R.Mikesh, A.Shorzoe Japanese Aircraft, 1910-1941 (Putnam)
Sonoda
Takehiko Sonoda was one of the early civilian aviators who were typical in coming from distinguished and affluent Japanese families. He was born in London when his father, Kokichi Sonoda, was with the Japanese consulate in England. After he returned to Japan where he finished his secondary school education, he went back to Britain and later graduated from the Glasgow Polytechnic in mechanical engineering. He accepted several jobs in various factories and a shipyard, all the while developing an interest in aviation. Eventually he was employed by the Handley Page Aircraft Co.
Sonoda Aeroplane
The British pioneer Frederick Handley Page was always interested in new design ideas for his aeroplanes. As an employee in the summer of 1912, Takehiko Sonoda influenced Handley Page's aeroplanes with a significantly improved approach in aircraft design.
Sonoda had designed an advanced two-seat biplane and wanted Handley Page to build it. Apart from providing useful paid work for Handley Page, Sonoda's design was of great interest because he had incorporated ailerons in the upper wing in place of the Handley Page practice of using wing warping for lateral control. Handley Page was so impressed by their advantages that after exhibiting his own Yellow Peril monoplane at the 1913 Olympia show, he fitted it with wide-chord ailerons which gave it much improved handling qualities.
The Sonoda Aeroplane was a wood and fabric two-bay unequal-span biplane with marked stagger. The covered fuselage was mounted on short struts above the lower wing and in its nose was the 60hp Green water-cooled inline engine which Sonoda had bought with his father's financial assistance. The fuel tank was above the upper wing centre section, and there was a large radiator on each side of the fuselage near the centre of gravity. The undercarriage was conventional and had a central skid to prevent nosing-over. A deep tailskid held the Sonoda at about flying attitude while on the ground.
The aeroplane was finished in duck-egg blue, had the name Sonoda on the fuselage in large capital letters and the Japanese rising-sun flag was painted on the rudder.
The Sonoda biplane was built at Barking in Essex and taken to the London Aerodrome at Hendon for assembly. It was apparently rolled-out on 7 July and is reported as being first flown on 7 September, 1912, by Handley Page's pilot Cyril W. Meredith. The aeroplane was included in a line-up of types on the Naval and Military Aviation Day at Hendon on 28 September and soon after that was badly damaged in a forced landing following engine failure. Unfortunately no technical data are known to have survived.
Thus Sonoda's flying experience ended and he returned to Japan, keeping the promise that by having his father's financing of the engine, that this would be his only aeroplane and that he would not become an aviator. This engine was later installed in Einosuke Shirato's Asahi-go for flying demonstrations at various locations around Japan. Baron Takehiko Sonoda later became a member of the House of Peers.
M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
SONODA biplane (T. Sonoda, Hendon & Japan)
Handley Page built this biplane at Barking and it appeared at Hendon for the first time on the 7 July 1912. It was displayed at the Naval and Military Aviation Day at Hendon on the 28 September 1912 but crashed with damage to the undercarriage and propeller two days later, when being flown by C.W. Meredith. There were no further reports of this machine.
The two bay biplane resembled a French Zodiac machine and the design incorporated original control features by Sonoda. The unequal span wings of parallel chord were staggered and the top overhang was braced by struts. Single acting ailerons were fitted to the top wing only, which mounted a gravity fuel tank above the center section.
The fuselage was carried on struts above the lower wing and was mounted directly on the undercarriage, which was of split axle type with a center skid and long compression struts connected at the top longerons. Protective hoops were attached to the lower wing at the tips.
The tail unit consisted of a long triangular dorsal fin and top and bottom rudders; there was no bottom fin, but the lower rudder was protected by a tall tail skid. The tailplane, mounted on the centerline of the fuselage, was similar in length and shape to the fin and carried a one piece elevator. Radiators were mounted on either side of the cockpit area.
The aircraft was painted pale blue with the designer's name in large letters, tapering in depth, on the fuselage sides. The Japanese flag appeared on the top rudder and the legend that the machine had been constructed by Handley Page Ltd. of 72 Victoria St., London SW.
Power: 60hp Green four-cylinder inline water-cooled.
P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)
Sonoda Biplane
Handley Page Ltd. constructed the two-seat tractor biplane which was designed by T. Sonoda of Japan and embodied his system of lateral control. The engine was the 60 h.p. Green. The machine made its first appearance in July, 1912, at Hendon, and was tested there on the following 7th September by Cyril W. Meredith. It was on display on the occasion of the Naval and Military Aviation Day held at Hendon on 28th September, 1912, but was crashed shortly after in October at the same aerodrome by Meredith following engine failure. The colouring was duck-egg blue overall, with the rudder emblazoned with the Japanese national flag in red and white.