The Koken Long Range Monoplane

Article from the Japanese Times on-line

On the evening of May 15, 1938, the Koken Long Range Monoplane, known as the Kokenki in Japan, landed on a runway in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, to great public acclaim.

The Japanese-made aircraft had just set a new world record for a long-distance nonstop flight, as acknowledged by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, the Switzerland-based body governing aeronautical world records.

The Kokenki travelled 11,651.011 km in a flight lasting more than 62 hours, breaking the previous record of 10,601.48 km set by a French plane in 1932.

Marking the 70th anniversary of the historic flight, Yuichi Yamamoto, the oldest son of one of the Kokenki's designers, is now working to increase the recognition of the aircraft by opening a Web site.

"This is the only world record (certified by the FAI) that Japan has ever had," said Yamamoto, 72, who lives in Yokohama. "I want more people to learn about the Kokenki."

The Kokenki project was started in 1934 by researchers at the aviation research institute at Tokyo Imperial University, now the University of Tokyo.

At the time, when Japan was advancing along the road to war, the nation, which was lagging behind Western countries in developing aviation technology, imported aircraft from the West or made copies of them.

The research institute received government funding to develop a diesel engine and aircraft with the goal of setting a world record in two years, according to a book on the Kokenki written in 1983 by Kiyoshi Tomizuka, one of the project members.

However, it was hard going for the university researchers, who had never made an aircraft before, said Shigezo Oyanagi, director of Misawa Aviation & Science Museum in Aomori Prefecture.

To proceed, they sought the help of private companies, including Tokyo Gas Electric Engineering Co., now Hino Motors Ltd. They had also to give up on developing a diesel engine, turning instead to modifying a BMW gasoline engine to increase fuel efficiency and boost power at takeoff. Members of the team didn't always see eye to eye, according to Oyanagi.

Yamamoto's father, Mineo, an assistant professor at the university, was in charge of designing its fabric-covered wings, fuel tanks and landing gear. He sometimes clashed with Tomiji Kudo, a factory manager from Tokyo Gas Electric who had worked at a French company for 17 years, over the design of the wings, according to Oyanagi.

"My father was the kind of man who didn't compromise. He was stubborn and always pursued the best things," Yamamoto recalled about his father, who died in 1979.

By 1938, the Kokenki was completed and underwent test flights. After solving some problems, including a malfunctioning retractable landing gear, it was ready to shoot for the record.

At 4:55 a.m. on May 13, 1938, the 15-meter-long aircraft with a 27.9-meter wingspan took off from the Kisarazu runway, carrying two Imperial army pilots and an engineer.

The aircraft flew a 402-km circuit that took it from Kisarazu to Choshi in Chiba Prefecture, then to Ota, Gunma Prefecture, and finally through Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. After flying the course 29 times, the Kokenki landed on the Kisarazu runway at 7:20 p.m. on May 15.

The record-setting flight, which was broadcast live on the radio, made newspaper headlines and delighted the nation, according to Oyanagi of the Misawa museum.

Although the plane's technology was not particularly outstanding, "the flight demonstrated to Japanese people that a Japanese-made aircraft could reach a world-class level, which greatly encouraged people in those days," Oyanagi said.

With the success, the project team was disbanded, and the Kokenki's role ended.

Aviation technology was progressing fast, and the Japanese aircraft's achievement was eclipsed the following year by an Italian plane.

Seventy years later, however, few remember the Kokenki.

Oyanagi figures people probably don't want to remember the prewar aircraft due to the connection to Japan's militaristic past.

When Japan lost the war, warplanes were dismantled by order of the Allied Occupation and documents were discarded, according to Kazuyoshi Suzuki, a senior curator at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo.

Although it was not made for the military, the Kokenki, which had been kept in a hangar at Haneda airport in Tokyo during the war, was buried at the airport, he said.

Fortunately, roughly 80 percent of its documents, including blueprints and a film, have survived at the national museum, donated from the University of Tokyo and some project participants, including Yamamoto's father, Suzuki said.

To increase the recognition of the aircraft, Oyanagi's museum made a replica to commemorate three Aomori Prefecture natives who took part in the project — pilot Yuzo Fujita, designer Hidemasa Kimura and factory manager Kudo. The replica has been on display since 2003.

Last year, Yamamoto opened a Web site, Mineo Yamamoto Cyber Museum, to tell about his father's life and the Kokenki. The site carries photos and footage of making the plane and its historic flight.

"This is one of the things I'm doing to tell people about the aircraft," Yamamoto said. "It's our task to preserve the intellectual legacy that my father and his colleagues left."

