Gasuden Koken-ki #4

There are three Koken-ki clips on YouTube.

Uploaded by the son of Yamamoto Mineo, one of the key members of the Koken Project. Visit his site: HERE
There is also the brilliant artwork by artist Koike Sigeo featured in this very informative site: HERE & HERE.

(If the artist feels uncomfortable having his artwork featured on our blog,
it only takes an email and we'll remove it immediately)

And one more vintage ad featuring the Koken-ki.

NITTO KOCHA
(Nitto Black Tea)
A pure domestic product shining all over the world! The giant eagle and Nitto black tea are the symbols of the remarkable progress of Japan.
New product, available from: Mitsui Busan KK, Nitto Takushoku Norin KK.
The tea is still available today, here.

In 1939 a 12 sen stamp was released commemorating the flight.  

Gasuden Koken-ki #3

On the morning of May 13, 1938, at 04:55, Koken-ki took off from the Naval air base in Kisarazu to begin the record breaking flight. The crew members were all IJAAF officers and served with Army Air Technical Research Institute in Tachikawa. Major Fujita Yuzo was the pilot, Master Sergeant Takahashi Fukujiro was his co-pilot and Sekine Chikaichi was flight engineer.

Major Fujita Yuzo was born on February 19, 1898 in Hirosaki (don't be taken aback by the city's flag!), Aomori pref. In 1921 graduated from the Army's Officer School with the rank of 2nd Ltd with the artillery. Five years later became pilot instructor in the Tokorozawa Army School and although he suffered from astigmatism he overcame this physical impediment becoming chutai-cho with the 5th Rentai in 1932 and then with the 10th Rentai. A veteran of the Manchurian Incident joint the Research Institute in Tachikawa in 1934. A year later test flew a Kawasaki KDA-2 Reconnaissance fitted with skis over Aomori.
Iinuma Masaaki was to become co-pilot for the Koken-ki flight but he was too busy and famous with the Kamikaze-go flight. Instead Master Sergeant Takahashi Fukujiro, a student of Fujita in the Tokorozawa school and a sub-instructor of the Akeno fighter school at the time was chosen by Fujita to become his co-pilot.

Nine months after the record breaking flight Fujita and Takahashi were on their way to the China front to instruct Army pilots the technical details of very long distance flights. Their aircraft was a Br.20 which took off from Kagamigahara on January 31, 1939 aiming to reach Hankou in China on a 3,000km non-stop flight. Unfortunately they run into bad weather and dense fog and overun their target by about 170km where they run out of fuel and had to make an emergency landing. The details of the fate of the two and the five other crew members are not exactly known since there were no official reports but according to rumours Fujita and Takahashi committed suicide after they got off the plane and were surrounded by Chinese troops.
Their funeral was held on June 14, 1939 at Tachikawa airfield. On that day the Koken-ki took off from Haneda and flew over Tachikawa with Iinuma in the controls.
Sekine survived the war and lived a long life.

Major Fujita Yuzo and Master Sergeant Takahashi Fukujiro in front of the Koken-ki. 

Major Fujita Yuzo (left), flight engineer Sekine Chikaichi (middle) and Master Sergeant Takahashi Fukujiro right before taking off for the historical flight.

All three (from left: Chikaichi, Takahashi, Fujita) were decorated on May 25 with the Japanese medal Yokosho, of exceptional accomplishments.

And finally two more close-up photos of the Koken-ki.

  

Gasuden Koken-ki #2

A set of photos from vintage publications offering multi views of the aircraft at different times of its development. Most of the surfaces of the main wings were fabric covered and these areas were painted in bright red colour so that the plane could be easily spotted in case of an emergency landing. To reduce weight and drag Koken-ki didn't have a conventional canopy but a small retractable windshield and a hole from where the pilot stuck his head out during take-off and landing. During flight there was no forward visibility for the crew. The pilot had only view from the small side windows. The plane didn't also carry any radio since they were particularly heavy in the 30s and would require antennae. Nonetheless the three- man crew needed provisions for the 65 hour flight and therefore special care was taken to wrap and preserve 62.5kg of food and drinks.

Gasuden Koken-ki #1

The Gasuden Koken-ki (full name was Koku Kenkyujo Chokyori-ki. Koku=aviation, Kenkyujyo=research institute, Chokyori=long range, ki=short for hikoki=aircraft) was a long-range research aircraft of the 1930s. It was built by Gasuden (Tokyo Gasu Denki Kogyo - Tokyo Gas Electric Engineering Co., Ltd.), setting a closed circuit world record of 11,651 km (7,240 mi) in March 1938.
For basic info on the history and development of the plane please check Wikipedia.

Below are five photos from a vintage May 1937 publication showing the plane under construction at the Gasuden factory in Omori, Tokyo.

