"The Tachikawa Ki-77" Topic

"The Ki-77 originated in 1940 from an Asahi Shimbun sponsored project for an aircraft designated the A-26, a very long range promotional transport capable of non-stop flights between Tokyo and New York. Dr Hidemasa Kimura of the Aeronautical Research Institute of Tokyo University led the design project assisted by Ryoichi Endo of Tachikawa. Following the outbreak of war the original concept was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Army to furnish an aircraft capable of non-stop liaison flights to Germany from the staging post of Singapore and a prototype was completed by November 1942. On 30th June 1943, after a series of successful tests and trials, a second prototype undertook an inauguration flight to Singapore. The flight to Singapore was successful but after the Ki-77 took off for the second stage of its journey to Germany on 7th July it was never seen again. It was reportedly shot down by intercepting RAF fighters over the Indian Ocean but details of the encounter remain obscure as recorded here. A Ki-77 flight to Germany was not attempted again but in July 1944 the first prototype established a non-stop long distance record of 8,900 miles in 57 hours 11 minutes over a closed course…"

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Hope you enjoy!.

Amicalement
Armand

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