Piaggio P23 R

Only one example of the Piaggio P.23 R was constructed. In its initial form the P23R was powered by three Isotta Fraschini XI r 850 hp liquid cooled engines and the aircraft had open cockpits. After flight testing, new Piaggio P XI RC 40 radial engines developing 1,000hp were fitted. Two bladed airscrews were exchanged for three bladed airscrews and the open cockpits were enclosed by 2 side by side cockpits.
On 30 December 1938 2 pilots and 2 flying engineers established international records for speed with loads of 5000 kgs at 404 km/h
The record breaking plane was referred to as the "P.123"

Republic XF-84H

The experimental Republic XF-84H (s/n 51-17060) in flight in 1955/56. Two F-84Fs were converted into mixed powerplant experimental aircraft and only two pilots ever flew them, the first one quitting after just one flight. Of the twelve test flights flown, ten developed into full-blown emergencies. Each aircraft had been fitted with an Allison XT40-A-1 turboprop engine of 5,850 shaft horsepower (4,365 kW) driving a paddle-bladed prop in an ultimately ill-conceived attempt to see whether a prop could go close to supersonic and thus help solve some of the problems asscociated with early jets, principally their slow-to-accelerate requirement for very long runways. Ground crews dubbed the XF-84H the "Thunderscreech" due to the horrendous noise levels generated by prop blades spinning at Mach 1.71. Often described as the fastest prop aircraft of all time, this is manifestly incorrect since the Russian Tu-95 Bear turboprop bomber is much faster ...although probably not quieter.

Bloch MB 200 and 210 - last edit June 2015

The MB.200 was a French bomber aircraft of the 1930s designed and built by the Societé des Avions Marcel Bloch. A twin-engined high-winged monoplane with a fixed undercarriage, over 200 MB.200s were built for the French Air Force, and the type was also licence built by Czechoslovakia. However it was soon obsolete, and had largely been phased out by the start of WWII. The Bloch MB.200 was designed in response to a 1932 requirement for a new day/night bomber to equip the French Air Force. It was a high-winged all-metal cantilever monoplane, with a slab-sided fuselage, powered by two Gnome-Rhône 14K radial engines. It had a fixed tailwheel undercarriage and featured an enclosed cockpit for the pilots. Defensive machine guns were in nose and dorsal gun turrets and a under fuselage gondola.

The first of three prototypes flew on 26 June 1933. As one of the winning designs for the competition, (the other was the larger Farman F.221), an initial order for 30 MB.200s was placed on 1 January 1934, the type entering service late in that year. Further orders followed, and the MB.200 equipped 12 French squadrons by the end of 1935. Production in France totalled over 200 aircraft





See rare shots of captured German 'Beute' Blochs on this blog here

Successor to the Bloch 200, the first all-metal bomber in service with the Armée de l'Air, the Bloch 210 enjoyed an indifferent reputation, mainly as a result of its unreliable and under-powered Gnome-Rhône K-14 engines. It was nevertheless the first "modern" French bomber and was equipped with a retractable landing gear. The type saw service in some twelve bombardment groups during the campaign of May-June 1940 before more modern types arrived rather too late. Currently working on a new title devoted to this type to be published by LeLa Presse. The Bloch 210 - new from Lela Presse

Nimrod into Bruntingthorpe

27th April 2010

Nimrod XV226 (thank you Martin..) - Final flight into Bruntingthorpe to join the Cold War Jets collection. She will be kept in a 'fast taxi' state. Just click once to view..



and a 'touch-and-go'

Russ Kyler, 56th Fighter Group

From the timeless Voices of Aviation project

A hundred feet over Hell by Jim Hooper - Recommended Aviation books (1)

A military adaptation of a 1950s design that first saw service during the Korean War, the Cessna Bird Dog was already rather long in the tooth by the time of the Vietnam war. However in the Forward Air Control role the Bird Dog managed to get into far more scrapes than many other far more glamorous combat machines. Although it was a flimsy parasol-winged light aircraft barely capable of 100 mph, the Bird Dog over Vietnam spent most of its time in the early years of the conflict in the air stooging around over the jungle, spotting and sighting within range of every enemy weapon on the battlefield. Author Jim Hooper's brother flew one and this is his story and that of his unit, the 220th Reconnaissance Airplane Company, the 'Catkillers'. It is the tale of a handful of young pilots who put their lives on the line virtually every time they got airborne. They operated over the northern-most part of South Vietnam, along the so-called DMZ or demilitarized zone, either alone or with a second crewman, often, amazingly enough, venturing into North Vietnam searching out targets and directing artillery or air strikes against them. The only Army Bird Dog company to bear the Marine designation of Tactical Air Coordinator (Airborne), they supported both Army and Marine infantry, often spelling survival for embattled American or Vietnamese troops. They went to war the hard way, with nothing more than 217 hp, a radio and a map. With the exception of a handgun and a M16, they were unarmed. But as the Vietcong learned, once the Catkillers had located their target and marked it with their smoke rockets, they could bring a formidable arsenal to bear. From rolling artillery barrages to successive flights of Phantoms or Skyhawks, all the FAC had to say was "Hit my smoke," and a carpet of destruction would descend upon enemy troops, sometimes within tens of metres of friendly positions.
A handful of aviation memoirs from the Vietnam War truly stand out - 'Thud Ridge' and 'Chickenhawk' to name just two. Jim Hooper’s 'history' of the 220th Reconnaissance Airplane Company will become another classic, packed as it is with accounts of rare heroism and thrilling flying action. In these days of unmanned drones, it almost beggars belief that the Catkiller FACs flew low and slow in some of the most heavily defended airspace in the history of aerial warfare. 'A Hundred Feet Over Hell' is a must read for all with an interest in military aviation.

