Mitsubishi A6M Zero Fighter - World War II Ceiling: 33,000 ft. Armament Guns: 2 × 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 97 machine guns (engine cowling), 2 × 20 mm (0.787 in) Type 99 cannons (wings) Bombs: Combat- 2 × 66 lb. and 1 × 132 lb. bombs, Kamikaze: 2 x fixed 550 lb. bombs A6M Zero - Design & Development: The design of the A6M Zero began in May 1937, shortly after the introduction of the Mitsubishi A5M fighter. Operating under the Imperial Japanese Navy's (IJN) specification "12-Shi," Mitsubishi and Nakajima commenced preliminary design work on a new carrier-based fighter, while waiting to receive the final requirements for the aircraft. These were issued by the IJN in October and were based upon the A5M's performance in the on-going Second Sino-Japanese War.

The final specifications called for the aircraft to possess two 7.7 mm machine guns, as well as two 20 mm cannon. In addition, each airplane was to have a radio direction finder for navigation and a full radio set. For performance, the IJN required that the new design be capable of 310 mph at 13,000 ft. and possess an endurance of two hours at normal power and six to eight hours at cruising speed (with drop tanks). As the aircraft was to be carrier-based, its wingspan was limited to 39 ft. (12m). Stunned by the navy's requirements, Nakajima pulled out of the project believing that such an aircraft could not be designed. At Mitsubishi, the company's chief designer, Jiro Horikoshi, began toying around potential designs. After initial testing, Horikoshi determined that the IJN's requirements could be met, but that the aircraft would have to be extremely light. Utilizing a new, top-secret aluminum, T-7178, he created an aircraft that sacrificed protection in favor of weight and speed.

As a result, the new design lacked armor to protect the pilot, as well as the self-sealing fuel tanks that were becoming standard on military aircraft. Possessing retractable landing gear and a low-wing monoplane design, the new A6M was one of the most modern fighters in the world when it completed testing. A6M Zero - Operational History: Entering service in 1940, the A6M became known as the Zero based on its official designation of Type 0 Carrier Fighter. In early 1940, the first A6M2, Model 11 Zeros arrived in China and quickly proved themselves as the best fighter in the conflict. Fitted with a 950 hp Nakajima Sakae 12 engine, the Zero swept Chinese opposition from the skies. With the new engine, the aircraft exceeded its design specifications and a new version with folding wingtips, the A6M2, Model 21, was pushed into production for carrier use. For much of World War II , the Model 21 was the version of the Zero that was encountered by Allied aviators.

A superior dogfighter than the early Allied fighters, the Zero was able to out-maneuver its opposition. To combat this, Allied pilots developed specific tactics for dealing with the aircraft. These included the "Thach Weave," which required two Allied pilots working in tandem, and the "Boom-and-Zoom," which saw Allied pilots fighting on the dive or climb. In both cases, the Allies benefited from the Zero's complete lack of protection as a single burst of fire was generally enough to down the aircraft. This contrasted with Allied fighters, such as the P-40 Warhawk and F4F Wildcat , which though less maneuverable, were extremely rugged and difficult to bring down. Nevertheless, the Zero was responsible for destroying at least 1,550 American aircraft between 1941 and 1945. Never substantially updated or replaced, the Zero remained the IJN's primary fighter throughout the war. With the arrival of new Allied fighters, such as the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair , the Zero was quickly eclipsed.

Faced with superior opposition and a dwindling supply of trained pilots, the Zero saw its kill ratio drop from 1:1 to over 1:10. During the course of the war, over 11,000 A6M Zeros were produced. While Japan was the only nation to employ the aircraft on a large scale, several captured Zeros were used by the newly-proclaimed Republic of Indonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949). Selected Sources A6M Zero Fighter | World War II Database World War II Database Contributor: C. Peter Chen ww2dbaseIn Oct 1937, the Japanese Navy sent out requests for a new advanced naval aircraft to Japanese manufacturing firms Nakajima and Mitsubishi. On 17 Jan 1938, requirements were revealed to representatives of the two firms at Yokosuka, Japan, which called for an aircraft with speed of 500 kilometers per hour at 4,000 meters and a climb to 3,000 meters in altitude in 3.5 minutes. The Nakajima team immediately thought it was impossible to achieve and pulled out of the bidding process.

