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Description
By the 1930s, several countries were trying to set records for long-distance aviation. Britain flew the Fairey Long-Range Monoplane to Namibia; France, the Dewoitine D.332 to Vietnam; Russia, the Tupolev ANT-25 to California. Meanwhile, in Japan, Tokyo Imperial University commissioned an airplane that would set the record on a closed circuit. In 1934, the university selected the Tokyo Gas & Electric Industry (now Hino Motors) to build the aircraft, despite that company's aircraft manufacturing history being confined to small, light planes.

By 1937, the long-distance airplane was complete. It was known as Gasuden Koken (Gas & Electric Research Aircraft) or Koken-Ki (Research Aircraft). This aircraft had a 92-foot wingspan, was powered by a 715-horsepower Kawasaki-BMW engine, and carried a crew of three in the cramped cabin. It flew four times, initially in May 1937, before starting its record-setting flight on May 13, 1938, the same day Louis Armstrong released the jazz classic "When the Saints Go Marching In." From May 13 to 15, it flew in a loop over Chiba, landing after having flown 11,651.011 kilometers (7239 miles) in a closed circuit.

Koken-Ki held the endurance record until an Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 flew 12,936 kilometers in 1939. Trying to recapture the endurance record during World War II, Japan flew the Tachikawa Ki-77/A-26 for 16,435 kilometers over occupied Manchuria, though the flight was not certified by the record-keeping FAI, and also tried to fly the same type of plane to Europe (likely Germany or occupied Ukraine). On that flight, the airplane vanished over the Indian Ocean, most likely due to British interception.

The only (official) record-setting Japanese aircraft ever built was burnt after World War II, and the occupation-imposed restrictions on the aviation industry prevented anything like Koken-Ki from ever being built again. Appropriately enough for its historical significance, a model of this experimental aircraft is on display at the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum in Saitama.

Description
By the 1930s, several countries were trying to set records for long-distance aviation. Britain flew the Fairey Long-Range Monoplane to Namibia; France, the Dewoitine D.332 to Vietnam; Russia, the Tupolev ANT-25 to California. Meanwhile, in Japan, Tokyo Imperial University commissioned an airplane that would set the record on a closed circuit. In 1934, the university selected the Tokyo Gas & Electric Industry (now Hino Motors) to build the aircraft, despite that company's aircraft manufacturing history being confined to small, light planes.

By 1937, the long-distance airplane was complete. It was known as Gasuden Koken (Gas & Electric Research Aircraft) or Koken-Ki (Research Aircraft). This aircraft had a 92-foot wingspan, was powered by a 715-horsepower Kawasaki-BMW engine, and carried a crew of three in the cramped cabin. It flew four times, initially in May 1937, before starting its record-setting flight on May 13, 1938, the same day Louis Armstrong released the jazz classic "When the Saints Go Marching In." From May 13 to 15, it flew in a loop over Chiba, landing after having flown 11,651.011 kilometers (7239 miles) in a closed circuit.

Koken-Ki held the endurance record until an Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 flew 12,936 kilometers in 1939. Trying to recapture the endurance record during World War II, Japan flew the Tachikawa Ki-77/A-26 for 16,435 kilometers over occupied Manchuria, though the flight was not certified by the record-keeping FAI, and also tried to fly the same type of plane to Europe (likely Germany or occupied Ukraine). On that flight, the airplane vanished over the Indian Ocean, most likely due to British interception.

The only (official) record-setting Japanese aircraft ever built was burnt after World War II, and the occupation-imposed restrictions on the aviation industry prevented anything like Koken-Ki from ever being built again. Appropriately enough for its historical significance, a model of this experimental aircraft is on display at the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum in Saitama.