100 Year Anniversary – “Le Prieur No.2″ – December 9th 2009

The 100 year anniversary of the first manned aircraft flight on Japanese soil back on December 9th 1909 was celebrated at Yasuda Auditorium at the University of Tokyo, Japan, on December 9th, 2009.

Prof. Shinji Suzuki (The University of Tokyo), the initiator and main organizer of the event.

Mr. Hironori Aihara, grandson of  Lt. Shirou Aibara of the Japanese Navy

Mr. Akira Matsuura, great grandson of Prof. Aikitsu Tanakadate of Tokyo Imperial University

Yasuda Auditorium, the site of the ceremony

The Making Of video of the 1/10 scale model of the first glider to fly in Japan “Le Prieur No.2″

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Project Outline:

This project was founded by Prof. Shinji Suzuki of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of The University of Tokyo.  Franco-Japanese collaboration on the glider “Le Prieur No. 2″ celebrated it’s 100 years anniversary on December 9th 2009.

Within this project, student’s of the University of Tokyo and Dassault Systemes Japan K.K. brought the glider and the environment around Ueno Koen alive by creating a realtime 3d animation. This 3d evironment toghether with a 1/10 scale model of the glider was presented at the 100 year anniversary ceremony involving the French Embassy in Japan at Yasuda Autditorium on Hongo camous of the University of Tokyo.

History:

“The first human flight in Japan was made on 5 December 1909 in a glider. The machine was invented by Yves Paul Gaston Le Prieur, an attaché of the French Embassy in Tokyo, and Lt. Shirou Aibara of the Japanese Navy. A boy flew onboard their biplane with a box-type tail. The plane was 6.8 meters long and 7.2 meters wide and had 4-wheel landing gear. (The glider to be build is based on the final 7.2 m long glider version (version 4)) It flew 15 meters at a height of four meters on 5 December 1909 after a ground run by the power of several people. Five days later, Le Prieur took off with a ground run pulled by an automobile and flew about 100 meters.” cited from here.

The Scale model:

The scale model was based on photographs of the original glider and drawings created by Mr. Richard Ansell. With at scale of 1/10, the model has a  length of 720mm and a span of 700 mm . A pilot figure of about 17 cm height representing a real pilot of 170 mm height was created from a wooden figure.

The introductory narration to the 3dvia animation by Dassault Systems Japan K.K. in EN, JP and FR created and translated by students of the University of Tokyo.

【English ver.】

100 years ago, just to the East of the University of Tokyo, Japanese aviation began, at Shinobazu Pond. An attaché of the French Embassy in Tokyo, Yves Paul Gaston Le Prieur, had prepared a glider, in collaboration with Shirou Aibara, a Lt. of the Japanese Navy, and Aikitsu Tanakadate, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University. That glider was 7.2 m long, 7.0 m wide, and weighed 35 kg. The frame was made of Japanese bamboo, which was covered with calico. Le Prieur sat on the glider’s main wing, waiting to make the first manned flight in Japanese history…

In December 1909, the Franco-Japanese glider was unveiled to the public for its first flight. With the hopes and dreams of the Japanese people resting on the shoulders of the three aviation pioneers, their glider leaped into the air.

The first flight of Le Prieur covering only 200 m at an altitude of 10 m, may seem small in comparison with the capabilities of current aircraft. However, it was a giant leap forward for Japanese aviation, as it marked the beginning of manned flight here. Although 100 years have passed since that pioneering flight, the indomitable spirit of Yves Le Prieur, Shirou Aibara and Aikitsu Tanakadate still burns in the hearts of their countrymen who aim for the sky.

【日本語 ver.】

時を遡ること100年、1909年12月、ここ東京大学の東に位置する不忍池にて新たなる歴史が始まろうとしていた。全長7.２m、翼幅7.０m、重量３５ｋｇ、竹を骨格とし、布を表面に纏ったグライダーは、ル・プリエールをその翼に乗せて、運命の時を待っていた。

このグライダーに携わったのは在日フランス大使館付ル・プリウール武官、相原四郎海軍大尉、田中館愛橘東京帝国大学教授の3人であった。

12月９日、幾多の困難を乗り越えて日仏合作の機体は不忍池に現れた。（3人と、）空を夢見る多くの人々の期待（と希望）を背負って、翼は前人未踏の空へと舞い上がった。

高度10m、距離200m、現代の航空技術を以てすれば、造作もない距離かもしれない。しかしながら、それは日本の航空史における偉大な跳躍であり、幕開けであった。そして、ル･プリエール武官、相原四郎海軍大尉、田中館愛橘教授、3人の挑戦と情熱は100年たった今も色あせることなく日仏両国の大空を目指す者の心の中に息づいている。

【French ver.】

Il y a désormais cent ans, l’histoire de l’aviation japonaise connut ses débuts au lac Shinobazu à l’est de l’Université de Tokyo. Yves Paul Gaston Le Prieur, attaché de l’Ambassade de France à Tokyo, avait conçu un planeur en collaboration avec Shirou Aibara, lieutenant de la Marine japonaise, et Aikitsu Tanakadate, professeur de l’Université Impériale de Tokyo. Le planeur faisait 7,2 m de long et 7 m d’envergure, et pesait 35 kg. L’ossature du planeur, faite de bambou, était couverte de tissu. Le Prieur était assis sur l’aile principale, attendant d’accomplir le premier vol habité dans l’histoire du Japon.

En décembre 1909, le planeur franco-japonais fut dévoilé au public pour son premier vol. Avec les espoirs et les rêves du peuple japonais reposant sur les épaules de ses trois concepteurs, le planeur s’éleva dans les airs.

Les performances du premier vol de Le Prieur, couvrant 200 m à une altitude de 10 m, peuvent paraître modestes en comparaison des capacités des avions actuels. Néanmoins, ce vol fit faire un bond considérable à l’aviation japonaise, dans la mesure où il marqua le commencement des vols habités dans le pays. Depuis, cent ans ont passé, mais la passion et la détermination d’ Yves Le Prieur, Shirou Aibara et Aikitsu Tanakadate brûlent toujours dans le cœur de leurs compatriotes visant à s’élever dans les airs.

- for photos from 1909 (JP/EN): http://www.ndl.go.jp/scenery/index.html

- Who was Yves Paul Gaston Le Prieur (EN): http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/le_prieur.html

- French-Japanese event at Paris Air Show in June 2009 (JP/EN): http://www.sjac.or.jp/common/pdf/kaihou/200907/20090704.pdf

- Article from the French Embassy about 100 years of Franco-Japanese aviation (JP): http://www.ambafrance-jp.org/article.php3?id_article=3524

ACKNOLEDGEMENTS

Organized by:  The University of Tokyo, The Embassy of France to Japan and The Aeronautics and Astronautics Association of Japan

Supported by: GIFAS/Japan Committee, SJAC, JAA, The Asahi Shimbun Company, JSAL, JSA, SFJTI, JSASS

Sponsored by: GIFAS Japan Committee, Embassy of France to Japan , Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. , Research Center of Computational Mechanics, Inc. , Goko Corporation , All Nippon Airways, Mitsubishi Cooperation, Japan Airlines Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., FROMPAGE Co. Ltd , Dassault Systèmes K.K ./Yasuhiro Aihara, Tatsumi Sakurai, Nobuo Toda, Kazuo Suzuki, Yoshiaki Suwa

Chair by Ms. Masako Okano, Project Associate Professor in Center for Aviation Innovation Research, the University of Tokyo

※ Special thanks to Mr. Richard Ansell for providing 2D drawings for the glider model and to Mr.Masaaki Muraoka’s book “Kokukotohajime” for old photographs.