The executives at Mitsubishi, knowing that the firm was already occupied with the navy bomber project, also considered to reject the project, but designer Jiro Horikoshi pressed hard to embark on this task, arguing that his team would be able to achieve the high performance demanded by reducing the weight of the aircraft. After negotiations, the navy dropped the bomber project, and Horikoshi was able to embark on this fighter project. ww2dbaseThe result was the Type 0 Carrier Fighter (Japanese: Rei-shiki kanjo sentoki, or Reisen for short), the most maneuverable fighter aircraft in aviation history. The Zero fighters were made out of lightweight duralumin alloy for maximum maneuverability. Horikoshi and his team had to make sacrifices to achieve such high performance, especially considering the relatively weak 950 horsepower powerplant. Armor plating and self-sealing fuel tanks, for example, were deleted from the blueprint to save weight. On 23 Mar 1939, a prototype Zero fighter was taken apart, loaded onto two ox carts, and moved about 25 miles to the naval base of Kagamigahara, Japan, where it would take its maiden flight on 1 Apr.

The second prototype was delivered on 25 Oct 1939. Production began soon afterwards, with the first production example delivered on 31 Jul 1940. ww2dbaseMost Japanese Navy pilots immediately found A6M Zero fighters to be the most efficient aircraft they had ever flown. Saburo Sakai later recalled that "[t]he Zero excited me as nothing else had ever done. Even on the ground it had the cleanest lines I had ever seen in an aeroplane. it was a dream to fly." ww2dbaseZero fighters' first combat mission took place in China on 19 Aug 1940, when 12 of them escorted 54 G3M2 bombers on a bombing mission against the capital city of Chongqing. On 13 Sep 1940, the pilots of the 12th Combined Naval Air Corps shot down 27 Chinese I-15 and I-16 Russian-made fighters while flying a bomber-escort mission.

After a year in combat in China, the small number of Zero fighters shot down a total of 44 Chinese aircraft at the loss of only two fighters, and they were lost to anti-aircraft fire rather than in dogfights. This led to the belief that the Zero fighters, in the hands of capable pilots, were nearly invincible. Japanese Navy aviation leadership believed that each Zero fighter would be enough to counter two to five enemy fighters. This belief was shown during the Pearl Harbor strike in Dec 1941, in which only 108 of the 400 Zero fighters available to the Japanese Navy at the time were deployed in the attack; the naval commanders thought 108 were enough to handle American fighters at Pearl Harbor. ww2dbaseInitially, these commanders were correct, as the American and British had no fighters that could match the Zero fighters' high performance and long range. In the first three months of the Pacific War, from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the end of the Dutch East Indies campaign, Zero fighters claimed 471 kills out of 565 of all enemy planes destroyed.

They continued to hold a technological advantage over their American counterparts until the introduction of Grumman F6F Hellcat, Vought F4U Corsair, and Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters later in the war. ww2dbaseZero fighters were typically deployed in three-fighter flights, each called a shotai. Unlike western flights, the Japanese flight leader flew far ahead of the two wingmen, while the wingmen weaved left and right and up and down, covering more blind spots than their western counterparts. When attacking, instead of the entire flight attacking the target, the three Zero fighters would attack in succession, thus never giving the target any chance for a break during the entire attack. When the flight was attacked, however, the shotai, given the distance between the flight leader and the wingmen, was easily broken up, leaving each fighter to fend for itself. Early in the war, when the Zero fighters were by far the most maneuverable fighters, they relied on the maneuverability to recover from the occasions when the flights were broken up. ww2dbaseDuring the Battle of Midway in Jun 1942, Japan lost four fleet carriers and 234 aircraft.

What caused the most harm was the loss of more than ten percent of the navy's experienced fighter pilots. In response, the Japanese Navy recalled many veteran fighter pilots back to Japan to train replacements. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi worked on the next major variant of the Zero fighter, which was revealed in Oct 1942. The powerplant was upgraded to the supercharged Sakae 21 engine, which was rated at 1,130 horsepower, although the armament remained the same; despite the engine upgrade, however, performance remained roughly the same. Meanwhile, Allied fighters continued to improve. In order to counter the fact that Zero fighters were becoming out-classed, the three-fighter shotai was revised to four fighters each, hoping to use new tactics to bring balance to the dogfights, but by then it was already too late to make a difference.

