrace and a sign of negligence on the part of the engineers."
The engineer went on to create an unmanned missile, the "イ号一型乙無線誘導弾"
To return to the first story, we in the modern world must never repeat such a sad invention.
I like the story thanks for sharing and 100% agree.
Islamics took the relay. Russians are sending suicide soldiers toward frontline as well, like in wwii. Good to know you evolved, guys.
The missile is the "Kawasaki I-Gо̄ Model 1 Otsu" for the english readers
This is one of the highest quality and best videos I’ve ever seen
Animagraphs is also a high quality channel or similar content style
A serious approach to explaining this last-ditch weapon which required the dedication of its human pilot to kill himself in achieving his mission. I have never seen an explanation of how the systems worked. As usual with most Japanese aviation developments, it was an ingenious result.
My father was a US Army officer. We lived in Yokohama from 1949 to 1952. My memories though rudimentary if that time are of the city being rebuilt from the heavy bombing it had experienced during the last two years of the war. I have revisited Japan several times; each time I have gone to the Yushukan museum on the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine. There is a wing of the museum dedicated to those who died in “special attack” units that flew the Ohka and crewed the Kaiten human-guided torpedoes.
В этом музее написано что это были "герои" или они были "военными преступниками"?
@@kotnapromke The actual guys who died in the missiles weren't war criminals as much as they were victims.
@@sleepCircle У вас нет убитых родственников в Перл-Харборе от рук этих "жертв"?)
@@kotnapromke everyone's a victim in war, except those who lead them.
@@sleepCircle А члены СС из зондер-команд, сжигающие деревни в Белорусии вместе с жителями тоже "страдали"? То есть они "жертвы"? И только один Гитлер преступник? Странная логика. Те кто добровольно пошел на агрессивную войну ради захвата чужой земли это не жертвы, это преступники. Жертвы только те кого заставили, то есть насильно мобилизованные. А среди пилотов самолетов камикадзе все были добровольцами.
Great work mate! The modeling is so good and underlines the overall quality of your videos. Keep it up!
I have seen a intact MXY. It was laying on the ground in a field with other WW 2 aircraft north of Chicago. Also had a fully intact ME 109 . Circa 1977
Outstanding quality. You're going to go far if you keep this up.
You are being ironic, right?
As I read in other literature, the pilot got into the 'baka' before the 'Betty' got into the air. He drank saké (probably to strengthen his nerves) and took his katana with him in the cockpit. Then the cockpit was closed and sealed so it could not be opened from the inside. Of course this was done so that he could't change his mind and try and stay alive.
That may have also been the case but it wasn’t exclusive. In our sources we found stories of pilots saying goodbye to the crew in the air before entering the cockpit. Also some models did not have oxygen and were dropped from 10000 feet
Please do the ww2 V1 and V2 rocket my grandparents we’re living in east London when those beasts flew above the skies of 1940.
Hi.You are wrong. The Ohka pilot waited for his turn in the Betty fuselage during the flight. When the carieer pilot decided that the moment has come he would activate the circuits arming the Ohka releasing mechanism. The kamikaze pilot usually helped by the aircraft navigator and one of the gunners would take his place in the saddle while all the time a red light will signal that the system is armed. After signaling his readiness by changing the signaling light to green and also through the intercom the moment of release would come. 🇯🇵 🇯🇵 🇯🇵
If the pilots requested, he would be given marijuana or other drugs to numb his fear, but since getting drunk would affect his accuracy, he was only given a small amount of alcohol. Things like tying the pilot in the cockpit and not opening the hatch from inside were completely invented, and I think they were probably made because they couldn't understand the Japanese mentality of committing suicide attacks. In fact, when Betty was attacked and it was determined that the attack was impossible, there were many times when the unmanned Ohka was jettisoned and left. And these suicide attacks were also highly ceremonial, with a simple ceremony usually taking place before sortie and the pilots being treated respectfully. The Shinto idea is that those who sacrifice their lives for their country become gods who protect it.
And a shit tonne of amphetamines
I don't think there is anything any of us can tell you in the comments, other than the remarkably personal ones you have collected. Another amazing depiction of the history of WWII and the weapons derived from it that changed the world.
私の祖父が、この機体に乗って死にました。You Tubeでこの機体を取り上げていただいて感謝します。どうもありがとう。
GOOD
あなたも彼らに「広島と長崎に原爆を投下してくれてありがとう」と書きます。
@@4.478 Blame your own, if Pearl Harbor hadn't been attacked there wouldn't have been a Nuclear bomb dropped on either city.
