Nippon (aircraft)

Nippon
Nipon side view
Type	Mitsubishi G3M2 Model 21[1]
Manufacturer	Mitsubishi
Construction number	328[1]
Registration	J-BACI[1]
Owners and operators	Mainichi Shimbun[1]
Flights	One around the world flight from 26 August 1939 to 20 october 1939 covering 53 km; 29 nmi (32.850 mi) in 194 flying hours.[1]
Fate	Unknown, probably scrapped.

Nippon (ニッポン, Nippon) was a converted Mitsubishi G3M2 Model 21 bomber operated by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper and used to make a round-the-world flight in 1939.

The round the World flight

Nippon took off from Haneda airport^[2] in the district of Kamata in Tokyo on 25 August 1939, flew around the globe and returned to Tokyo, after 55 days, on 20 October 1939 having flown 52,886 km (32,862 mi; 28,556 nmi) in 194 flying hours.

The aircraft

Nippon had the armament removed, was equipped with the latest autopilot and could carry 5,200 l of fuel enabling it to fly continuously for 24 hours.

Flight course

Tokyo - Chitose - Nome, Alaska - Fairbanks, USA - Whitehorse - Seattle - Oakland, USA - Los Angeles - Albuquerque, USA - Chicago - New York - Washington D.C - Miami - San Salvador, El Salvador - Cali, Colombia - Lima - Arica - Santiago - Buenos Aires - Santos (Brazil) - Dakar - Agadir Morocco - Casablanca, Spain - Rhodos, Greece - Basra (Iraq) - Karachi - Kolkata, India - Bangkok - Taipei - Haneda, Tokyo

Specifications (Mitsubishi G3M2 Model 21)

Data from The Mitsubishi G3M "Nell";^[3] Imperial Japanese Navy Bombers of World War Two;^[4][5][1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 7
• Length: 16.45 m (54 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 25 m (82 ft 0 in)
• Height: 3.68 m (12 ft 1 in)
• Wing area: 75 m² (810 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 4,965 kg (10,946 lb)
• Gross weight: 8,000 kg (17,637 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 3,874 l (852.2 imp gal; 1,023.4 US gal) (Nippon 5,200 l (1,143.8 imp gal; 1,373.7 US gal))
• Powerplant: 2 × Mitsubishi Kinsei 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engines, 791 kW (1,061 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 375 km/h (233 mph; 202 kn) (Nippon 400 km/h (249 mph; 216 kn))
• Cruising speed: 280 km/h (174 mph; 151 kn)
• Range: 4,400 km (2,734 mi; 2,376 nmi)
• Endurance: (Nippon: 24 hours
• Service ceiling: 9,200 m (30,184 ft)
• Rate of climb: 6 m/s (1,200 ft/min)

Armament

• Guns:
  
• 1× 20 mm (0.066 ft) Type 99 cannon in rear dorsal turret
• 4× 7.7 mm (0.025 ft) Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun in cockpit, left and right side positions, and in retractable forward dorsal turret.
• (Nippon: un-armed)
• Bombs: 800 kg (1,763.698 lb) of bombs or 1× aerial torpedo

Occupants

There were seven occupants in total.

Captain 

Sumitoshi NAKAO 中尾純利

Flight engineer 

Hajime SHIMOKAWA 下川一

Communication operator 

Nobusada SATO 佐藤信貞

Pilot 

Shigeo YOSHIDA 吉田重雄

Professional Engineer 

Hiroshi SAEKI 佐伯弘

Flight engineer 

Nagasaku YAOKAWA 八尾川長作

Ambassador of goodwill

Takeo OHARA 大原武夫, Aerial director of Mainichi Shimbun.

Notes

References