Additionally, poor Japanese fuel quality toward the end of the war also plagued the remaining Zero fighters; the fuel was so bad that the Zero fighters often emitted a thin trail of dirty smoke behind them when they were at wide-open-throttle, at times even letting out bright flashes of flames from exhaust ports (interestingly, these fuel issues sometimes led to US pilots believing they had successfully damaged the enemy, which in turn led to inflated kill scores). ww2dbaseToward the end of the Pacific War, the large numbers of Zero fighters in service and their high maneuverability made them ideal for suicide special attacks, more popularly known to westerners of the day as "kamikaze". Out of the 2,363 Japanese Navy aircraft that participated in special attack missions, 1,189 of them were A6M Zero fighters. ww2dbaseBy the end of WW2, 10,937 Zero fighters were manufactured. Mitsubishi built only 3,880, while the majority of the remainder were built by Nakajima, the company that declined to bid on the original request for such a fighter. ww2dbaseAfter the war, most surviving A6M Zero fighters were destroyed.

A few of them were sent to the United States for testing. Many of them were abandoned across the various Pacific islands, rusting very quickly in jungle climates. Only about 13 were available for museum display today, such as the Zero fighter on display at Yushukan museum adjacent to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan. Only a very small number are in flyable condition today. ww2dbaseSources: 1. Hobilar says: 22 Sep 2007 04:05:01 AM The last paragraph is incorrect. Mitsubishi built 3,879 (3,880)Zeros, Nakajima built 6,215 (6,570), Hitachi built 279 and 21st Naval Dockyard built 236. (Figures in brackets are from a second published source). 2. Bill says: 18 Feb 2009 01:58:16 PM Photo of zero in formation: Mitsubishi A6M2 Reisen (Zero Fighter) of the 12th. Rengo Kokutai shortly after the type's entry into service.

On 21, July the navy decided to assign fifteen A6M2's to the 12th. Rengo Kokutai (12th Combined Naval Air Corps) for combat in China. 3. Bill says: 18 Feb 2009 02:19:02 PM Zero fighter production: Mitsubishi 3,879, Nakajima 6,570. total production of land based fighter's 10,449. The model A6M2-N and A6M5-K are reported separately, they are: a total of 327 A6M2-N's were built Koizumi by Nakajima Hikoki K.K. between Dec. 1941 and Sept. 1943. A total of 515 A6M2-K and A6M5-K were built as follows. Dai-Nijucichi Kaigun Kokusho at Omura (Sasbo) 236 A6M2-K (Nov. 1943 to Aug. 1945. Hitachi Kokuki K.K.

272 A6M2-K mAY 1944 to Aug. 1945, and 7 A6M5-K mAR. TO aUG. 1945 4. jacob archer age 15 says: 4 May 2009 01:18:44 PM the altutude is wrong. the A6M2 can climb to 3,000m in 4.5 minutes 5. Steve Voskian says: 19 Aug 2010 06:59:15 PM The Zero was a good fighter when flown by an experienced pilot against an inferior foe. But it met it's match against well trained American pilots flying F4F,s F6F, Corsairs, Mustangs, etc. 6. Jan Koso says: 19 Aug 2010 07:15:08 PM When you compromise armour for agility, you will lose when your opponent can take some battle damage and you can not. 7.

Leo Grospe says: 19 Aug 2010 07:24:26 PM its ok to compromise the armour for the agility of the plane.. the odds are just the same.. either u die or u live to tell about it.. ...its ok to be good and excel at something than to be a jack of trades.. as for the pilots.. many japanese experienced pilots are dead in the middle stages of the war.. thats why the imperial navy lost big time in the marianas and the battle of leyte gulf.. it was like a turkey shoot.. 8. Chris Sheppard says: 19 Aug 2010 07:46:25 PM The Japanese and the Germans both failed in the training of pilots to replace those lost, you cannot just "Make" new pilots. In combat, experience is a big factor in survival. The recovery of the downed Zero in Alaska, the studies of it's strengths and weaknesses aided the US airmen in taking advantage of its weaknesses. 9. Jhun Garcia says: 20 Aug 2010 04:45:03 AM mitsubishi engine right?

