Warbird Information Exchange

MISAWA, Aomori Prefecture--A twin-engine World War II military training aircraft that crashed more than 70 years ago and is in the collection of an aviation museum here was recognized on June 14 as an Important Aviation Heritage.

Developed from the ground up by the Imperial Japanese Army as an advanced crew trainer, the Tachikawa Ki-54 was placed in service in 1941. Only 1,342 planes were manufactured by the end of the war.

Only three Ki-54s are known to exist, and the example on display at the Misawa Aviation and Science Museum is the only one in Japan and is the one that received the certification.

The plane at the museum has its wings and engines intact, although the Ki-54 is not flyable. The two overseas planes are parts of bodies only.

En route from an air base in Noshiro, Akita Prefecture, to another in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, the Ki-54 made a crash landing on Lake Towadako on Sept. 27, 1943, and sank 57 meters to the lake bed, where it remained until it was salvaged four years ago.

“Cold freshwater at the bottom of Lake Towadako acted like a time capsule and saved the airplane from deterioration,” said Shigezo Oyanagi, the director of the Misawa Aviation and Science Museum.

The Important Aviation Heritage certifies historic and cultural aviation-related artifacts endorsed by the Japan Aeronautic Association (JAA), a foundation established to promote the development of aeronautics and astronautics in Japan.

The JAA has so far made just eight such certifications, including a YS-11, the first Japan-made, mass-production passenger airplane, owned by the National Museum of Nature and Science. The Tachikawa Ki-54 became the ninth artifact to win such recognition and the first in the Tohoku region.

The salvaged Ki-54 is an example of the state-of-art Japanese aviation industry of the 1940s. The plane has retained most of its structure, including its original paint, rising sun roundels and markings.

“The ship is meticulously built with care, and it indicates the high state of craftsmanship (of Japanese plane production) back then,” Oyanagi said.

The certification presentation ceremony is scheduled for July 2 at the museum.