Inside the Ohka Manned Missile

Good to see they were worried about the pilots safety. God forbid he might get hurt while flying the bomb.

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.

Only thing missing is an ejector seat

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.

I imagine the instructor saying to the class, ""Now pay attention. I'm only going to show you this ONCE!"

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.

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.

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.

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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....

By far the best explanation on the OKHA I have ever seen. Thank you!!!

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

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 saw a recovered Ohka at the Chino Air Museum in California around 1978. It was in unrestored condition, and crude on its exterior. I remember the plexiglass canopy panels were hazy and discolored. This presentation was fantastic in how it was engineered, and implemented. That same day by chance, my father and I were able to walk up to a Corsair used in the TV series Baa Baa Blacksheep. We were there with it on our time, with no barriers or security guards to ruin the moment. If I remember correctly, there were two Corsairs there at the time. Also that day, we saw many other aircrafts. The most notable to people today would be an unrestored ME-262 and a P-38, both were stored outdoors. Their fates are not known to me, today.

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.

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.

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.)

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

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

This is one of the highest quality and best videos I’ve ever seen