20 Aug 2010 05:00:34 AM what's the US counterpart of this aircraft and what engine? 11. Brooks Ashley Rowlett says: 20 Aug 2010 07:07:35 AM The engine of the Reisen (Type 0) was actually by Nakajima: which strangely enough was designed after the Japanese aquired a license to the Gnome-Rhone 14K ï¿½ne_Mistral_Major 12. Anonymous says: 12 Jul 2011 01:36:25 PM Is there any information on the names of the military personnel who were inspecting the crash of this plane? My step father was stationed there during this time and the thirs picture in the set of 3 has a person standing on the aircraft on the right that looks like it could possibly be him. Any info you could help me with would be very appreciated. thanks 13.

Ron says: 19 Mar 2012 11:11:24 PM The Japanese say they could overboost the A6M2 to 345+mpn level speed. This is the reason there was such a discrepancy between US tested examples and those flown by Japanese against the US pilots. When told that our tests showed the F4F-3 egual to the A6M2, the surviving US pilots would reply "NO" in no uncertain terms. Our test pilots didn't know the boost settings used by the Japanese and got misleading performance on paper which showed both could do 331 mph and climb over 3,000 fpm. Same basically goes for the P-39 and P-40 pilots of 1942. They experienced the Zero 21 keeping in range of them in speed and climb too. Is this why initial climb for the A6M2 ranges from 2700 fpm (in US hands) to 4517 fpm as well?

Never mind the Zero's 1/2 turn at 240 mph in 5.62 seconds while its carrying fuel for longer legs than any other fighter at the time! At least they agreed on that part. I like the roll rate of the clipped A6M3 but the glory days of the Zero were ending. 14. takushi tachibana says: 28 Jul 2013 04:38:53 AM We have zero fighter's manual.air frame and engin. These documents is not ten pieaces in japan.Please buy Thease Document. 15. Kermit says: 25 May 2014 08:07:59 PM I think 'span' figure is incorrect. 12m for the A6M2 Model 21 but 11m for the clipped wing for the rest. 16. Ron says: 18 Oct 2014 03:32:27 PM Along with Chris' post, the Axis didn't plan on a long war. The Zero was up to the task if the war would end as planned within a year, but the Allies had other ideas.

Losing 4 carriers at Midway was a game-changer. All those veteran pilots would be sorely missed while the planes could be replaced. Credit goes mostly to the Dauntless dive bombers. The obsolete Devestator torpedo planes didn't score much but they used up the Zeros, leaving the Dauntless with full reign up high. So the sacrifice worked. As for the Zero, the Model 22 A6M3 (full span) still held it's own especially with the likes of Nishizawa on the trigger of it's high velocity 20mm Type 99-II cannons. The A6M5 would have done OK if Jiro and his team had their way and installed the 1500 hp engine intended. But Navy Brass said no, like they knew better. Then they were chastened by the Marianas turkey shoot! But they reversed their decission too late and the A6M8 missed the show. The A6M5 had to make do with the added thrust of the exhaust to keep up with a new generation of US fighters. The injected motor of the A6M6 that the Brass was banking on didn't reach production.

The weighed down A6M7 with bomb racks and rocket rails was slower at 340 mph than the latest Oscar Ki 43-IIIa at 358 mph! Of course the Ki 43 still was armed with only two 12.7mm guns while the new Zero may have gotten the fast 750 rpm Type 99-II Mk 5 20mm wing-cannons since both this cannon and the A6M7 were produced from May 1945 onward. It was finally fully armored like the Ki 43. Only 148 A6M7s were built. Some were used as night fighters but the rest were kamakazis. Either way, speed wasn't such a big handicap. You can't fault Jiro Horikoshi and his design team for an obsolete Zero for the last 2 years of WW 2. In any case the torch had passed to the Kawanishi N1K1-J George fighter for the all-around Navy air superiority contender. After the fall of the Philippines force of about 70 USN fighters were attacked by a force of only 34 N1K1-J fighters.

