No.10 Wind from Mt.Fuji

Koukichi devoted himself to a study of flight again. He could not forget the feeling which he had succeeded in flying in Okayama 20 years ago. Now Koukichi was 50 years old. He felt his power declining.
Then he decided that he tried to fly once more.

He opened a small watchmaker shop on next door house of Yasuke's store. Even he started the new shop as a watchmaker, his goal was not succeeded this business, but also he could study the mechanism of flight.

He was clever with his fingers, so he repaired many clocks at perfection. And he made and handled a false tooth. Then he became a famous dentist as well.

And when Koukichi was at leisure, he went to the Abekawa river, a big river in Fucyu where the view of Mt.Fuji was wonderful. He was flying a kite which named "Surugadako" at the river bank with some children. While he taught some children how to fly kites, he also examined kites. He needed some techniques of kites for his next flight plan.

Koukichi began to design the wings and the mechanism of next flight.
One of his ideas was the mechanism of the directional control. It could control his flying machine to up, down, right and left. This mechanism could control the wings by weak power using gears, pulleys and rope.

Next his idea come up to traction method to take off. He had jumped down from a high position in Okayama, but there was no high place in Fuchyu. Then he thought of this traction method from flying a kite.

His designed wings were very large, the width of wings was 12 meters, and the length of them was 1.8 meters. And the flying control machine was set up in a large square box. Koukichi, crawled on all fours in this large square box, pulled a string by his left hand, then gears worked the left wing to up. Moreover, when he stretched his left foot, the tail wing moved upward. His flying machine was completed at last.

Koukichi carried his flying machine to a riverbank of the Abekawa river by a large cart at night.

He employed some river laborers as tractors. They did not know what Koukichi would like to do. However, Koukichi paied much money to them, they were no interested at all. It was a moonlight night, with a gentle wind.

Koukichi was now ready to fly. Some river laborers, were waiting for his sign to start. Then Koukichi said "Go! go!" to them, they started to run toward windward at the same time.

The Koukichi's body was floating up high in the wind. Koukichi was flying now. The laborers were surprised. But Koukichi did not mind it at all. He saw Mt. Fuji which could be seen faint at the sky. He was flying. This flight was higher and this soaring time was longer than the first flight in Okayama.

Koukichi was 50 years old, and 22 years had passed since he flew at first in 1785.