FAR EASTERN PHOENIX THE REVIVAL OF JAPAN’S AIR SERVICES

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28250, 11 April 1957, Page 12

FAR EASTERN PHOENIX THE REVIVAL OF JAPAN’S AIR SERVICES

[Bl/ the Aeronautical Correspondent of ’'The Times’’]

As I drove into the Japanese Air Force training headquarters at Hamamatsu, about mid-way between rn okyo and Nagoya, the first thing that struck me was the air of bustling activity and obvious enthusiasm. Aircraft were taking off and landing; squads were drilling with a snap and precision which spoke of keenness; airmen going to attend instruction classes walked briskly instead of sauntering; new buildings and roads were under construction. It was as though everyone realised that there was much to be done and time was marching on apace. That is true. Japanese aviation in general is still labouring under severe handicaps, many of which stem from the fact that for seven years before the ratification of the peace treaty in 1952 all aeronautical activity in the country was prohibited. This hiatus coincided with a period of tremendous development in world aviation, made possible by the gas turbine engine, so that the Japanese have much leeway to make good. They realise this fully and are trying hard to catch up. The old aviation firms were broken up under an anti-trust law, and many of their successors have had to borrow from the Government or private banks to get going. Adequate capital remains a major headache. Four universities have established chairs of aeronautics and others are engineering courses in an effort to remedy a shortage of technicians. Research facilities, though imp *oving, still lack vital equipment such as transonic and supersonic wind tunnels. There is a serious scarcity of young pilots with substantial jet-flying experience—a situation which will be cured in time by a training plan already in operation. American Aim The United States aim is to assist in developing Japanese forces capable of assuming the primary responsibility for their country’s defence and to help in creating a home industry able to produce the necessary weapons and equipment. Whatever apprehension might be felt by those old enough to remember Pearl Harbour and the grim jungle campaign, this is regarded as a lesser evil than either of the two alternatives—to leave a vital area largely unguarded or to continue indefinitely to station forces there at great expense and to the detriment of relations with the Japanese. The main safeguard is that the Japanese air force have not been supplied with strategic bombers and are not likely to receive them. The current position is that, with the help of United States equipment, money, instructors, and advisers, the wheels of Japanese aviation are turning again, slowly at present but with the prospect of steadily increasing speed in the years ahead. As Japanese capacity for selfhelp increases the scope of United States assistance decreases. The initial objective was to establish a comprehensive Japanese training organisation, and by the middle of this, year the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (so called because armed forces are still illegal under the constitution) shoud be largely self-sufficient for flying rnd technical instruction. On the side American aid is now generally confined to complicated and expensive equipment which the Japanese cannot yet produce or obtain for themselves. In visiting factories 1 noticed that some of the machinetools were of Japanese make; others were of American, German, and Swiss origin. The Japanese proudly call the visitor’s attention to their home-made products.

New Piloto At present the Japanese air force, with a strength of 10,000 officers and men, is by far the I smallest of the three services.

There is only one operational wing—equipped with FB6F Sabre jet fighters—and one operational training wing. Another training wing is being formed, and all subsequent ones will be operational. Under a five-year plan i which matures in 1961 there will Ibe 33 squadrons—27 of day and I all-weather fighters, the remainder for reconnaissance and transport. The force will then have 800 firstline aircraft, backed by a subjstantial number of trainers. The (maritime self-defence force) employ anti-submarine aircraft and should have a strength of eight squadrons by 1961; the Army (ground self-defence force) operate liaison type aircraft. The ■first newly qualified pilots since ( the war have just graduated from Ithe defence academy, ’where •officers for all three services are Strained. Hamamatsu was the birthplace pf the old Japanese Army Air Force. It is a large air base at which some 5300 Japanese officers land men are now stationed, and houses not only the flying wings ut schools for a great variety of ?chnical training for operation nd servicing of equipment rangng from airframes and engines, adio and radar, aerial photography, armament, early warning nd control systems to weather ©recasting. There are nearly 50 different courses for officers, i.c.o’s and airmen. It was im-

?ressive to go into classroom Iter classroom and see eagerfaced young men avidly absorbing new knowledge imparted by iapanese instructors who had hemselves been trained by he Americans. At the end of my visit, MajorJeneral Matsuda, the base compander, a short, thick-set man, aid: “Come back to see us again n another two and a half years. Ve shall have a good air forte >y then.” What one had seen n the station gave ample evidence f a determination to see that ’his comes true, in spite of a eneral public apathy about rermament. First Turbo-Jet The Society of Japanese Airraft Constructors now has 90 iember firms, of which about alf are active, and the industry’s urrent labour force of between 3.000 and 12,000 is growing Leadily. Three Japanese firms—litsubishi, Kawasaki, and Fuji eavy Industries —arc building Jjmplete airbraft of different Fpes. Work is in hand with a lew to manufacturing guided iissiles; small research vehicles gve already been produced. Five >mpanies have pooled resources develop a first turbo-jet engine hi ch, if successful, will power jet trainer being built by Fuji, le government has set up a .search committee representing jading firms to evolve a twin-

engined turbo-prop airliner to carry 40 passengers, which they hope to have flying about 1960. One of the firm’s test pilots came up to Tokyo to fly me in a Nikko communications aircraft the 60 miles or so to the Fuji Heavy Industries works at Utsunomiya, where basic trainers are being produced for the air force. From the air we could see where new design and assembly shops were in course of construction. In spite of rather primitive looking scaffolding, buildings seem to shoot up at a remarkable pace in Japan, perhaps by lavish use of abundant labour. Contractors were busy on the airfield near the factory where we landed; an official explained that it was being extended in readiness for occupation as a Japanese air force training base. I was shown a mockup of the business-like Fuji advanced jet trainer, the prototype of which is expected to fly before the end of the year. A comfortable journey from Tokyo by express train through intensively cultivated countryside takes one to the thriving industrial centre of Nagoya. Throughout one of the Mitsubishi factories on the outskirts of this large, teeming town one saw notices in Japanese and English saying: “Quality must be built into the product. It cannot be inspected into it.” Sabre fighters were being assembled in the well-equipped, modern looking factory, in which many of the Japanese wartime aircraft were built. Petite Hostesses

I flew from Tokyo to Osaka with an all-Japanese crew, including petite hostesses, in an airliner of Japan Air Lines, originally a privately owned company in which the government acquired a controlling financial interest in 1953. Japan Air Lines, who run the principal internal routes and all the few external services, have made such strides that they are now operating at a profit and the government subsidy has just been discontinued. The company has ordered DC 7C long-range transports and DC 8 jet transports, and as these come into service they propose to extend their international routes. By 1959 or 1960 they hope to be flying to London. By then, the Ministry of Transportation expect that there will be sufficient Japanese pilots for all requirements. All in all, one’s impression after a brief visit was that, making due allowance for generous American help, Japanese progress in aviation in a few years has been- substantial, particularly ip view of the many difficulties standing in the way. If much still remains to be done, solid-looking foundations have been laid on which to build for the future. In a measurable distance of time Japan could have an aircraft industry capable of supporting an expanding air force—although one without a strategic bomber arm—and of producing modern . civil aircraft, though perhaps of limited size. Export business will not be easy, but it is already being sought. The industry is very small at present, but the organisation exists to develop in step with demand.