Nippon (aircraft)

Nippon was a Mitsubishi G3M2 Model 21 bomber converted for civil use and operated by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. With its armament removed, the latest autopilot fitted and fuel capacity raised to 5,200 litres, enough for about 24 hours of continuous flight, it left Haneda airport in Tokyo on 25 August 1939 and returned on 20 October 1939, after a round-the-world flight of 55 days, 52,886 km and 194 flying hours. The route ran from Tokyo through Nome in Alaska and across the United States, down the length of South America to Buenos Aires and Santos, across the South Atlantic to Dakar and Casablanca, and home through Spain, Greece, Iraq, India and Southeast Asia. Seven people were aboard, including the captain Sumitoshi Nakao and Takeo Ohara, aerial director of the Mainichi Shimbun.