Following the 1989 retirement of PS-1 ASW patrol plying boat, the related US-1 remains in military service in Japan.
A total of 20 were produced to serve with the 71st Kokutai (Flight Squadron) of the JMSDF in the SAR role. The first
US-1 (serial 9071) was delivered to the JMSDF on 11MAR75 and the last one (serial 9090) was delivered on 22FEB05.
From the 7th machine (serial 9077) the designation was changed to US-1"A" because its engine was changed from the
original T64-IHI-10 engine to more powerful -10J version. The earlier production machines of 9071/73/74/75/76 had
later been converted from US-1 to US-1A during SEP81-JAN86. There were some other minor modifications during the
long service life and they were as follows.
1) The PS-1/US-1 has unique design on the forward lower fuselage in order to improve the water spray suppression
capabilities. From the 3rd machine the minor design change was implemented and the shape of the rear end of the
spray supression plate was changed. The Hasegawa's 1/72 US-1 kit part is molded in the older shape/design, so if
you wish to build it with the serial 9073 or higher, you need to modify the shape by using my photos below.
2) From the 4th machine of 9074, the main hatch design on the port rear fuselage was changed in order to improve
workability during the rescue activities. In short, the hatch became wider and larger. The Hasegawa's kit part is molded
in the older (smaller) hatch design, so if you wish to build it with the serial 9074 or higher, you need to modify the shape
by using my photos below.
3) The first two machines (9071/72) had a fence on upper side of the inboard engine nacelle. From the 3rd machine,
the same fences were added on the outboard engine nacelles as well
If you wish to build a Hasegawa's US-1 model, I think you can use the following photos as useful reference.
日本のマニアの皆様は、US-1の実機に何度も出会い良くご存知と思いますので、日本語での余計な解説文は割愛致します。
US-1A (#9078)
Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum
Kakamigahara, Gifu-Pref. Japan
photographed on 14JUN12
This is the 8th machine of the US-1A displayed at
Kakamigahara Museum. I was able to take pictures
from the observation deck on the roof of the museum
building, so I can show you some photos of upper
surfaces of the fuselage and the tail wing below.
The US-1A serialled 9078 was delivered to the JMSDF
on 11MAR83 and retired on 12DEC95.
各務原に展示されているUS-1Aは屋外展示の割に保存
状態は良好ですので、US-1のプラモを作られる予定の
方は一度訪問されても良いかなと思います。特に博物館
屋上の展望台から双眼鏡でも使えば、普段観察することが出来ない胴体や翼の上面の細部まで観察出来ます。
高い位置の水平尾翼の上まで見えますよ。
You can enlarge all the photos by clicking on images. クリックで画像を拡大出来ます