@@4.478 skill issue
@@4.478 you just write "i proud of Pearl Harbor attack and all warcrimes that Japan did in WW2"
It would be great if you also did a video on the Kaiten. They were Japanese manned torpedoes, and they're equally, if not more, bizarre than the Ohka.
Also, props for focusing on the technical aspects only. Many people have strong opinions about WWII, but for once, it's nice to just learn about weird weapons and how they worked.
I saw one once, IIRC in the (excellent) War Museum in Overloon, the Netherlands. Flying the Ohka must have been exhilarating, with a sense of freedom even in the face of inevitable doom. Manning the Kaiten must have been more like a premature burial.
@@kaasmeester5903 I'd have to agree if you had some kind of set up where you can fly it and land it without it exploding people would come and do it as a tourist trap but I don't think anybody's going to hide in dirty water and poke a boat
UwU baka
somehow the japanese are often exempt from rightful criticism
@@markmcgoveran6811 ... people would come and fly it as a tourist adventure, not a 'trap'.
Wow, I didn't realize the Okha was so complete... I expected there to be a joystick, rudder pedals and three buttons for the rockets in terms of controls, and an all-wood construction.
This thing had all the instruments a plane needs for VFR, lol
Kind of a waste of gauges
@@Unus_Annus_I think it was for precision bombing.
Indeed, one could put in one hell of an engine and fuel and wheels instead of the warhead, and have a sort of plane that could fly.
A lot of people forget that guided anti-ship missiles go back to WWII, but the guidance computer was a person!
(Actually, Japan, the USA, and Germany all had actual radio guided missiles as well.)
Same thing with wire-guided missiles, like the German Ruhrstahl-Kramer X-4 air-to-air missile. It was copied quickly and improved upon after the War, although mainly used for anti-tank work.
It had an interesting fuze that was meant to (IIRC) explode when the sound level changed when the missile passed the bomber's engines!
I’m currently binging on the Unauthorized History of the Pacific War channel now and I can’t remember a successful B-17 attack on shipping. The US should have created a specially trained squadron of fortresses that carried a single radio or wire guided 4000lb tall boy that they could use from above the fighter CAP. It would have been cutting edge technology but even one of those would have likely sunk the biggest of Japanese warships.
@@highdesertutah Several transports and destroyers were sunk by B-17s at the Battle of the Bismarck Sea using skip bombing, and I have no doubt that there were other successes throughout the war.
@@highdesertutahslight mistake the tallboy was 12000 lbs
There were also tv or radio guided missiles
love the chill ambient music and soft voice, I'd watch you explain military hardware for hours... in fact, I just might
Detalladísimo, más de lo que esperaba realmente. Gracias.
Not knowing date of production, I am surprised the entire device was not made of wood. If mid to late date of the war Japan suffered great shortages of raw materials to make metal especially aluminum which is not easy. Great video!!!!
The Axis and the Japanese had an idea at one point to Cripple the aluminum smelters of North America by going in with submarines, going to shore with saboteurs and destroying the power lines leading to the plants.
The aluminum in the casks would harden without power flowing to them pretty quickly and would ruin them and make it necessary to completely rebuild them.
This was supposed to be their "wunderwaffe" so they invested as much into them as they could.
An extremely well done and detail examination of the Ohka.
Fantastic video!! Very comprehensive. You keep making them, I'll keep watching them!!
Convincing people to do stuff like this is wild.
@ilaiabas5951 so brainwashed are you to believe death should be accepted
Cults do this.
its japanese… these idiots even volunteered for this
tenno heika! banzai!!!
It's hard to say whether Japan or Russia hated it's own people more.
Excellent explanation of the design and operation of the craft. Thank you.
Very interesting video. Most people are familiar with this missile, but seeing what is inside, and how it worked was fascinating!
Strong research and high production quality. Thank you.
Superb stuff. I'd have loved to see/hear at the end, a brief note on how many were built, how many used and how successful they were. But I understand if you're only concentrating on the 'how it works' aspect.
Thank you. I look forward to the next one!
Great suggestion. thanks.
Fyi, the answer to that question is "not very well". The vast majority of launch attempts were failures, with the Betty bombers being shot down or releasing their Okhas (often with the pilot trapped inside) before they were within range of their targets. The majority of those successfully launched were shot down, with very few reaching their targets. It was a huge waste of resources and brave pilots.
@@jackroutledge352 Thank you. Seeing these craft in such detail makes the whole thing utterly chillng.
