R.Mikesh, A.Shorzoe Japanese Aircraft, 1910-1941 (Putnam)

Tsuzuku No.2 Aeroplane

   Recognizing the power loss with a chain-drive transmission system, Tsuzuku built a new aeroplane, this time with a single propeller attached directly to the engine in the front of the aeroplane. This aeroplane incorporated features of both the Rumpler Taube and the Bleriot, and was completed in mid-June 1912. On 18 July of that year, during a training flight for Tsuzuku at Tokorozawa, a crash landing was made, flipping the aeroplane over and damaging the port wing. After repairs, the aeroplane was in the air again on 17 August at Tokorozawa. Four flights were made that day, all with increasing distances up to a maximum of more than three miles.
   Under sponsorship of the Shinano Mainichi newspaper, Tsuzuku took his aeroplane to Nagano Prefecture to make exhibition flights along the Sai River on 3 November, 1912. When preparing to land, in avoiding spectators, he had to land on unsuitable ground and badly damaged the airframe. A number of demonstration flights were made for military as well as civilian spectators by Tsuzuku with this aeroplane, many of which had similar endings followed by repeated repairs. Its ultimate fate is unrecorded.

   Single-engine tractor monoplane. Wooden structure with fabric-covered wings and empennage. Pilot in open structure.
   50hp Anzani five-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, driving a two-bladed wooden propeller.
   Span 12m (39ft 4 1/2in); length 10m (32ft 9 1/2in).
   Empty weight 300kg (661lb).
   One built in June 1912.