Historic flight plan

1928-1938: Japan Air Transport, Japan’s pre-war air network

A Michel Lagneau historic route presented as a clear cockpit briefing, ready to help you prepare the simulator, follow each stopover and enjoy the journey.

Period1928AuthorMichel LagneauReading3 min

22Waypoints~ 8 047 kmDistance2Segments

Interactive route, leg by leg, with animated playback.

Real route map

Approximate track based on the article waypoints and available aeronautical coordinates.

01Japanese network02Continental extensions

Pre-flight briefing

Japan Air Transport, Japan’s pre-war air network

Understand the mission

Start with the historic context: it sets the atmosphere, aircraft choice and overall logic of the journey.

Prepare the simulator

Check scenery, recommended aircraft, fuel and weather before launching the first leg.

Follow the legs

Use the airport codes, flying times and route notes to build your navigation leg by leg.

Enjoy the journey

Let the route shape the experience: adjust lighting, document waypoints and take time to rediscover the story.

Historic flight plan

Michel Lagneau route notebook

Settle into the cockpit, prepare your aircraft and follow the journey as a proper historic crossing.

Civil aviation and Japanese expansion

Japan Air Transport was created in 1928 through a state-backed merger, following the pattern of national airlines of the period. Its story belongs to a difficult context: Japanese military expansion, Korea’s annexation, the invasion of China and the growing use of civil aviation by the authorities.

The route rebuilds Japanese domestic lines, then extensions toward Taiwan, China, Korea and Beijing. A Douglas DC-3 works well for the network, while keeping the historical context in mind.

Period1928-1938

AirlineJapan Air Transport Ltd

Suggested aircraftDouglas DC-3 or classic trimotor

NavigationGPS with VOR/DME and ADF/NDB

Historical approach

The article covers a civil network developed in a tense political and military environment.
Historical names are paired with modern equivalents where useful.
The Sapporo - Tokyo - Fukuoka - Naha - Taipei progression gives the route a strong navigational spine before the continental extensions.

Suggested route

Japanese network

This chapter structures the Japanese network segment with regular legs and distances to monitor in the navigation block.

RJCO → RJSA → RJSU → RJSN → RJNT → RJTT → RJNN → RJBB → RJOR → RJOS → RJFF → ROAH

Taiwan, China and Korea

This chapter structures the Taiwan, China and Korea segment with regular legs and distances to monitor in the navigation block.

ROAH → RCSS → RCNN → RCSS → ZSNJ → ZSPD → ZSQD → RKTN → RKSM → ZKPY → ZBTJ → ZBAA

Navigation steps

Japanese networkSapporo RJCO → Aomori RJSA → Sendai / Kasuminome RJSU 146 NM then 151 NM
Sendai RJSU → Niigata RJSN → Nagano / overfly → Toyama RJNT 87 NM, 89 NM then 49 NM
Toyama RJNT → Tokyo / Haneda RJTT → Kanazawa / overfly → Nagoya RJNN 142 NM, 163 NM then 79 NM
Nagoya RJNN → Osaka / Kansai RJBB → Tottori RJOR → Tokushima RJOS 96 NM, 85 NM then 86 NM
Tokushima RJOS → Kobe / overfly → Moji / overfly → Fukuoka RJFF 72 NM then 34 NM
Fukuoka RJFF → Naha ROAH 467 NM
Taiwan, China and KoreaNaha ROAH → Taipei / Sungshan RCSS → Tainan RCNN → Taipei RCSS 338 NM, 145 NM then 145 NM
Taipei RCSS → Nanjing ZSNJ → Shanghai / Pudong ZSPD → Qingdao ZSQD 425 NM, 154 NM then 314 NM
Qingdao ZSQD → Daegu RKTN → Seoul Domestic RKSM 402 NM then 119 NM
Seoul RKSM → Pyongyang ZKPY → Tianjin ZBTJ → Beijing Capital ZBAA 387 NM then 67 NM