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T-1 Basic Jet Trainer

The Fuji T-1 Basic Jet Trainer was the first Japanese jet aircraft developed after the Second World War. The first prototype made its first flight on 19 January 1958, equiped with a Bristol Orpheus Mk11 engine. On 1 June 1960, the prototype made the first flight with a Japanese developed J3-IHI-7B engine. Compared to the Lockheed T-33A, whose licensed production had begun at the time , the engine thrust was half, but it surpassed it in some aspects of performance. The T-1 production model with Bristol Orpheus engine was designated as T-1A, and with J3 engine was designated as T-1B. The T-1 has been retired from pilot training squadron, but some aircraft are still in service by 5th Technical Scool based Komaki and Air Development and Testing Wing based Gifu.

The first jet plane to fly in Japan was the "Tachibana", based on the Me262 brought back from Germany by submarine, at the Kisarazu Naval Base on August 7, 1945, the day after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and just before the end of the war. At a time when the nation's fate was hanging by a thread, the "Tachibana", into which Japanese engineers put their last efforts, provided a strong motivation for the resumption of the aviation industry and a thread of aspiration for the postwar future. Thus was born the first jet plane made in Japan after the war, the "T-1," which carried dreams with it as it made its first flight on January 19, 1958 (Showa 33).

The T-1 trainer aircraft is the first military aircraft developed by Japan after World War II. In 1952 (Showa 27), the San Francisco Peace Treaty came into effect, allowing Japan to once again take to the skies. The engineers involved in the "Tachibana" first established the "Japan Jet Engine Co., Ltd." through joint investment from various aircraft manufacturers, and as engine development began, each company also began researching the aircraft. In the spring of 1954, the Defense Agency began to get excited about a domestic jet trainer project, and private companies were also getting excited about development. Fuji Heavy Industries had previously built a wind tunnel model of a modified Mentor T34 called the FJT-12, and another original design called the FJT-51, and had repeatedly conducted wind tunnel tests.

When the Japan Air Self-Defense Force was established on July 1 , 1954 , all of its aircraft , including the North American F-86 fighter planes , were provided by the United States. The primary trainer was the T-34A , the intermediate trainer the T-6 , and the advanced trainer the T-33A. Of these, the T-6 was a reciprocating engine aircraft used as an advanced trainer during World War II , and there was a problem that its performance was too different from that of the jet T-33 . In addition, the landing gear was a pre- war tailwheel type, so the visibility during takeoff and landing and on the ground was completely different from those of the other aircraft.

The Defense Agency had been considering a replacement trainer for the T-6 since its inception, and had compiled the SDF's aircraft requirements by December, but the US aviation ban was to be fully lifted in 1956 ( it was partially lifted in 1952 ), and there was a growing desire to take this opportunity to restore domestic technology. This movement led to the production of the YS-11, but it was decided to domestically produce intermediate trainers as well, and on August 23 , 1955 , the Chief of Staff of the Air Self-Defense Force submitted the ASDF's specifications to the Director General of the Defense Agency , suppressing voices within the agency and within the US military advisory group in Japan that favored American-made aircraft, and on November 4 , the decision was made to develop the aircraft domestically.

Due to the use of American-made trainer aircraft in the early days of the Air Self-Defense Force after World War II, the idea of developing a domestic trainer aircraft was based on the American-made F-86 Saber fighter jet. In December, the Defense Agency solicited aircraft from four domestic aircraft manufacturers. ShinMaywa Industries , the largest domestic aviation company , submitted a proposal, but later declined due to the need to focus on licensed production of the F-86F. At this time, Takayama Shoichi , who was in charge of development at the Defense Agency , called on his fellow Imperial University alumni Tojo Teruo of Mitsubishi and Naito Koichi of Fuji Heavy Industries, and persuaded them to hand over the aircraft to Mitsubishi in order to develop their technical capabilities, as they would be the center of licensed production of the next fighter, the F-86F.

Kawasaki Aircraft 's "T1K1", ShinMaywa Industries ' "T1S1", and Fuji Heavy Industries ' "T1F1" were all ready by March of the following year, so the selection process began. Fuji Heavy Industries submitted a design plan in March 1956 that was called the T1F1. Kawasaki Heavy Industries called it the T1K1, and ShinMaywa called it the T1S1. Mitsubishi declined, saying it would do its utmost to domestically produce the F86F fighter. The required conditions provide for a maximum speed greater than 777 km/h. a climb to 10,000 m. in less than 13 minutes and a practical ceiling of 12,000 meters.

Among the three projects presented, which must result in a final decision at the end of August and the construction of a prototype for static tests and two others for flight tests, the Kawasaki T1K1 was distinguished by its general resemblance to the Lockheed T-33A, an aircraft produced under license by Kawasaki. The Kawasaki T1K1 had a wingspan of 11.50 m, a length of 11.15 m. a wing area of 22 m2, a total weight of 3,600 kg., a maximum speed of 777 km.-h. and a takeoff distance of 375 m. Shin Meiwa Industries (formerly Kawanishi) presented a project for an aircraft with a straight wing, a circular fuselage section and side air inlets. The T1S1 has a wingspan of 9.60 m. a length of 10.60 m., a wing surface of 19 m2, a total weight of 3,150 kg., a maximum speed of 857 km.-h. and a takeoff distance of 343 m.

After three months of deliberation, the Defense Agency selected Fuji Heavy Industries' aggressive proposal with swept wings as the winner in June. The Kawasaki proposal was unattractive, resembling a scaled-down version of the T-33A (Lockheed T-33), a secondhand American aircraft in operation at the time, and the ShinMaywa proposal, although aggressive, was judged to be a little immature in comparison. While the "K1" and "S1" had the same straight wings as the T-33, with air intakes located on both sides of the fuselage, the "F1" had sharply swept back wings and air intakes located on the nose, reminiscent of the F-86, giving it high maneuverability. In addition, the operational aspects had been taken into consideration in experiments using models and mockups, which was also evaluated, and the decision to adopt the T1F1 was made on July 11th.

