Japan - Haji USAF Gyrodyne XRON-1 Rotorcycle

This odd looking aircraft was built by the Gyrodyne Corporation of America under contract by the Navy with the intention of being deployed on destroyers. They were meant to carry one small torpedo or be used as unmanned drones. Utilizing coaxial rotors and an open framework it first flew in 1955. It was also being developed for the Marines who eventually decided it was too heavy and too difficult to fly and canceled the project. The Navy on the other hand liked its small size and load carrying capacity and continued development. The Navy went on to designate it as the QH-50 but changes mandated by the service essentially killed the program and by 1961 all testing had stopped.

Courtesy Wikipedia

In typical toy company fashion, the Haji Gyrodyne sports incorrect markings. Gyrodyne's were never flown by the Air Force, but for whatever reason they chose to have this thing piloted by a U.S. Air Force pilot vs. a Navy pilot. The toy is decent enough representation of the real thing that a helicopter enthusiast would recognize its lineage having the contra-rotating props, rotorless tail, and open framework of the original XRON-1. Unfortunately my example's pilot is missing his right arm on which the control stick was attached.  The two propellers do turn in opposite directions but my sample seems to work better when the friction motor is being pushed backwards! From tip of rotor to the the tail it measures 9 1/4" (23.49cm) L. The 'fuselage' is 5 1/2" (13.97cm) L x 2 1/8" (5.39cm) W and the overall height is 7" (17.78cm). Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Posed here on my new shelf display with other Air Force toys - might as well stick with the Air Force theme the toy company chose

Japan - Haji Mansei Toys F-104

Gosh, it's been busy as heck over on our end but I finally carved out a few minutes to take, edit, and upload photos of the latest addition to the air fleet, this Haji Mansei Toys F-104. Of course this toy in no way, shape, or form resembles the F-104 Starfighter and is a lot closer to an F-86 Sabre (close but still a caricature) and measures 5 3/4" (14.60cm) L 4" (10.16cm) wingspan x 2 1/4" (5.71cm) H. I've said it before on the blog that when it came to airplanes  toy companies played fast and loose with designs, markings, and designations but in the end analysis this is just a toy - and a cool one too! Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Haji V-3 Rocket

Today's vintage toy is this neat little friction-motored V-3 rocket from Haji of Japan which probably dates from the mid-to-late '50s. It's well known that after WWII America had confiscated German V-2 rockets which were reverse engineered and used for the rocket testing program here and I wonder if Haji tried to jump on that bandwagon by offering a V-3 as a supposed next stage in the development. Of course that's just wild speculation but toy companies have done stranger things. The color scheme is quite muted, and frankly a little depressing, with its overall dark blue fuselage with a hint of white (since aged to a mellow cream color) and red. The rocket measures 5 3/4" (14.6cm) L x 3 3/8" (8.6cm) wingspan x 2 1/4" (5.7cm) H. Enjoy!