Tachikawa Ki-77 Threads

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Ki-77 Mission to Germany

Posted By: Larry deZeng <Hldeziv@aol.com>

Date: Thursday, 28 June 2001, at 6:26 a.m.

Can anyone shed some fresh light on this little-known historical footnote, that apparently was still a mystery as late as the 1970s? Some of you guys are pretty sharp on this stuff, so I have my hopes up!

On page 264 of Francillon's "Japanese Aircraft" it is stated that, "A second prototype (i.e., the Ki-77) began flight trials the following month to be readied for the "Seiko" (Success) flight between Japan and Germany. This flight was actually attempted on 7 July, 1943, but the aircraft was lost over the Indian Ocean, possibly due to an encounter with British fighters, on its way from Singapore to Berlin."

The same month, RAF "Y" Service personnel intercepted the following ULTRA signal from Berlin dated 7 July 1943 to Kdo.d.Flughafenbereich 6/VI (Airfield Regional Command) at Sarabus, Crimea, which exercised authority over the entire Luftwaffe air base complex in Crimea at the time:

"On 8/7 an allied aircraft will fly via air grid squares 3420, 2560 and 2510 to Sarabus. It is a two engined low wing monoplane, wing span 30 metres, metal fuselage, natural colour, wings grey. The aircraft must not be fired on under any circumstances." The ULTRA signals intelligence analyst at Blechley Park then appended the following note: "This presumably refers to undertaking "GOA" in which an aircraft was flying to Sarabus from Tokio via Singapore." (ULTRA signal CX/MSS 2867/T8).

Does anyone know if this mystery was ever solved? Was the Ki-77 shot down by RAF fighters? Have there been any articles about this operation and flight since Francillon penned the above in 1970? I recall running across a reference or two to this mission in years gone by, but I can no longer recall the details. It sounds like the sort of thing that might have appeared in Air Enthusiast or the Journal of the AAHS. Any ideas?

Re: Ki-77 Mission to Germany *PIC*

Posted By: Deniz Karacay <denizkaracay@yahoo.com>

Date: Tuesday, 3 July 2001, at 7:46 a.m.

In Response To: Ki-77 Mission to Germany (Larry deZeng)

There was little left to add to Andrew's excellent post. Here is some pics from AIRPOWER July 1976, "Across Pacific" by Robert Mikesh.

A26 was infact designed for Asahi Journal as a ultra long range a/c to reach New York from Tokyo for a record breaking flight. Designation A26 comes from A for Asahi 26 for 26th century (1940) since the establishment of Japan.

The world had waited till Nov 1975 for a direct flight from NY to Tokyo by a Boeing 747SP. Among the passengers Dr. Hidemasa Kimura design leader of A26! At the VIP lounge he said "It was a long wait... but a very comfortable ride"