Tokorowaza Aviation Museum - Namiki, Japan - Gallery

[Vagabond]

Part three of “Day Off Fun in Tokyo” was a visit to the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum.
From Wikipedia:
“Located on the site of Japan's first airfield which started operations in 1911 with a flight by sugar Tokugawa, the original single runway is still visible and has been incorporated into a larger multifunction park adjacent to the museum.”

Great museum - lots of interesting artifacts. There was a replica Nakajima Ki-27 Nate on display here last year (Now in the Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum in Fukuoka on Kyushu) and the POF Zero was displayed here in 2016.

The museum displays a huge number of photos of various Japanese Military aircraft - I think I have shots of them all.

Enjoy!

https://www.vgbimages.com/AirMuseums/To ... n/n-WFCpcx















Apparently, the Japanese were WAY ahead in the experimental usage of Mustache Airfoils!


I gather from this diorama that a Ju-87 was evaluated at some point by the Japanese -


What’s this?




Nakajima Army Type 91 Fighter - Fuselage

[StangStung]

Part three of “Day Off Fun in Tokyo” was a visit to the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum.

What’s this?

Looks remarkably like a Junkers G.38 to me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_G.38

Then, I looked at the linked planes, and voila!
Mitsubishi K-20
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Ki-20

[Misterg97]

Thanks for a 'bit of memory' … back in the 50's I had some time as a radio operator on C-119's flying with the 'Flying Jennies' out of Ashiya AFB located on Kyushu …

[LysanderUK]

Another Japanese museum goes on my bucket list...

I thought J-TECH had some Nieuport features, and sure enough Googling confirms it's a Nieuport 81E2, several having been imported in 1919.

Japan did order one Ju87 for evaluation as a carrier-borne dive-bomber. It was basically an A model given the export designation Ju87K-1, so it was an earlier type than the B in the museum display. It was tested at Tokorozawa pre-war, then used for ground instruction before being destroyed by Allied bombing.

Really love the paintjob on the C46, very eye catching.

[Chris Brame]

Any ID/info on the gray fuselage in the display case?

[junkman9096]

I wonder if the site is the same Tokorowaza satellite station from Yokota AB that I was sent out to provide security for in the 1974-76 time period. I talked with the guys working in the secure building there and they said it was some kind of radar. Knowing a bit more now I figure it was AN/FLR-9 "Elephant Cage" surveillance system, being close to both (Red) China and the (then) Soviet Union. When you're a 21 year old two stripe airman, you know enough that you don't need to know enough.

[airnutz]

Any ID/info on the gray fuselage in the display case?

The text above the photo sez Nakajima Type 91 Army Fighter

[old iron]

Chris Brame asked:

Any ID/info on the gray fuselage in the display case?

Using the Preserved Axis Aircraft website and the Mikesh and Abe "Japanese Aircraft 1910 - 1941," this is a Nakajima Army 91-1 fighter. Parasol-type, built early 1930s. The 91-1 model had two prototypes and 5 pre-production aircraft and the slightly more advanced 91-2 type had 22 built in 1934 and a fairly long service record.

Concerning the Ki-20, a model of which is shown, was something of a license-built copy of the Junker G.38. According to Mikesh and Abe, an example was stored at the Aviation Memorial Hall at Tokorozawa along with a collection of other early aircraft that were scrapped after the war. It would be interesting to learn what other aircraft existed in this museum and destroyed after the American occupation.

[old iron]

The "J-Tech" biplane is an Army Type Ko.2 Trainer. Construction of this trainer started in Tokorozawa in 1921, and then shifted to Nakajima where 40 were built in 1922. This is a license-built Nieuport 81 E.2.

I assume that this is a reproduction, not original.

The museum does includes an original Henri Farman biplane, perhaps the first airplane to fly in Japan (December 19, 1910). I believe this aircraft was displayed at the (then) Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson in the early 1950s before being returned to Japan.

[Chris Brame]

Any ID/info on the gray fuselage in the display case?

The text above the photo sez Nakajima Type 91 Army Fighter