Kamikaze (1937 aircraft)
Encyclopedia
The was a Mitsubishi
Ki-15 Karigane
aircraft, (registration
J-BAAI) sponsored by the newspaper
Asahi Shimbun
. It became famous on April 9, 1937 as the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly from Japan to Europe
. The flight from Tokyo
to London
took 51 hours, 17 minutes and 23 seconds and was piloted by Masaaki Iinuma
(1912–1941), with Kenji Tsukagoshi
(1900–1943) serving as navigator.
, and were often used as publicity stunt
s by newspapers. A French newspaper offered a substantial monetary prize for the first aircraft to fly between Paris
and Tokyo within 100 hours. Many aviators had failed in the attempt, including one French aviator who died when his plane crashed into the mountains of Kyūshū
on the last leg of his record attempt from Paris to Tokyo.
Also in the 1930s, Japanese aircraft designers
had made maximizing the range
of their aircraft a high priority, in order to link the Japanese home islands with the Empire of Japan
's overseas possessions in Taiwan
, Korea
, Manchuria
and the South Pacific Mandate
. Long range capabilities also had implications for the development of military aircraft
for future conflicts in China
and over the Pacific Ocean
- potential war theatres which offered few airfields for aircraft to refuel.
The European record flight of the Kamikaze-go was sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun
newspaper to celebrate the coronation of Great Britain
's King George VI
, and also as a goodwill flight to European countries.
in Tokyo at 2:12:04 PM on April 6, 1937, with much fanfare. The aircraft flew from Tokyo via Taipei
to Hanoi
and Vientiane
in French Indochina
, then via Calcutta and Karachi
in British India and Basra
and Baghdad
in Iraq
, and then Athens
, Rome
and Paris
in Europe.
The aircraft landed at London
's Croydon
airport to a cheering crowd of spectators at 3:30 PM on April 9. The total elapsed time since departure was 94 hours, 17 minutes and 56 seconds, with actual flight time for the whole distance of 15,357 km of was 51 hours, 19 minutes and 23 seconds (average speed: 162,8 km/h or 101 miles/h). The flight was the first Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
aviation record to have been won by the Japanese.
This flight to Europe made the pilot, Masaaki Iinuma (then 26 years old), a national hero, and he was acclaimed as the “Japanese Lindbergh”. Both pilots were awarded the Légion d'honneur
by the French government.
On April 12, only a few days after the record-breaking flight, the Kamikaze-go carried Prince Chichibu
and Princess Chichibu
, who were visiting England for the coronation, on a joy ride. A month later, on May 12, it was used to film the coronation ceremonies from the air. The Kamikaze-go was then flown back to Japan, duplicating its original route in the opposite direction, departing London May 14 and arriving in Osaka
on May 20, and Haneda airport in Tokyo on May 21.
Kamikaze 's pilot, Masaaki Iinuma, later served as chief test pilot for the Kayaba Ka-1
autogyro
from May 1941. He was later killed in action
in the Pacific War
in December 1941 near Phnom Penh
, Cambodia
. He was 29 years old. In 1943, Kamikaze 's former navigator, Tsukagoshi, set off from Singapore
for Germany
in the prototype Tachikawa Ki-77
, but disappeared over the Indian Ocean
.
After its return to Japan, the Kamikaze-go continued to work actively in a variety of capacities for the Asahi Shimbun. However, on a flight back from the south of China it encountered bad weather and had to be ditched in southern Taiwan. It was later recovered and put on display at a "Kamikaze Memorial Center" on Ikoma
, Nara Prefecture
. The facilities were destroyed in World War II
.
To commemorate the 1937 flight of the aircraft, Asahi Shimbun produced sake bottles cups which were made available with the image of this aircraft on it. These bottles have little intrinsic value on today's collecting market.
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
Ki-15 Karigane
Mitsubishi Ki-15
The was a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft and a light attack bomber of the Second Sino-Japanese War and Pacific War. It began as a fast civilian mail plane. It was a single-engine, low-wing, cantilever monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage; it carried a crew of two. It served with both...
aircraft, (registration
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
J-BAAI) sponsored by the newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...
. It became famous on April 9, 1937 as the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly from Japan to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The flight from Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
took 51 hours, 17 minutes and 23 seconds and was piloted by Masaaki Iinuma
Masaaki Iinuma
was a Japanese aviator.Iinuma was born in Toyoshina , and was a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army flying school at Tokorozawa....
(1912–1941), with Kenji Tsukagoshi
Kenji Tsukagoshi
was a Japanese aviator, and explorer.Tsukagoshi was born in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. His father was a lawyer and his mother was British. He gained fame as the navigator on the , a Mitsubishi Ki-15 Karigane aircraft, sponsored by the newspaper Asahi Shimbun...
(1900–1943) serving as navigator.
Background
In the 1930s, as the performance of aircraft was rapidly improving, air races and the setting of long distance flight records was very popular in Europe and North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and were often used as publicity stunt
Publicity stunt
A publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized or set up by amateurs...
s by newspapers. A French newspaper offered a substantial monetary prize for the first aircraft to fly between Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Tokyo within 100 hours. Many aviators had failed in the attempt, including one French aviator who died when his plane crashed into the mountains of Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
on the last leg of his record attempt from Paris to Tokyo.
