SQUARE-The Famous Kamikaze-go and Shinko Electric 08-12-2 下午10:02

Shinko Electric supplied electrical equipment for the Kamikaze-go (the names of
aircraft in Japanese end in "go"), which established a world flying record
between Tokyo and London in 1937.

Shinko Electric provided the aircraft's generator.

60 years ago, a little shiny silver Japanese airplane landed

at Croydon airport in London in front of a huge number of
spectators. It had succeeded in becoming the first
Japanese airplane to make the flight to Europe. Called
Kamikaze-go, it was a low-winged monoplane with a 12m
wingspan and an 8m fuselage. Its success excited not only
Japan but the whole world. This was a wonderful airplane,
the first with all Japanese technology to make
international headlines.

We played a substantial role in producing the Kamikaze-go, and without it no account of

our various electric equipment for aircraft would be complete.

The Kamikaze-go flew between Tokyo and London in 1937

piloted by Masaaki Iinuma and engineer Kenji Tsukagoshi in the
surprising time of 94 hours 17 minutes and 56 seconds. This
was Japan's first international aviation record (first international
record in Japan officially acknowledged by the =46AI
[International Aircraft Federation]). The generating system
onboard the Kamikaze-go was an engine direct-drive DC
generator with auto voltage adjuster made by Shinko Electric.

At that time most generating systems for Japanese aircraft were imported from Europe
and America. However, these systems had a lot of technological problems, for example
the contacts of the voltage adjuster that maintains voltage at a constant level tended to
melt easily, so there was a
demand for a more heat-resistant type system.

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SQUARE-The Famous Kamikaze-go and Shinko Electric 08-12-2 下午10:02

We established a laboratory in Hino, Tokyo and started research and development on

contacts. We succeeded in developing a Tyrrel-type voltage adjuster with excellent heat
resistance. Our company was far ahead of other companies in the field of aircraft
generator systems. Our technology was evaluated very highly and used for many
aircraft including the Kamikaze-go, which is to say that it contributed greatly to this
success which excited so much interest throughout Japan.

The European record flight of the Kamikaze-go was

planned by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper to celebrate the
coronation of Britain's George 6th, and also as a goodwill
flight to European countries. It took off from Tachikawa
airport at 2:12:04 PM on April 6th, 1937 with the
enthusiastic encouragement of the whole nation. It arrived
at Croydon airport to hearty cheers at 3:30 PM on April
9th after stops in Taiwan, Athens, Paris and other
locations. The total flight time for the whole distance of 15,357km was 51 hours, 19
min. and 23 sec., a world record.

Record flight attempts were all the rage in Europe and America at that time as the
performance of aircraft was improving fast. There was even a prize offered for the
aircraft that could fly between Paris and Tokyo within 100 hours. Actually, many
European airmen had taken up the challenge, only to fail. One year before the
Kamikaze-go established the world record, a French pilot had tragically crashed into a
mountain in Kyushu on the last leg of his record attempt on a flight from Paris to
Tokyo. That the record flight of the Kamikaze-go between Tokyo and London succeeded
where so many had failed was truly an international achievement.

This flight to Europe made the pilot, Masaaki Iinuma (then 26 years old), a hero. He
was acknowledged as an excellent pilot on a level with Lindbergh who achieved the first
trans-Atlantic flight, and he went on to heighten the reputation of Japanese aircraft
technology. At the house in Toyoshina-cho, Minami Azumi-gun, Nagano Prefecture,
where Mr. Iinuma was born, the Iinuma Memorial Center now stands in tribute to his
great achievement. There we can see how great the Kamikaze-go flight was, through
many contemporary photographs, newspaper articles and other materials. Unfortunately
Mr. Iinuma died at the age of 29 in December 1941 during the battle for the South
Pacific.

The Kamikaze-go continued to work actively in a variety of capacities for the Asahi
Shimbun. However, on a flight back from the south of China it encountered bad weather
and was ditched near the Garanbe peninsula in southern Taiwan and where it back. It
was later recovered and put on show for some time at the Kamikaze Memorial Center
on Ikoma mountain, Nara Prefecture, however, it is lost to us now.

Using superior technology to produce electrical equipment

for aircraft since the age of the Kamikaze-go.

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SQUARE-The Famous Kamikaze-go and Shinko Electric 08-12-2 下午10:02

Until the mid-'30s, aircraft in Japan had been manufactured using European or American
technology and parts, but at that time, all-Japanese aircraft with fuselage and engine
technology that had improved rapidly since around 1934 began to appear. One such
technology was the engine direct-drive generator developed by Shinko Electric.
Kamikaze-go was a crystallization of this homegrown technology.

Shinko Electric has a long history of working with electrical equipment for aircraft. It
started with the development of a fan-drive generator in 1920. This generator was used
for wireless machinery, aircraft lights and for charging storage batteries. After that, in
1936 we started to develop and produce the engine direct-drive generator.

After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Japanese aircraft industry was prohibited
from any kind of activity, so we ceased production of aircraft electrical equipment. In
1952, with the San Francisco peace treaty, the rebuilding of the aircraft industry began
and production started up again.

Since then, we have produced various types of aircraft electrical equipment featuring
high quality and high reliability, including our main product, the engine direct-drive
generator. We have won an excellent reputation both inside and outside of Japan as one
of the best aircraft electrical equipment producers in the world. Our advanced
technology, which began with the generator for the Kamikaze-go, is used for various
aircraft electrical equipment, and is helping in the development and production of
various equipment used in space rockets.
Information: Iinuma Pilot Memorial Center

3888 Minami Hodaka, Oaza, Toyoshina- cho, Minami Azumi- gun, Nagano Prefecture

TEL：0263- 72- 9045

　
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