Melzer, 2020

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Juergen P. Melzer. 2020. Wings for the Rising Sun. Harvard U Press.

The book is about the long history of Japanese aviation up to 1945. It's clear, well sourced, and unique.

It has more than 50 pages about the early aero period, going from 1877 to WWI. Patents are barely mentioned.

Notes

  • The Japanese Army and Navy conducted most of the balloon experiments, and then airplane experiments.
  • The Navy imitated the French Navy, and the Army followed German and British models. (p12)
  • The Ministry of the Army was established in 1872. It was called Rikugunshō.
  • Both were "estranged" from society generally, and there was widespread opposition to conscription, which was required. Their top officials had an interest in finding some way to achieve popularity, and aero offered a way. (p12)
  • On balloon technology: Japanese balloons were often made of glued-together layers of washi paper, made from the bark of mulberry trees.
  • Hydrogen and hot air were the two kinds of lift. Helium was not available commercially until after 1900.
  • Hot air balloons had to be at least 4 times bigger, so hydrogen was preferred.
  • In a review of this book ([1]), Takashi Nishiyama has the interesting statement that "research and development [in Japan] receive[s] scant attention, with no mention of the French- and, later, German-style wind tunnels used in Japan." Let's investigate that separately: Japanese wind tunnels.

Index

The names of many participants and institutions before 1920 are identified and discussed:

  • Abe Hiroshi 88
  • Clément Ader 25
  • Aeronautical Research Institute / Tokyo Imperial University 3
  • Aichi Tokei 80
  • Atsuta Arsenal 61
  • Thomas Scott Baldwin 19
  • Henri Berthaut 57
  • Louis Blériot 25-26ō
  • Costruzioni Mecchaniche Aeronautiche 98
  • Glenn Curtiss 25
  • Gabriele D'Annunzio 36
  • Etienne De Villaret 57
  • Claude Dornier xxi, 72-3
  • Giulio Douhet 52
  • Henri Farman 25-26
  • Jacques-Paul Faure 57-64
  • French Aeronautical Mission, 40, 56-64
  • Gifu Station
  • Sir Edward Grey 44
  • Ernst Heinkel 72
  • Hino Kumazo 26-41
  • Max Immelmann 52
  • Imperial Japanese Army Academy (Rikugun Shikan Gakko) 57
  • Inoue Ikutaro 54-56
  • Inter-Allied Aeronautical Commission of Control 71-72
  • Iwaya Sazanami 35-36
  • Marcel Jauneaud 81-82
  • Hugo Junkers 73
  • Erich Just 99
  • Kakamigahara Airfield, xxxvi, 60
  • Kasumigaura Air Base 78
  • Katagiri Shohei 88
  • Kawasaki 80
  • Kawata Akiharu, 22-25
  • Koiso Kuniaki, 72-73
  • Kure Naval Arsenal 24
  • Kusakari Shiro 43, 50-54
  • Marquerie, Charles Antoine 57
  • Rudolf Martin 36
  • Mitsubishi Shoji 77
  • Mitsui Bussan 76-77
  • National Order of the Legion of Honor, 43
  • Okuma Shigenbu, 44
  • Osaka Asahi newspaper, 59-60
  • Osaka Mainichi newspaper 46
  • Gunther Pluschow, 49
  • Provisional Committee for Military Balloon Research (Renji Gunyo Kikyu Kenkyu Kai)
  • Eugene Regnault 58
  • Adolf Rohrbach, 73
  • Charles Roux 41
  • Rumpler Taube monoplane 47-48
  • Shidehara Kijuro, 83
  • Shigeno Kiyotake 41-43, 51
  • Shimazu Genzo 17-18
  • Shinohara Shunichiro 88
  • Wilhelm Solf, 99
  • Spad, 43, 51
  • Percival Spencer, 19
  • Spring Offensive, 57
  • Sugiyama Gen, 97-98
  • Tachikawa, xxvi, 89
  • Takezaki Tomokichi, 97-99
  • Tanaka Giichi, 55-56
  • Temporary Committee for Aviation Technique and Practice, 58
  • Terauchi Masatake 20, 22, 23
  • Tokorozawa, xxvi, 34, 36, 54-55, 60-61, 77-78
  • Tokorozawa Flight School, 3, 65, 96
  • Tokugawa Yoshitoshi 26-31, 33-38, 41-42
  • Tokyo Army Arsenal, 46
  • Tsukiji: Aircraft Test Laboratory at, first balloon launch at, 14-16
  • Ugaki Disarmament, 83-84
  • Ugaki Kazushige, 70, 83-85
  • Voisin 43
  • Wakadori 41-42
  • Washington Naval Treaty, 6, 83
  • Watanabe Kotato 75, 82
  • H. G. Wells, 36
  • wind tunnels 4, 73
  • Orville and Wilbur Wright, 25-26,30
  • Wright Company, 215, 218
  • Yamada Isaburo 19-22, 24, 38
  • Yamada Airship no. 2, 21
  • Yamanashi Disarmament 83
  • Yamanashi Hanzo, 79, 83
  • Yokusuka Naval Air Arsenal (Kaigun Kokusho) 24, 45
  • Yomimuri Shinbun 14, 46, 113
  • Yoyogi flight 29-36, 38, 66
  • Yoyogi Parade Ground 89
  • Zeppelin-Staaken R.XV, 77


Original title Wings for the Rising Sun
Simple title Wings for the Rising Sun
Authors Juergen P. Melzer
Date 2020
Countries JP, DE, FR
Languages en
Keywords Japan, military
Journal
Related to aircraft? 1
Page count
Word count
Wikidata id