Introduction

In 1925, the Danish Air Force (Hærens Flyverkorpset) ordered five Fokker C.V-Bs.

The Danes already had flying experience with other Fokkers such as the C.I, the D.VII and the S.III and therefore had confidence in Fokkers.

The first C.V-Bs were delivered by ship, later the Danish Air Force built them under license.

A plan had already been made to make a long-haul flight and Tokyo became the destination.

Two C.V-Bs were modified for this purpose, including the installation of additional fuel tanks as well as very modern navigation equipment.

At various places along the route, such as Karachi, Bangkok and Tokyo, depots with spare parts were established.

The two pilots were Capt. Botved and Lt. Herschend. The mechanics who flew along were Petersen and Olsen.

On March 16, 1926, they took off from Kløvermarken Airport near Copenhagen.

The journey can be described as a series of setbacks, bad luck and Botved's illness.

They got lost in dense clouds, nearly crashed on flooded airfields, suffered leaking fuel tanks and much more.

The Loiraine Dietrich 12Db engines regularly became too hot (despite the extra cooling) or gave other problems.

After an emergency landing of the R-2 in a rice field near Rangoon, Botveld would fly alone to Tokyo.

During one of the later emergency landings, the aircraft was almost completely dismantled by a crowd of Chinese. In Yokohama, the plane was overhauled and fitted with a new engine.

On June 1, the C.V-B "R-1" reached Tokyo, accompanied by an escort of Japanese aircraft.

Capt. Botved received the Gold Medal of Honor from the Japanese Aviation Club.

Source: Köbenhavn - Tokyo - Köpenhavn. Copenhagen, Gyldendals Forlagstrykkeri, 1926.