The Georges lost 12 but claimed 20 US fighters destroyed! Even if the US losses don't match Japanese claims we know that after this engagement, US pilots had instant respect for the George and it's pilots looked upon F6F Hellcats as relatively easy prey. 17. jmb2fly says: 1 Apr 2015 08:29:42 AM The Zero was an extraordinary aircraft, but I disagree with some of what is said in this article. Part of the Zero's superiority was the inferior tactics of many of their enemies at the war's beginning. The Flying Tigers in P40-Bs have an impressive air to air combat kill ratio against the Japanese Air Force in 1941 and the first six months of 1942. Although most of the Flying Tigers combats were against older Japanese fighters, the Flying Tiger pilots said that they prefered to fight the Zero's because the older open cockpit fighters they were going against were more manueverable and harder to hit than the Zero's. When the Flying Tigers met Zero's in combat they usually shot them down.....They also refused to fight the Zero in the horizontal plain.

They forced them to fight in the vertical plain where the P40-B had the advantage when attacking from above. The USAF adopted much from the Flying Tigers in air combat tactics against the Japanese. 18. dilla5 says: 11 Apr 2015 06:15:42 AM How many Zero's are left flying now ? are there any based In the UK ? 2 Dec 2015 09:26:13 AM How many are left? Are any purchasable? 20. Anonymous says: 4 Apr 2016 09:09:08 PM A word should be said here about the A7M Reppu. Mitsubishi and the IJN began planning for the A6M Zero's replacement in 1940. This later became the A7M Reppu. 1 was produced that survived at the end of the war. So it was way too late. Mitsubishi was stretched too thin.

As soon as Saburo Sakai test flew the A7M2, they should have rammed this plane onto the Zero production lines and immediately stocked the remaining carriers with the 390 mph Reppu. It's automatic combat flaps gave it a 12 second full 360 turn time like the A6M3 Zero! The Zero's glory was fading fast already. The Reppu's new engine should have been produced in more than a singe plant. After all, it was going to also power Ki 84s too since it was reliable. Of course they didn't and the engine factory was put out of action for a spell. The Reppu could have been a worthy replacement if the Zero production at Mitsubishi were halted after the Reppu test flight was such a success. Japan should have put most of it's resources behind this project before the end of 1944. The A7M is not so well covered so that's why I mention it here. The 400 mph (estimated) A7M3 never flew but it's my favorite one with better altitude performance and 6x20mm Type 99-II type 5 fast wing cannons!

That would have threatened the B-29. Then there is the redesigned A7M3-J land based version with 6x30mm Type 5 cannons (2 dorsal). It had a long nose and more wing area. This interceptor version Reppu had the best altitude performance but was scheduled for 1946. It had no folding wings or tailhook ...etc. But the earlier short nose A7M3 climbed better (estimated of course). It should have gone a few rounds before it retired. But the Navy lived and died with the Zero as a higher priority. In my opinion, Nakajima could have made all the kamikazi Zeros and Mitsubishi should have been freed up for the Reppu. To me this is part of the Zero story. All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.

Posting Your Comments on this Topic Your Name Zero fighter plane returns to Japan's skies - CNN.com Restored "Zero" World War II-era fighter plane makes a rare appearance over Japan Officially called the A6M, the Zero was Japan's most feared plane of WW II (CNN) It was an amazing sight in the skies over the Japanese island of Kyushu on Wednesday. That small airplane buzzing thousands of feet up was a Japanese Zero, once the most feared fighter plane in the world. The World War II-era plane made two test flights after a restoration project funded by a Japanese businessman. Photos: Feared suicide warplane flies again This restored World War II-era Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane performed a rare feat over the island of Kanoya, Japan, on Wednesday, January 27. It became one of the first of its kind to fly since Japan surrendered more than 70 years ago. During the war, the Zero was the most feared plane in the Japanese military. Click through the gallery for more photos of the historic flight.

Hide Caption 4 of 5 Photos: Feared suicide warplane flies again "I wanted for the people of Japan and especially young people to know about this Zero airplane, as well as those who are old who remember the past," Ishizuka told reporters Wednesday. "Each of them should have different thoughts and perspectives on this, but I just want people to know how Japan has developed its technology." Hide Caption 5 of 5 The Zero's air-to-air combat abilities were second to none during much of the war, making it the most famous symbol of Japanese air power. Made by Mitsubishi and officially called the "A6M," these killing machines were used in the infamous 1941 attack on the U.S. Navy fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Read More It also was a flying suicide machine. Japanese air force Kamikaze pilots flew Zeroes more than any other aircraft, according to the U.S. Air Force Museum . Thousands of Kamikazes intentionally guided their planes into enemy ships during the war. During the 71 years after Tokyo's surrender, the sight of a Zero in the sky above Japan has been a very rare thing -- which is what made Wednesday's flight so remarkable.