The key points for adopting T1F1's proposal were threefold. Swept-back wings are used to achieve both stability and controllability at transonic speeds. Reduced wing loading improved performance at low speeds. A 120mm height difference between the front and rear seats provides a wider field of vision for the instructor in the rear. It was just as effective as the side-by-side version. It makes engine replacement easy, and the range of uses is wide depending on the engine model.It could also be modified to become a fighter aircraft. Fuji Heavy Industries had experience with the Tachibana, but the gap since the end of the war was painful, and without facilities such as wind tunnels or related materials, the transonic domain was an unknown world, and both design, manufacturing, and testing were a difficult challenge for new technology. At Fuji Heavy Industries, the first president, Kita Kenji, took on the challenge with a strong determination to "bet the company's future on completing it," and appointed Nakajima Aircraft engineer Naito Kosei (then head of the technical department) as chief designer. He gathered all the company's capable engineers since Nakajima, and mobilized all of his partner companies to tackle the difficult task of developing this new aviation industry. Launched by Fuji Heavy Industries in 1958, the T-1 can be said to be a two-seat trainer model of the F-86. The design and construction of the T1F1 was undertaken with engineer Shigeo Naito as the main engineer , but Fuji Heavy Industries was formerly Nakajima Aircraft, and although it had only been four years since aviation resumed and only three years since it was founded, it had no experience in jet aircraft development, except for the Tachibana , which Nakajima had developed and mass-produced for the Navy during World War II . Therefore, in-house research on jet trainers had been underway, including the FJT11 series, which used components from the T-34 Mentor , the FJT31 series, which used technology from the Saiun and a JO-1- class engine, and the FJT51 series, which assumed a swept wing and an engine with improved thrust from the JO-1.

The main wings are arranged low, with a chord of 25 percent and a swept back of 26 degrees 46 minutes, and are an advanced version of the Nakajima K-series laminar flow wing used on the Nakajima Aircraft Company's carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft, the Saiun. The thick main wings provide ample tank space. The horizontal stabilizer, which incorporates new swept-back theory, has a swept back angle of 34 degrees 15 minutes, and the vertical stabilizer has a swept back angle of 33 degrees 18 minutes, allowing the tail to remain effective even when approaching the speed of sound and generating shock waves. The combination of the vertical stabilizer with a slightly forward-facing dorsal fin and the horizontal stabilizer with a dihedral angle provides good spin recovery, making for a unique and distinctive design. The air intake was located in the nose and had a large area to maximize airflow efficiency and reduce overall resistance, and the fuselage was made as thin as possible to reduce weight, which put strain on the equipment and made the cockpit cramped for large pilots. However, due to its good intake efficiency and low resistance, it exceeded the T-33A trainer in acceleration and climbing, and was several steps ahead in maneuverability and takeoff and landing characteristics. Research and testing for the prototype was carried out in cooperation with domestic manufacturers and national and public research institutes, and the know-how of the F-86F and T-33A, which had been produced under license, was of great help. In addition, since many of the domestic aviation research facilities were dissolved after the war and the equipment was disassembled, research and development was full of difficulties, such as borrowing a wind tunnel facility at Cornell University in the United States to study the aerodynamic characteristics at transonic speeds. [10] At the same time, one each of the US military's reciprocating engine trainer T-28B and the British military's trainer DH-T55 Vampire was purchased. [11] The handling characteristics, structure, equipment, and the advantages and disadvantages of a parallel two-seater Vampire were thoroughly examined.

The engine to be used was the 1,200 kg XJ3 , which was being developed by Nippon Jet Engines (NJE), a joint venture of five Japanese companies , but delays in production made it clear that the deadline set by the Defense Agency would not be met. Fuji therefore fitted the Bristol Orpheus Mk.805 engine (thrust 1,815 kg) to the first prototype, making it the T1F2 . It initially used a British-made jet engine (T-1A), and later switched to a Japanese-made engine (T-1B).

The first prototype (82-5801) made its first flight on January 19, 1958 (Showa 33) at Utsunomiya Airfield, successfully completing a test flight of about 30 minutes. (Test pilot Lt. Col. Takaoka Susumu also flew the first flight of the Tachibana just before the end of the war.) It was delivered to the Defense Agency on March 25th, and the second aircraft (82-5802) made its first flight on March 13th , followed by six aircraft for testing at the Defense Agency. Some defects were corrected during these tests, and the aircraft, named T-1A , had its first mass-produced delivery ceremony held on September 30th, 1960. By August 1962, a total of 46 mass-produced and prototype aircraft had been deployed. The mass-produced T1F1, a purely domestically produced aircraft, was named the T-1B , and the first mass-produced aircraft was delivered in September 1962, with 20 aircraft deployed by June 1963. Two of the T-1As were converted to T-1Bs.

In 1965 , the T-1B model was upgraded to the J3-IHI-7 with a thrust of 1,400 kg , and all B models were converted to this engine (later the J3-IHI-7B ), and the official name became T-1B-10 . However, since all T-1Bs were subject to the upgrade, there was no need to distinguish between them, and this name did not seem to have caught on among the general public.

With the commissioning of the successor , the Kawasaki T-4 , the T-4 was deployed to the 13th Flying Training Wing in August 1998 , the 1st Flying Training Squadron converted to the T-4 in June 1999 , flight training with the T-1 ended in December 2000 , and all T-1As were retired on February 1 , 2001 , the 2nd Flying Training Squadron was converted to the T-4, and remaining trainer aircraft retired in 2006.