Visitors - The German Connection (take #3)

"Wolfgang von Gronau was convinced that the Dornier Wals could be used to establish a commercial air route between Germany and the United States.  The German government was not convinced of von Gronau's ideas even after he had made two successful round trip Atlantic crossings. To prove his case, von Gronau decided to make a third crossing. Once started, he decided to extend his 3rd trip to a round-the world flight.  He hoped for world-wide recognition to get the attention of the German government for his air route ideas. 
 On July 22, 1932 in a Donier seaplane called the "Gronland-Wal" (Greenland Whale) he took off from List, Island of Sylt (northern most part of Germany) for his Atlantic crossing flight which he changed to a round-the-world flight.  He was accompanied by his co-pilot, Gerth von Roth and mechanic, Franzl Hack and radio operator, Frtiz Albrecht." (extract from THIS site).

On September 4, 1932 at 10:52 von Gronau's Wal registered D-2050 reached Nemuro in Hokkaido and then finally Kasumigaura on the same day at 15:35. At 19:33 the train took him to Ueno Station for a short but warm welcoming party at the German embassy while on the 5th they all attended a proper party held at the roof garden restaurant of the Imperial Hotel. The crew stayed in Tokyo for about two weeks visiting famous tourist sites in Niko and Kamakura.
Their plan was to start their journey around the world again on the 16th but due to bad weather conditions they took-off from Kasumigaura at 9:35 the next day flying towards Nagoya. Due to heavy rain they had to make an emergency landing at Hiratsuka finally reaching Nagoya at 15:20 where they stayed for four days. On the 21st left Nagoya at 08:40 reaching Kagoshima the same day at 13:00 and leaving on the 23rd at 8:50 and landing in Shanghai at 13:10.

Photo below from a vintage publication probably taken on September 17 in Kasumigaura. Interestingly on-line artwork shows the plane in overall "orange" colour.

Aichi E13A "Jake" by Verena Wirnig

Verena Wirnig from Vienna, Austria sent us photos of his very nice "Jake" and commented:
"I'm sending some photos of my Jake E13A1. The Japanese kit is the only one in the world in scale 1/48. It is Nichimo. I found out, that Lone Star Models has a resin cockpit for it. My cockpit is closed, that means it is under cleaning after battle damage."

Thank you very much Verena for your contribution to our blog.

BREAKING NEWS - "Hayabusa" found in Thailand!

Bob Alford sent us the following heads-up:
"Ki-43 found in Pathum Thani close to where a USAAF P-51 was located a couple of years ago - close to Don Muang airport which was used during WWII.

A quick search on the net revealed photos from the Thai Armed Force site

And the following from Thai Aviation History (site here)

"The wreck of a Ki-43 has been found in Moo 6, Tambon Rahaeng, Lat Lum Kaeo
district, Pathum Thani, about 25km northwest of Don Mueang Airport. The wreck was found in May 2013 during excavations for a new housing development.
Details not yet known, but reports suggest a mid-air collision between two aircraft, with both pilots bailing out. At least one of the pilots is reported not to have been a Thai speaker, which may suggest that the Ki-43 was Japanese, not Thai.
The parts recovered by RTAFM include the prop, engine, wing centre section, and
cockpit area, along with one main gear with tyre and tube."

Check the two links for more photos.

Thanks a lot Bob!

VIPS

A photo from a May 1940 magazine featuring railway minister of the time Matsuno Tsuruhei (1883-1962) visiting the troops at the North China front.
A rather obscure politician who served as railway minister for only seven months with the government of admiral Yonai Mitsumasa.
In the photo he is seen leaving Haneda with a DC-3 bearing the registration J-BDOK belonging to the Dai Nippon Koku. This particular plane was named "Katsura". Cercidiphyllum is the scientific name of the Japanese plants commonly known as "katsura" (nothing to do with laurel).

Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" (Oscar) - 64th Sentai

A photo from a vintage publication, "Koku Shonen" magazine, August 1943 issue.

As you can see from the tail marking this Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" belongs to the famous 64th Sentai but the vintage caption doesn't offer any useful information. The dark arrow suggests that it belongs to the 2nd Chutai with red tail marking and white surround. The lack of white surround in the photo though suggests that it might belong to the 3rd Chutai with yellow arrow and a red or yellow surround, just that in the photo the yellow looks dark under the shade. I'm leaning towards the 2nd Chutai.
The unit participated in the defence of Rangoon in April and May 1943. On May 21-22 attacked Chittagong and Cox's Bazar. An Australian newspaper of the time (Nambour Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser) reported:
"Japanese planes have raided the Indian port of Chittagong, near the Burma border, which Rome radio claims the British are evacuating. The Japanese used 20 bombers escorted by fighters. British shot down four bombers and three fighters, and damaged six other planes."
Due to the rainy season the 64th withdrew for training and recuperation. From June 1943 the 1st Chutai was in Mingaladon airport of Rangoon/Burma, the 2nd Chutai was in Palembang and the 3rd Chutai in Sungai Petani. Therefore the above photo was taken either in Palembang or in Sungai Petani.
I hope you find the photo inspirational for a diorama

Akagi Zero-sen diorama WIP#1 by Panagiotis Koubetsos

Hi all! This is the finished A6M2 Mitsubishi Zero flown by Hirano Takashi during the Pearl Harbor attack. This Hasegawa 1/48 model will be part of a bigger diorama which will be depicting the Akagi carrier island and part of its deck.
Kind regards,
-Panagiotis Koubetsos-