Also, of the 10,815 produced, fewer than 10 surviving Zeroes are still thought to be flyable. World War II Japanese “Zero Fighter” (13 pics) - Izismile.com World War II Japanese “Zero Fighter” (13 pics) 7 Like These caricatures of the Japanese “Zero Fighter” in World War II are the work of artist Kunihiko Hisa. The Japanese military aircraft, officially known as the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, was made from 1940 to 1945. DJ 5 year s ago MARK AS SPAM Haha , good pictures. Shame there are no more such artist, instead of those tentacle monsters they are drawing nowadays. GOODSTUFF4U 5 year s ago MARK AS SPAM like this kind of stuff Enter your name 5 year s ago MARK AS SPAM Japan vs US Flying Slaughters :p Enter your name show commment 0 subterranean 5 year s ago MARK AS SPAM What a wonderful topic to trivialize! What's next: the Bataan death march or the Rape of Nanking? qwertz 5 year s ago MARK AS SPAM No, Pearl Harbor.

Fenrisulven 5 year s ago MARK AS SPAM #13 this one was cool! Never underestimate the power of large crowds, of stupid people. Tarzan 5 year s ago MARK AS SPAM cool paintings... Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich :) Absolutely 5 year s ago MARK AS SPAM The rape of Nanking and the holocaust at Nanking, both are the malicious fake. Are you believe in Communists?

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845&cb=1114923188" ><img src="//uk-ads.openx.net/w/1.0/ai?auid=538686124&cs=888ff26845&cb=1114923188" border="0" alt=""></a> <a href="//uk-ads.openx.net/w/1.0/rc?cs=888ff26845&cb=2014841653" ><img src="//uk-ads.openx.net/w/1.0/ai?auid=538686124&cs=888ff26845&cb=2014841653" border="0" alt=""></a> Tags WWII-era Zero fighter plane returns to Japan | The Japan Times WWII-era Zero fighter plane returns to Japan Kyodo SHARE YOKOHAMA – A Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane has been unveiled to the media in Ayase, Kanagawa Prefecture, after the decades-old aircraft was returned to Japan in September.

Referred to as the Reisen, or Zero, the legendary fighter was a symbol of Japan’s aerospace engineering might during World War II. Entering service for the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1940, these planes were manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The Tokyo-based branch of Zero Enterprise Inc., an enterprise based in Delaware, is spearheading a project to bring Zero aircraft back to Japan. According to the company, the Zero unveiled on Wednesday is one of five such planes that have been stored or put on display in the United States and are believed to still be operational. The plane is in several sections because it was disassembled prior to being shipped in a cargo container to the port of Yokohama in September. The firm hopes to reassemble the plane and fly it in Japan next year, the 70th anniversary of the end of the war. The aircraft was originally found in Papua New Guinea in the 1970s and was later restored by a collector in the United States. The fighter plane will be shown to the public from Nov. 21 to Nov. 24, for a fee, at Saitama Super Arena in the city of Saitama.

World War II Zero fighter flies over Japan | KSL.com Hiroko Harima/Kyodo News via AP World War II Zero fighter flies over Japan By Miki Toda, Associated Press | Posted Jan 27th, 2016 @ 7:11pm  2 photos  AP: Raw: WWII Fighter Plane Takes to the Skies KANOYA, Japan (AP) — One of Mitsubishi's legendary World War II fighter planes took to the skies over Japan on Wednesday. The restored "Zero" fighter made a brief flight to and from a naval base in southern Japan. Decorated former U.S. Air Force pilot Skip Holm flew the aircraft. Zero fighters were considered one of the most capable fighter planes in World War II, rivaling the British Spitfire. Their long range allowed them to play a prominent role in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Only a few are still in operating condition. While rented Zeroes have flown in Japan on occasion in the past, this was the first for the widely used Model 22 of Mitsubishi's A6M fighter with its round wingtips.