Muy interesante, gracias por el video.
The Ohka (the MXY-7 model to be exact!) has always been my favorite of the WW2 aircraft gimmicks along with Germany's "Mistel". The Mistel is really interesting and I believe it is very much worth covering in a future video.
Thank you for the in-depth video. I have never seen the Ohka on such a technical level. This is a hidden gem!
Very eloquent video, appreciate the detail that you went into. I was just recently at the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio and they had one of these on display at the end of the World War II collection (MXY7-K1 trainer).
Subscribed and looking forward to many more of these quality, detailed videos.
Well made! This channel is definitely gonna blow up.
This has got to be one of the most chilling things a human has ever designed. It puts me in awe of just what terrible things we are capable of.
@@nirktheman-thingstab-cutter it's not really all that chilling when you consider the Russians who gave a lot of their life up to fix the Chernobyl mass and the very few Japanese people that have been exposed to any radiation trying to clean up that gigantic runoff system of radiation to pollute the ocean. They got everybody psyched up to win the war and they'll do anything but when you're talking about cleaning up the piece you got to go to the Russians to get a good volunteer
@@markmcgoveran6811 What are you even on about?
@@nirktheman-thingstab-cutter sorry kid over your head go to some engineering school maybe things will make more sense to you when you listen to an engineer or math person
@@nirktheman-thingstab-cutter it's over your head I write material for adults not weird sex stuff like you think is for adults but things that are complicated relationships abstraction. It isn't so much what am I on about its what are you off about so far that I can't go back to your grade school and help you read it again and think about what I said and if it doesn't work for you just give up
@@markmcgoveran6811 Your point was off-topic and presented with an abysmal command of the English language. get off your high horse about your supposed maturity.
I love watching these videos and thoroughly enjoyed the additional animation you included of the actual flight / how the pilot moved and operated. Looking forward for more
The major failure of the Ohka was in the initial delivery prior to launch. The Betty's were slow and cumbersome carrying the bomb and very easy for the American fighter pilots to knock down. A second problem was the Ohka's warhead which could be expected to fly right through the skin of an American destroyer (as happened with my cousin's ship USS Stanly DD478) without exploding.
The whole idea was insane. By the time they were deployed, overwhelming air superiority and numbers of American carrier-based combat patrols meant the bombers were never going to have a prayer of reaching any but the most peripheral, inconsequential U.S. naval vessels- forget about getting close to a carrier. Talk about defective business models (unless you are into wiping out the cream of your gene pool.)
Good video as people are saying. Well done, thorough explanation, wonderful animations.
1. Please include the combat history as to the vehicle’s effectiveness and combat track record
2. Consider doing one of these videos on a tank from WW2. You could break down each crew members responsibilities and a tiger tank video would generate a lot of views.
Thanks for the video !!
Thought it was stolen, sounds like yarnhb voice. It is.
I agree especially with #1. I wonder how many times this was done, how many US lives were lost to these.
@@thetruecrimeshow6882 Not many. The Ohka only actually sunk one ship, the Allen M. Sumner class destroyer, Mannert L. Abele, the attack which this video actually simulates.
The Ohka did cause the Allen M Sumner class Hugh W. Hadley to be declared beyond repair, but she still managed to make it back to base with 28 deaths and 67 wounded from the entire day's action, which included a bomb hit, 2 Kamikaze strikes, and the Ohka.
The only other credible Ohka attack that caused casualties was against the Robert H. Smith class destroyer mine layer, USS Shea, where the Ohka pilot hit the bridge, going clean through before exploding harmlessly in the water. It caused the deaths of 35 men and 91 wounded.
The rest of the Ohka's service record is spotty at best, but the only four other ships it hit were the Gleaves Class destroyer, USS Jeffers, which withdrew from battle from the damage, and the transports USS Alpine, Achernar and Tyrell.
All 4 of which survived World War 2 and weren't scrapped until the 60s or 70s, with Achernar being transferred to Spain in 1965 before being scrapped in 1982.
Excellent history lesson here on this strange and very disturbing weapon of WW2. I would love to see you cover the tanks used by the Japanese during that war. Thank you.
What a fantastic documentary, it's like sitting in it myself
Amazing video!! Great animations, the narrator explained everything and was easy to listen to and such a great topic as well. Great job!
fantastic animation and narration quality! can't wait to see more!
I knew about this missile for a while but it was very interesting to get a detailed look into exactly how it worked. Great video
A very well made documentary, in all ways. I amazed with such quality in all aspects.
