The Tachikawa R-38 was a Japanese

training aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristic ...

of the late 1930s. It was a single-engined

parasol An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy (building), canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionall ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

that was intended for use by civil training schools. Two examples were built, with the Japanese Military's control of resources preventing any further production.

Design and development

In 1938, the

Tachikawa Aircraft Company was an aircraft manufacturer in the Empire of Japan, specializing primarily in aircraft for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. It was based at Tachikawa, Tokyo, Tachikawa, in Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture. History Tachikawa Aircraft In November 1 ...

, which was building large numbers of its Ki-9 and Ki-17 basic and primary trainers for the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

, began work on a new training aircraft for use by civilian training schools. The aircraft, the Tachikawa R-38, was a single-engined

parasol wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

. It had a fabric-covered welded steel tube

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

and a wood and metal wing. The student and instructor sat in separate tandem open cockpits. The first

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

was powered by a

Gasuden Jimpu The Gasuden Jimpu or Kamikaze (later produced by Hitachi) was a Japanese seven-cylinder air-cooled radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric), a line * Radius, adjective for ...

seven-cylinder

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

driving a two-bladed propeller and made its first flight on 22 February 1939. The aircraft was tested by the Japanese Army, with the conclusion that the lighter R-38 was superior to the Army's Ki-17 primary trainer, which used the same engine. As the Ki-17 was already in production, however, the Army had no need for a new trainer. A second prototype, the R-38-Kai was built powered by an experimental Kosoku KO-4 four-cylinder air-cooled inline engine, produced by a subsidiary of Tachikawa. The R-38-Kai flew in July 1941. No production of the R-38 or the R-38-Kai followed. From 1938, all major Japanese aircraft companies were required to be licensed by the government, with the armed services controlling the management of the companies. As there was no military requirement for the R-38, the Japanese Army prevented any further production.

Specifications (R-38)

References

* * {{Tachikawa aircraft R-38, Tachikawa R-38 Aircraft first flown in 1939