Also in the 1930s, Japanese aircraft designers
Aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of airflight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft and rocketry within the atmosphere...
had made maximizing the range
Range (aircraft)
The maximal total range is the distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft, or cross-country speed and environmental conditions in unpowered aircraft....
of their aircraft a high priority, in order to link the Japanese home islands with the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
's overseas possessions in Taiwan
Taiwan under Japanese rule
Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a dependency of the Empire of Japan. The expansion into Taiwan was a part of Imperial Japan's general policy of southward expansion during the late 19th century....
, Korea
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
, Manchuria
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
and the South Pacific Mandate
South Pacific Mandate
The was the Japanese League of Nations mandate consisting of several groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean which came under the administration of Japan after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.-Early history:Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, after the start of World...
. Long range capabilities also had implications for the development of military aircraft
Military aircraft
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...
for future conflicts in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and over the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
- potential war theatres which offered few airfields for aircraft to refuel.
The European record flight of the Kamikaze-go was sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...
newspaper to celebrate the coronation of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
's King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
, and also as a goodwill flight to European countries.
The record flight
The Kamikaze-go took off from Tachikawa AirfieldTachikawa Airfield
is an airfield in the city of Tachikawa, the western part of Tokyo, Japan. Currently under the administration of the Ministry of Defense, it has also served as the civil aviation with Japan's first scheduled air service.-Operations:...
in Tokyo at 2:12:04 PM on April 6, 1937, with much fanfare. The aircraft flew from Tokyo via Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
to Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
and Vientiane
Vientiane
-Geography:Vientiane is situated on a bend of the Mekong river, which forms the border with Thailand at this point.-Climate:Vientiane features a tropical wet and dry climate with a distinct monsoon season and a dry season. Vientiane’s dry season spans from November through March. April marks the...
in French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
, then via Calcutta and Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
in British India and Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
and Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, and then Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in Europe.
The aircraft landed at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
airport to a cheering crowd of spectators at 3:30 PM on April 9. The total elapsed time since departure was 94 hours, 17 minutes and 56 seconds, with actual flight time for the whole distance of 15,357 km of was 51 hours, 19 minutes and 23 seconds (average speed: 162,8 km/h or 101 miles/h). The flight was the first Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...
aviation record to have been won by the Japanese.
This flight to Europe made the pilot, Masaaki Iinuma (then 26 years old), a national hero, and he was acclaimed as the “Japanese Lindbergh”. Both pilots were awarded the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
by the French government.
On April 12, only a few days after the record-breaking flight, the Kamikaze-go carried Prince Chichibu
Prince Chichibu
, also known as Prince Yasuhito, was the second son of Emperor Taishō and a younger brother of the Emperor Shōwa. As a member of the Imperial House of Japan, he was the patron of several sporting, medical, and international exchange organizations...
and Princess Chichibu
Princess Chichibu
was the wife of Prince Chichibu of Japan.Princess Chichibu was born as Matsudaira Setsuko in Walton on Thames, England. She was the daughter of Matsudaira Tsuneo , Japanese ambassador to the United States and later to Great Britain , and still later, Imperial Household Minister and his wife, the...
, who were visiting England for the coronation, on a joy ride. A month later, on May 12, it was used to film the coronation ceremonies from the air. The Kamikaze-go was then flown back to Japan, duplicating its original route in the opposite direction, departing London May 14 and arriving in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
on May 20, and Haneda airport in Tokyo on May 21.
Kamikaze 's pilot, Masaaki Iinuma, later served as chief test pilot for the Kayaba Ka-1
Kayaba Ka-1
|-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1970. ISBN 0-370-00033-1 .-External links:*...
autogyro
Autogyro
An autogyro , also known as gyroplane, gyrocopter, or rotaplane, is a type of rotorcraft which uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, similar to that of a fixed-wing aircraft, to provide thrust...
from May 1941. He was later killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
in the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
in December 1941 near Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. He was 29 years old. In 1943, Kamikaze 's former navigator, Tsukagoshi, set off from Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
for Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in the prototype Tachikawa Ki-77
Tachikawa Ki-77
-Bibliography:* Francillon, René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam Aeronautical, 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6....
, but disappeared over the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
.
After its return to Japan, the Kamikaze-go continued to work actively in a variety of capacities for the Asahi Shimbun. However, on a flight back from the south of China it encountered bad weather and had to be ditched in southern Taiwan. It was later recovered and put on display at a "Kamikaze Memorial Center" on Ikoma
Ikoma, Nara
is a city located in the north-west end of Nara Prefecture, Japan.As of June 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 120,304, with 46,989 households and the density of 2,262.20 persons per km², and it is the third biggest population in the prefecture...
, Nara Prefecture
Nara Prefecture
is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....
. The facilities were destroyed in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
To commemorate the 1937 flight of the aircraft, Asahi Shimbun produced sake bottles cups which were made available with the image of this aircraft on it. These bottles have little intrinsic value on today's collecting market.