That was really, really well done. The graphics were state of the art, the missle details were clear and very well explained, and the VO captured the perfect tone to match everything else. Nice one.
Wow, the way you explain is so calming and relaxing, even though your talking about a litteral human missile. This is a great video and I truly can not wait to see more. You earned a sub. Can't wait to see what the future brings for you but if you keep pumping out these videos you will reach 100k by no time.
Awesome video!
Fantastic Animations, nice speaking and very detailed in every aspect.
Thank you!
I like the music, it gave the video an ethereal feel which made it more intense.
Notable trabajo audiovisual , muchas gracias.
awesome detailed breakdown of how everything works, you definitely did a good job.
Suggestions for new topics for analysis:
If you touch on the topic of militaristic Japan, then you cannot ignore at least 2 things:
1. underwater guided kamikaze submarine "kaiten"
2. Japanese intercontinental balloons with an incendiary load (they had a very interesting electro-mechanical brain)
3. Japanese developments in the field of creating the first homing heads (homing heads)
Good luck with your creativity!
Also bioweapons in ceramic bombs.
I love the Health & Safety aspects of the pilot handing the straps retaining the flight levels to someone in the Betty to prevent them causing him injury during the flight, I didn't think the IJ government would be that concerned about compensation litigation?
This is fantastic well presented with brilliant graphics very clear and precise explanation . Very interesting . Well done !!
Thank you!
Great detail. Impressed with the data and illustrations/animation.
I'd recognize that voice anywhere, Yarnhub! You guys always make items of great quality, looking forward to the future of this channel :)
I've seen two of these in person. One at Chino planes of fame, and the other at Kirtland AFB museum.
What a crazy way to go. The Betty carrying one of these would have made a hell of a combustible target for an F=6F
Very few of the bombers that deployed their Ohkas actually made it home. American air superiority did not screw around.
Some of the better expiation of this system I've seen. Some of the words in the narrative were pronounce in non-stand forms, but that can be addressed and updated. You might have an American and British viewer take a listen with you. Look forward for future videos.
They're using a text-to-speech program which is why the occasional odd pronunciation.
Okha required an excellent pilot, not a beginner. How many good pilots lost their lives in that way ? Very good vidéo, I didn't know that the rockets could be switched on separately.
Plenty of the pilots *were* beginners, or at the very least, untested by combat.
By 1944, when these were starting to be put into production, a lot of Japan's best pilots had been shot down or sunk with their carriers. They didn't have the incredibly simple thought that the US did, of just rotating your vets back home to train your newbies.
The Battle of The Phillipine Sea, or "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" happened precisely because of this.
This channel is going to blow up. Keep up the good work!
Good video. I've known of the Ohka since less than the age of ten. I also knew that American sailors nicknamed it the Baka Bomb. All the rest of your information is new to me. Thank you for putting this video together! (I recall reading many years ago--somewhere, I don't know where--that there is no known account of an Ohka hitting a U.S. Navy ship. This may have been disinformation, as I probably read it in the late 1950's or early 1960's) Thank you for making this video! Andy McKane, Maunaloa, Hawaii.
Very well done. The animation is excellent, including the human figure. Perhaps you could include metric measurements for us folks who don't use imperial? Otherwise, brilliant.
Kudos to that. Metric equivalents would be great help.
His name was Baka San, in his bakabomb.
Don’t bother with metric measurements imperial is just fine and easily understandable.
@@paulmatschull1923 A meter is 100 centimeters and 100 centimeters is 1000 milimeters, now can you tell me how many feet there are in a yard and how many inches in that feet?
@@yusufyilmaz5317Lmao imagine thinking people who use imperial don't know how many inches to a foot. Idiot.
Woah :0
what can I say? I am a bit speechless right now.
this was very well done and put together, there is probably somethings that can be improved but I was so immersed in the video I don't think I saw any besides one thing. I noticed that you did pounds & mph for some of the measurements I think is the right term, and thought that mabye you should include both types of measurements for example mph & kph and for the another example would be pounds & tons. I thought of this that way you could include both and not just only use one type of measurement system. I might be wrong, with some of the wording on this comment but just thought I should put this out here is all I guess.
Oh and relaxing choice for the music, was nice to relax and learn in a unique way I guess.
I can't wait to see what more things I will learn from this channel, and amazing videos I will see and be along for the ride.
Keep it up, here's to more amazing content and more amazing explanation videos (whatever you would call this kinda content idk first thing that came to mind) on this channel, I am all for this and can't wait to see what you do next :]
Thanks for the great feedback! We’ll take it onboard.
