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Kiro Honjo
(1901–1990) was a Japanese aircraft designer who worked for Mitsubishi and designed aircraft used in World War II such as the Mitsubishi G3M (Nell) and the Mitsubishi G4M (Betty). During the American occupation of Japan following the end of World War II, Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi, were banned from producing aircraft. For this reason, Honjo began work on non-aircraft products for civilian use. For example, he designed the Mitsubishi “Cross” bicycle (jujigo), which was made of surplus duralumin left over from wartime aircraft production. Honjo also designed the winning glider used by Oka Ryoki in 1977 in the first Japan International Birdman Rally. On April 21, 1990, Honjo died at the age of 88 from prostate cancer. He was portrayed in the 2013 Japanese animated movie ''The Wind Rises'' as a colleague of the designer of the Zero fighter, Jiro Horikoshi was the chief engineer of many Japanese fighter designs of World War II, including the Mitsubishi A6M Z ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 to 1946. The company was disbanded during the occupation of Japan following World War II. The former constituents of the company continue to share the Mitsubishi brand and trademark. Although the group of companies participate in limited business cooperation, most famously through monthly "Friday Conference" executive meetings, they are formally independent and are not under common control. The four main companies in the group are MUFG Bank (the largest bank in Japan), Mitsubishi Corporation (a general trading company), Mitsubishi Electric and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (both diversified manufacturing companies). History The Mitsubishi company was established as a shipping firm by Iwasaki Yatarō (1834–1885) in 1870 under the na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, massa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitsubishi G3M
The was a Japanese bomber and transport aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during World War II. The Yokosuka L3Y (Allied reporting name "Tina"), was a transport variant of the aircraft manufactured by the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal. Design and development The G3M has its origins in a specification submitted to the Mitsubishi company from the Imperial Japanese Navy requesting a bomber aircraft with a range unprecedented at the time. This principally stemmed from Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's influence in the Naval High Commission. The bomber was to have the capacity to accommodate an aerial torpedo capable of sinking an armoured battleship. The speed requirement submitted by the naval department was again also unprecedented, not only in Japanese but also in international bomber aviation, where in relation to the envisaged Japanese battlegrounds of China and the Pacific, the bomber would need to not only cover long distances, but necessaril ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitsubishi G4M
The Mitsubishi G4M was a twin-engine, land-based medium bomber formerly manufactured by the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. Its official designation is and was commonly referred to by Japanese Navy pilots as due to the cylindrical shape of its fuselage and its penchant for igniting after a hit. The Allied reporting name was "Betty". Designed to a strict specification to succeed the Mitsubishi G3M already in service, the G4M boasted very good performance and excellent range and was considered the best land-based naval bomber at the time. This was achieved by its structural lightness and an almost total lack of protection for the crew, with no armor plating or self-sealing fuel tanks. The G4M was officially adopted on 2 April 1941 but the aforementioned problems would prove to be a severe drawback, often suffering heavy losses; Allied fighter pilots nicknamed the G4M "The Flyi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duralumin
Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age hardening, age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of ''Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a trade name is obsolete. Today the term mainly refers to aluminium–copper alloys, designated as the 2000 series by the international alloy designation system (IADS), as with 2014 aluminium alloy, 2014 and 2024 aluminium alloy, 2024 alloys used in airframe fabrication. History Duralumin was developed by the German metallurgist Alfred Wilm at Dürener Metallwerke Aktiengesellschaft, AG. In 1903, Wilm discovered that after quenching, an aluminium alloy containing 4% copper would harden when left at room temperature for several days. Further improvements led to the introduction of duralumin in 1909. The name is mainly used in popular science, pop-science to describe all Al-Cu alloys system, or '2000' series, as designated throug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birdman Rally
Birdman Rally is a competition where members of the public build home-made gliders, hang gliders and human-powered aircraft, ranging from very serious aircraft to mere costumes, leap from a river– or sea–side jetty, or from a bridge, and compete for distance and entertainment value. Birdman rallies occur in multiple locations around the world, including Bognor Regis and Worthing in the United Kingdom, the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia and Lake Biwa in Japan and in China, which has been created by regular entrants in the Bognor Regis event. History The oldest Birdman rally in the world started in Selsey, West Sussex, United Kingdom in 1971. Moved to Bognor Regis, where it was known as the International Bognor Birdman throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the event moved along the coast to Worthing in 2008 and since 2010 annual rallies have been held in both Bognor Regis and Worthing. The Australian competition first started in 1972 in Glenelg, South Australia but now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wind Rises
is a 2013 Japanese animated historical drama film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi, Toho and KDDI. It was released in Japan on 20 July 2013 by Toho, and in North America by Touchstone Pictures on 21 February 2014. ''The Wind Rises'' is a fictionalised biographical film of Jiro Horikoshi (1903–1982), designer of the Mitsubishi A5M fighter aircraft and its successor, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, used by the Empire of Japan during World War II. The film was adapted from Miyazaki's manga of the same name, which itself combines elements from two unrelated sources; Tatsuo Hori's 1937 semi-autobiographical novel ''The Wind Has Risen'' and the life of Jiro Horikoshi. It was supposed to be the final film directed by Miyazaki, released just before the public announcement of his intention to retire in September 2013. ''The Wind Rises'' was the highest-grossi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jiro Horikoshi
was the chief engineer of many Japanese fighter designs of World War II, including the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. Early life Jiro Horikoshi was born near the city of Fujioka, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, in 1903. Horikoshi graduated from the newly established Aviation Laboratory (Kōkū Kenkyūjo) within the Engineering Department of the University of Tokyo, and started his career in Mitsubishi Internal Combustion Engine Company Limited, which later became Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagoya Aircraft Manufacturing Plant. Engineering career One of Jiro Horikoshi's first works was the flawed Mitsubishi 1MF10, an experimental aircraft that never passed the prototype stage after some flight tests. However, lessons learned from this design led to the development of the far more successful Mitsubishi A5M ( Allied codename "Claude") which entered mass production in 1936. In 1937, Horikoshi and his team at Mitsubishi were asked to design Prototype 12 (corresponding to the 12th yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
