Kobeseiko Te-Go

Kobeseiko Te-Go
テ号観測機 / Te-go Kansoku-ki / Te-Go observation aircraft

History:
Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was a legend both for its properties and for its appearance, news of such an aircraft quickly reached Japan. The Japanese Air Force was very interested in such an aircraft with a short takeoff and landing. Through its military attaché in Berlin, Storch sought to purchase or arrange for its licensed production. Unfortunately, in the end, not a single variant was realized and so in Japan a completely own design was created - an observation aircraft Kokusai Ki-76.

The Japanese aircraft was only inspired by Storch and there is no question of a copy. The Army Air Force used this aircraft to perform observation and liaison tasks, as well as for anti-submarine patrols. It was powered by a more powerful Hitachi Ha-42 star engine and the machine was also more powerful than the German ideological model. Finally, on April 28, 1941, Storch arrived in Japan in a disassembled state, less than a month before the take-off of the Ki-76 prototype. The Japanese pilots, in June of the same year after the tests, evaluated their own design better than the German one. According to Japanese tests, Storch had only a shorter landing.

Storch eventually got to Japan, but the Japanese no longer showed interest in it, but bought the rights to license the production of engines Argus As 10C, so they got the engine that powered Storcha. Rikugun Koku Hombu (Army Air Force Command) wanted to have in reserve another type of observation aircraft, which could be smaller and simpler thanks to a lighter engine. The development of this aircraft was commissioned in 1941 by the Imperial University in Osaka. The aircraft did not receive any military designation by the system Kitai. The work on the project and later also the construction work was led by prof. Tetsuo Miki of the Aviation Department.

This construction was also influenced by the German Storch, a strut topplane was created on a high sprung landing gear. The construction of the aircraft was mixed, the fuselage was made of tubes and wood, the whole was covered with canvas, the whole except the engine covers and panels around the cabin, here was used dural. The wing had an all-wood construction, which was covered with canvas or plywood. Unlike the Ki-76 or Storch, the leading edge of the wing formed a retractable slot (the Ki-76 and Storch had a fixed slot), on the trailing edge of the wing were large flaps of a similar design as the Fowler flaps. The two-member crew had an easier view down below the aircraft facilitated by side windows. The defense was to provide one machine gun Type 89 with drum magazines, which could be extended only partially after moving the rear of the cabin. Thanks to the used engine Argus As 10c with Te-Go aircraft, such was the designation of the aircraft, very similar to his German model.

The production did not take place, because during one of the demonstration flights, it took off in 1942, the machine crashed, the left landing gear leg broke and then the left wing collapsed. This aircraft reportedly had even better features than the Ki-76 Stella. The prototype was made by a small factory Kobeseiko (Kobe Seikoyo) Kabushiki Kaisha. Some sources state that two prototypes were built, the second prototype was to be destroyed in an American air raid shortly after its completion.

Sources used for the full post:
René J. Francillon Ph.D., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Naval Institute Press, 1987, Reprinted 1990, ISBN: 0-87021-313-X
Tadeusz Januszewski and Kryzysztof Zalewski, Japońskie samoloty marynarski 1912-1945, part 1., Lampart, year 2000, ISBN: 83-86776-50-1
Mgr. Ivan Víšek, Te-Go or "Stork" from the Pacific, Revi No. 33, August 2000, pp. 36-37, ISSN 1211-0744
https://www.aviastar.org/air/japan/kobe_tego.php
uk.geocities.com
ja.wikipedia.org
https://www.airwar.ru/enc/spyww2/tego.html
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