On April 9, 1937, a Japanese aircraft made the first ever flight by a Japanese built airplane to London, England, when the Mitsubishi Ki-15 Karigane nick named “Kamikaze” made the nearly 4 day flight. Not to be confused with the World War II Japanese suicide airplane missions dubbed Kamikaze (Divine Wind), this flight was purely peaceful in purpose, though it should have given a wake up call to British and American war planners that the Japanese aircraft industry had indeed entered the world stage as cutting edge in technology.
Digging Deeper
The Kamikaze, piloted by Masaaki Iinuma and navigated by Kenji Tsukagoshi, had a single Nakajima radial engine producing 640 horsepower and could reach a top speed of 298 mph. Built as a mail plane and light bomber, the fixed undercarriage belied the speed capability of the plane. About 500 of the planes were built starting in 1937, and they saw action in China that same year, actually faster than the Chinese fighters they originally faced.
