@ Tokorozawa, Japan
April 2024
I was able to visit the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum on a recent trip, one highlight was this nice looking indigenous Fuji T-1B trainer jet. First flown in 1958, this was Japan’s first jet-powered trainer aircraft, first mass-produced jet and their first aircraft to have swept wings. Entering service in 1960, a total of 66 T-1 planes were built, reduced from the planned 200 due to the availability of Lockheed T-33 trainers. Only twenty of these Bravo models would be built. The use of underwing fuel tanks was to address a shortcoming in operating range for the type. The T-1s were retired in 2006, replaced by the modern Kawasaki T-4. Fuji Heavy Industries was the postwar successor to the Nakajima Aircraft Company. Though Japanese aircraft do not usually have names, there are some online references to the T-1 having the name Hatsutaka.
