JAPANESE AIRCRAFT
Supersonic trainer
(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)
KOMAKI (Japan), July 21. The prototype of Japan’s first domestically-developed supersonic aircraft successfully completed its maiden test flight in Komaki yesterday. The aircraft—first of two projected prototypes of the XT-2 supersonic jet trainer being developed for the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (J.A.S.D.F.)—took off from the central Japanese airport of Komaki and landed after a 40-minute test flight. During the flight, two-seater aircraft—which has two Rolls - Royce / Turbomeca turbofan engines—reached a speed of 460 knots (just under 500 rn.p.h.) and an altitude of 20,000 feet, an air force spokesman said. The two prototypes have been developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the prime contractor, and other Japanese firms, since 1967, at a cost of about 6000 million yen (about SNZIS million) for the J.A.S.D.F. The XT-2 is designed to be capable of reaching a maximum speed of mach 1.6 and an altitude of 50,000 feet, with a range of 1600 miles. The aircraft will also be capable of taking off from and landing on a runway of 5000 feet. The two prototypes would be handed over to the Air Force by the end of this year for technical and flying tests, a Mitsubishi spokesman said.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19710722.2.93
Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32665, 22 July 1971, Page 15
Word Count
198JAPANESE AIRCRAFT Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32665, 22 July 1971, Page 15
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