Came here feom yarnhub premiere
I sat inside one of these at a museum when I was about 13. Had all the gauges and stuff inside it still even. one of the coolest day of my youth, easily
Продолжайте, вы делаете очень работу и просвещаете народ!
Best look at the Ohka I have ever seen. 👍🏻👍🏻
Today we would call this a Cruise Missile. A Cruise Missile today is not so very different, except it is flown by a computer system. The German V-1 Buzz Bomb was also a cruise missile. The German V-1 was unmanned and was considered a HIT if it fell into the city limits of London or Amsterdam.
The Ohka was a much more precise weapon.
Absolutely loved this. You have obviously, put a lot of time and effort into this I can't wait for your next video. By the way FYI it is pronounced 'Pee-toe' tube.
I was told “pee-dot” when I was in the Navy lol
This was a very nice video for your first one really, my only complaint is about not showing the data in metric system too. A good portion of the viewers, like me, don't know how to use that shit, and we lose a big part of the experience. Other than that, this was nice, keep it up!
Great video, man.
Maravilloso video. Saludos desde Perú!!
@ 10:48 - Remember to buckle yourself in before blowing yourself up!
4:53 A small correction is needed to the statement that "the engine output was 588 pound feet of thrust." Perhaps the video makers got their Ohka specifications from the Wikipedia article titled "Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka." For thrust, the article specifies "2.62 kN (588 lbf)," where kN stands for kilonewtons, which is appropriate because thrust is a force. However, "lbf" does not stand for "pound feet" but "pound-force," for which there is a Wikipedia article titled "Pound (force)". Actually, after rounding, 2620 newtons = 589 pounds of force. "Pound feet" would be the same unit as "foot pound," which is a unit of torque (force applied at a distance).
It was a mistake, we should have send pounds force.We got our research from many sources but on the engines from the US research on the Okha after the war
@@BluePawPrint The narrator uses the terms "engine" and "motor" interchangeably. The aerospace industry convention is that solid propulsion uses the term "motor" (which would be the case for the Ohka), and liquid propulsion uses the term "engine".
Interesting how the pilot seat of the Ohka was either the worst or the best place to be in WWII, depending on your point of view.
wow, you can tell alot of detailed research went into making this video, thank you Blue Paw. That was very fascinating, to see how the mindset of the Japanese military at the time went into designing a vehicle that was a one way ticket for the pilot.
mis mayores respetos a esos hombres de todas la nacionalidades que han ofrendado su vida. son dignos de no ser olvidados nunca.
The Fleet Air arm museum at Yeovilton in the UK has one and having stripped the paint down to the original layer they exposed various markings and they appealed on social media for translations.
The bulk of the Ohka Bombers were shot down by U.S.Navy Fighters when still attached to the Betty. The Americans were well aware of the threat these little Demons represented and knew that once released, no Hellcat or Corsair would have an easy task trying to shoot down such a fast and tiny target; not to mention that, like with the V1, no one wants half a tonne of TNT exploding 300 yards from your nose. So, they kept Combat Air Patrols in coordination with the ship Radars and since they knew well the general direction the Intruders would show from they were quite effective. Besides, by then there was a huge number of American Navy Fighters available and they could keep dense CAPs from sunrise to sunset.
Yes, the Japanese eventually figured this out and designed a long-range Ohka that could be launched from a greater distance, but like most 'wonder weapons' it was too little too late.
"The first thing the pilot would do is buckle up"😂
Safety first. Always.
Well made and interesting. My father was on a Royal Australian Navy ship hit by kamikaze planes. He had just left the bridge when it was struck killing everyone there. He never spoke about his experiences until just before he died. War is horrible. Old men sending young men to die.
The narrator uses the terms "engine" and "motor" interchangeably. The aerospace industry convention is that solid propulsion uses the term "motor" (which would be the case for the Ohka), and liquid propulsion uses the term "engine".
This would be a cool weapon with some ingenuity. A detachable front rocket with its own boost system.
It would become an aircraft similar to the Ba349. However, it will not be feasible for the following reasons:
・The 桜花(Ohka) targets naval vessels for attacks. Even if the crew were to survive the attack, there is no range for the rocket-powered aircraft to return to land. In the Allied-controlled waters, there is no means to rescue drifting crew members. Even if there were a miraculous rocket that could return to land, the survival rate would be 0% due to pursuit by carrier-based aircraft.