This particular plane was found decaying in Papua New Guinea in the 1970s. It was owned by an American until Japanese businessman Masahiro Ishizuka purchased it and brought it to Japan last September. "I wanted for the people of Japan and especially young people to know about this Zero airplane, as well as those who are old who remember the past," Ishizuka said. "Each of them should have different thoughts and perspectives on this, but I just want people to know how Japan has developed its technology." Japanese see the aircraft both as a symbol of their country's technological advance and a reminder of the harrowing history of the war. In the last phase of the fighting, they were used for "kamikaze" attacks. Kamikaze pilots took off from the same airfield as Wednesday's flight, Kanoya Naval Air Base on the island of Kyushu. Under its previous American owner, the plane made an appearance in the Hollywood movie "Pearl Harbor" and at various events in the United States. ___ This story corrects that it was not the first Zero flight over Japan since World War II. Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

One of the world's best preserved Zero fighter planes. See more photos here: #Japan #WW2 pic.twitter.com/i3tYeex2If — China in WW2 (@chinaww2) July 10, 2015 Japanese see the aircraft both as a symbol of their country's technological advance and a reminder of the harrowing history of the war. In the last phase of the fighting, they were used for "kamikaze" attacks. Kamikaze pilots took off from the same airfield as Wednesday's flight, Kanoya Naval Air Base on the island of Kyushu. Under its previous American owner, the plane made an appearance in the Hollywood movie "Pearl Harbor" and at various events in the United States. Related Utah man's secret WWII mission comes to light Clyde D. Gessel oversaw the assembling of Japanese Zeros from salvaged parts — "shot up junk" as he described it — at Eagle Farm airfield near Brisbane. The operation, authorized by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, played an important role in history and possibly changed the course of the war in the Pacific. Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Zero | Aircraft | Aircraft Links Zero - $5.95 The pre-series A6M2 Zero became known in 1940-41, when the fighter destroyed 266 confirmed aircraft in China. At the time of Pearl Harbor, there were 420 Zeros active in the Pacific. The carrier-borne Model 21 was the type encountered by the Americans, often much further from its carriers than expected, with a mission range of over 1600 statute miles. Mitsubishi A6M Zero WWII Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Reisen Zero This little Japanese Fighter was a real threat to Allied forces in the Pacific. With a little care you can glue clear plastic to the back of the canopy piece for a real neat effect. The markings of the model chosen are those of the first wave of Pearl Harbor attackers and certainly rounds out our WWII series of Top Ten Fighters. A6M2 of fighter complement of carrier Hiryu (signified by tail coding "BII") during attack on Pearl Harbor, December 1941. Cobalt blue tail band indicated flight leader and twin fuselage bands signified second carrier in 2nd Carrier Division (1 st Air Fleet).

The A6M Reisen (Zero Fighter) was unique among WWII combat aircraft in creating a myth. The Allies credited the Reisen with almost mystical powers of maneuver, fostering a myth of Japanese aerial invincibility. Everything to the Japanese that the Spitfire was to the British, the Reisen was a lightly constructed but extraordinarily capable fighter first flown on 1 April 1939, series aircraft entering service early in 1941. Excluding float-equipped and training versions a total of 10,449 Reisen's was manufactured. Here are photos of Fiddlers Zero patterns used with Coke's new Zero. How could I resist? The Quick Grip contact cement is working quite well. I hope Coke is producing larger size cans as these small ones are quite limiting. The fuselage took some finagling. Bob Reisen A6M Zero-Sen by Mitsubishi I threw some layers of transparency down on a water texture and had a bit of sunken Zeke under the waves. I just hopped into my Pacific Fighters simulator and took a photo of the Zero at the right angle. The frame I borrowed from my display of Russian aircraft stamps.

RM Dan When the Japanese Navy struck at Pearl Harbor on Sunday, 7 December 1941, the Americans already possessed files on the A6M in the form of detailed combat reports from Colonel Claire Chennault in far-off Chungking, China. Nobody had bothered to disseminate the information, and for a second time this agile and well armed fighter caused a great shock and made mincemeat of the motley collection of aircraft that opposed it. In six months the Sentais (fighter groups) equipped with the A6M had so dominated the sky that the Imperial forces had conquered over 12 million square miles, a far greater area than had ever previously been overrun by one nation. The A6M kept appearing in places where Japanese fighters had been judged 'impossible', sometimes almost 1,000 miles from the nearest advanced Japanese airbase or carrier. In combat it could outmaneuver practically every Allied fighter, and its firepower was also superior. The A6M came to symbolize the previously unappreciated fact that Japanese weapons were not made of bamboo and rice-paper, nor were they inferior copies of Occidental ones.

