Warbird Information Exchange

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

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

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 …

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Jerry
S/Sgt. - USAF Radio Operator '52-'56
C-119 "Flying Boxcar" - Korea & Japan

Volunteer: National Museum of the US Air Force (2007-2016)
LTM 381st Bomb Group Memorial Association

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.

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

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

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.

The text above the photo sez Nakajima Type 91 Army Fighter

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He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Chris Brame asked:



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.

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Kevin McCartney

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.

_________________
Kevin McCartney

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)