・The very idea of the Kamikaze was conceived because of the sheer madness of the anti-aircraft fire density in the U.S. fleet's ring formation. Can one calmly calculate the trajectory after being exposed to the intense anti-aircraft fire of the U.S. military, and then hit a target with a single rocket? In a situation where we have lost air superiority to the extent that the capital is under aerial assault, do you think such training would be possible?
If such a thing were possible, we Japanese would not have resorted to Kamikaze tactics.
500+ mph with balsa covered wings? Further confirmation that these pilots were insane.
The use of wood in the construction is what allowed the 500+mph...
@@dark6.63E-34 I dunno, I asked a jap how his wings were and he said they were 'rubbery'.
Great love it but it seems some of the segments were out of order
Fantastic productions. Can't wait to see more. Well done!
There was a panel with screws in the initial test models to be able to cut the prop fuse, later on they welded it shut and eventually removed the bypass completely once they were in service. Mitsubishi has some amazing history/designs
Please do more of these. Great aviation history!
It has to be said the japanese pilots understood the self defeating and morally dubious nature of such tactics. It's only a myth that they accomplished these missions with the true belief it was going to turn the war around.
The symbolic meaning of the cherry blossom was that when they fall from the tree to the ground they never return to the tree. It is believed that some of the pilots blacked-out from the then unknown g-forces as some of the incoming Ohka flew off course and fell short of target. Mitsubishi "Betty" bombers were used to transport them in their bomb bay.
Looking at it, I'd be more willing to bet that there is a design issue that could have either stacked tolerances to overbalance the aircraft when fuel is depleting (making it nose heavy and potentially leading to an unrecoverable dive) or they were exceeding critical mach and fluttering their control surfaces off. Solid rocket engines being what they are it's also possible they had a containment failure and melted the rear empennage... or for that matter just collected enough heat to soften the aluminum.
The trouble with 'aircraft' like this is there's not going to be much left to analyze from failures.
The g-forces weren't unknown. They weren't exactly doing high g maneuvers. Most of the time a pilot missed or veered off could be attributed to injuries from being struck by AA fire.
the first intelligent bomb
not very smart
The fist idiot bomb
Thank you for this. I am currently building a scale flying Balsa wood model of the OHKA and appreciated the scale measurements and see through elements of the formers, longerons, spars, and stringers along with all the other detail provided. I wish we had the measurements of an original instrument panel.
Superb presentation!
Amazing 3D film, keep doing more military videos
I loved the video. I don’t want you to force yourself to stick to rocket planes but the way they work is so cool and strange. Is it possible to show the ME163
The problem with the 163 was the fuel was corrosive and unless flushed out fairly quickly it would eat the fuel tank out from the inside. It sometimes ate the pilot away too upon landing and the liquid sloshing into the cockpit. The 163 was also subject to sabotage by the concentration camp or POW laborers forced to make them. Small rocks inserted into the wing bands could cause the wings to separate violently in flight. Or the laborers would urinate into the glue used to hold the wings together. This would weaken the glue and would again cause the wooden outer panels of the wings to separate at speed and would cause the wing to again separate violently from the aircraft. The pilots survival odds depended on if he was under thrust or not. Once the USAAF and RAF figured out where the 163 bases were it was a fairly simple task to reroute the bombers away from the area and it rendered the 163 inert. Had the BA-239 Natter worked it would have been a different matter but the one test flight of the Natter resulted in the death of its pilot
@@matthewcaughey8898 yeah that’s cool I know that but I wanna know how it works and all it’s intricate parts
This is so clear I feel that I could fly one of these myself. Not that I'd ever have the cojones to do so. Amazing level of detail. More please! BTW, your style resembles a very successful channel, Yarnhub, my favourite for this kind of thing. Are you by any chance related?
Yes. It's the same team. This is a new channel that we're going to keep separate from Yarnhub but we hope to do some detailed models we can share across the channels.
@@BluePawPrintI knew that voice, and I should have known because of the quality of the video. Hey yarnhub 👋 I can’t ever get enough of your videos as it is. This is more than welcome.
@@BluePawPrint so, lemme get straight, same person acting voice just operating on a different channel, right?
@@BluePawPrint i knew it! I'm glad there is a separate channel focusing on the technical aspects of these war machines as well as the models. I love how it also tackles how these machines are operated as well! Sort of like yarnhub with a flavor of mustard. I see this channel rising very quickly :>. Cheers!
@@BluePawPrint what lead to the name? any furries in the team xd? anyway, love the new channal