Hawker P1127 Kestrel Harrier jump jet prototypes

Hawker P1127/Kestrel in flight over Farnborough (1966)





The Hawker P1127 and an improved variant the Kestrel were the 'prototypes' of the famed Harrier. The first prototype P.1127, serial XP831 was delivered in July 1960 for static engine testing, and in October the Pegasus flight engine was made available. The first tethered flight took place the same month and free flight hover achieved on 19 November after which the first publicity photos were released. The second prototype made its first take off conventionally on 7 July 1961. The two aircraft proceeded to "close the gap" between vertical take off and flight, achieved by 8 September. Four more prototypes were ordered. Throughout this period improved Pegasus engines were being developed, with the Pegasus 3 being capable of 15,000 lbf (67 kN) of thrust. Apart from this, the first four aircraft were quite similar, but the fifth, XP980 introduced the taller fin and tailplane anhedral seen on the Harrier. The fourth machine was used, in part to give the Hawker production test pilots P.1127 familiarisation. The first carrier vertical landing was performed by the first prototype on HMS Ark Royal in 1963. The last P.1127, XP984, introduced the swept wing. It was eventually fitted with the 15,000 lbf (66.7 kN) Pegasus 5 and functioned as the prototype Kestrel.




Kestrel FGA.1
Evaluation aircraft were ordered as the Kestrel FGA.1, an improved version of the P.1127, the first flying on 7 March 1964. The Kestrel had fully swept wings and a larger tail than the early P.1127s, and the fuselage was modified to take the larger 15,000 lbf (85 kN) Pegasus 5 engine as in the P.1127/Kestrel prototype XP984.

Due to interest from the US and Germany, the Tri-partite Evaluation Squadron (TES) was formed on 15 October 1964 at RAF West Raynham, staffed by military test pilots from Britain, the US and West Germany. During testing one aircraft was lost;[10] and evaluations finalised in November 1965.

Six of the eight surviving evaluation aircraft (the three allocated to US plus those allocated to Germany) were transferred to the USA[10] for evaluation by the Army, Air Force, and Navy (but not the US Marine Corp) as the XV-6A Kestrel. After Tri-Service evaluation they were passed to the USAF for further evaluation at Edwards Air Force Base, except for two that were assigned to NASA.

One of the two remaining British based Kestrels was attached to the Blind Landing Experimental Unit (BLEU) at RAE Bedford and the other, XS693, went to Blackburn's for modification to take the uprated Pegasus 6 engine. In addition to some strengthening, there were alterations to the air intake, which had throughout the P.1127 and Kestrel series featured an inflatable lip to smooth the intake airflow when the aircraft was almost stationary. There were concerns about the Service life of these devices, so they were replaced with conventional suction relief doors. This aircraft became the prototype for pre-production Harriers.

Alfie the P-47 Ace

School boy gets a tour around the 56th FG ace Dave Schilling's P-47 'hairless joe' circa winter 1944/45..Great footage (cheers Nige!). Click on the last image to go to pathe's site to watch the video.

ALFIE THE ACE

F-15E at Corris Corner, Wales, courtesy James Vaitkevicius

Photographs with kind permission of James Vaitkevicius. Click on the image for a larger view. Visit James' flickr pages here







Photographs with kind permission of James Vaitkevicius

Tupolev Tu 128 P - the biggest fighter aircraft ever built

..at over 80 feet long (26 metres) the 'Fiddler' had a range of 3,000 miles and a top speed of 1,150 mph and was one of the biggest 'fighters' ever to see service. Armament was four Ash missiles which came with both infra red and radar homing seekers.. one click to view (and I'd advise turning the volume down on this one !)