This Ki-43-I is the mount of 1st Sentai Commanding Officer Major Kinshiro Takeda, and the one from which he led defensive missions from Rabaul in January 1943. The aircraft was fortunately photographed in Indochina only days before the unit’s move to Rabaul, enabling creation of a precise profile. Japanese characters in the narrow grey rectangle, painted over the white fuselage bands, indicate that the aircraft was the 710th to be donated by a patriotic company. The tailplane stripes denoted Takeda’s commander status, whilst the white elevator and rudder denoted the aircraft was maintained by the unit’s Second Squadron.

Prior to its arrival at Rabaul, the 11th Sentai saw widespread and successful service in many theatres.