In its own homeland it was the focal point of a part-religious belief in Nipponese invincibility. The name of Jiro Horikoshi was better-known in Japan even than that of Reginald Mitchell in the UK, because he was the genius who had created the miraculous fighter that decimated its enemies. Of course the A6M was not really miraculous. Back in 1937 the British Gloster company had flown a prototype fighter that almost precisely paralleled the A6M in size, shape, weight, power and performance - and it was not even accepted for the RAF. At that time Horikoshi was making the first drawings of his new fighter to try to meet a newly issued Imperial Navy specification that called for a shipboard fighter with the maneuverability of his earlier A5M (one of the most agile aircraft ever built) despite the burden of two 20-mm cannon as well as the two machine-guns carried by the A5M, two 132-lb bombs, full radio, an engine to give a speed of 311 mph and an endurance of eight hours with a drop tank.

(It should be noted that the Imperial Navy measured speeds in knots, so that required of the new fighter was 270 knots.) A6M Known to the Japanese as the Reisen(Zero fighter) and to the Allies as the "Zeke", the A6M was one of the decisive weapons of WWII. The prototype flew in April 1939, and the production up to the end of the war amounted to some 10,450 fighters. The A6M2 entered service in summer of 1940, and for the first time a carrier fighter offered performance equal to or better than that of land based fighters. This is a model of one of the actual planes that attacked Pearl Harbor on the "day of infamy". Overall scheme was light gray with blue signifying the Second Air Division, the two stripes indicating the second ship. The tail code also meant the same (B=2ndAD, II=2nd ship) Construction Tips! This is another model that the nose fits over the fuselage (see Error alert on left). The ZERO fuselage is fairly rounded and needs no extra effort to shape.

Also, like our other WWII models, the wing fairing's are bent outward before the wing is attached. This is the prettiest model of the series and you really should buy a few dozen or so to recreate the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Sunday December 7, 1941 Captain Joe Cangero writes: Toughest part of the model for me was gluing on the individual prop blades. I double up the blades before coloring the reverse side, but keeping them aligned while the glue dried was a bear. The spinner went together nicely, especially when I stuffed the inside with tissue paper to help hold the rounded shape. I did make a small round insert for the back of the spinner -- it made it real easy to then insert a toothpick into the back of the spinner and then into the front of the engine disc for a propeller that spins. I had to cut the engine disc down a bit because it seemed a little too big for the front ring and cowling.

Flat tooth picks between the folded main landing gear struts fit perfectly and added a lot of stability when a small piece at the top is popped into a hole drilled into the underside of the wing The result was wholly conventional, with stressed-skin structure, split flaps, wide-track inward-retracting landing gear and a radial engine driving a variable-pitch propeller. After some argument a sliding canopy was added over the cockpit, and the newly demanded cannon (Type 99 Model 1, derived from the Oerlikon) were fitted in the wings, outboard of the propeller disc. Its designation was naturally A6M,A for carrier-based fighter and 6M for the sixth such type by Mitsubishi. It's popular name was Reisen (Reisen, zero fighter), from the Japanese year 2600 (1940 A.D.). The first A6M1, with a 780-hp Mitsubishi Zuisei 13 engine, flew at Kagamigahara on 1 April1939, and showed outstanding qualities except in its speed of 304 mph which just missed the target.

A constant-speed propeller gave an increase in all-round performance, but more power was needed and on 28 December 1939 the third prototype, designated A6M2, flew with the 925-hp Nakajima Sakae 12. This prototype exceeded all expectations, and by July1940 the A6M2 had been cleared for production. It was decided to send 15 to China to test them in action with the 12th Rengo Kokutai. They got their first victim on 13 September 1940, and though two A6M2s were shot down by ground fire their air combat record was a remarkable 99 victories for no losses before they were redeployed for the war in the Pacific. From the 22nd A6M2 the rear spar was strengthened, and from the 65th the outermost 20 in of the wings was hinged to fold upwards manually. In June 1941 the A6M3 had these tips omitted, and with the 1,130-hp Sakae 21 engine offered higher speed and more rapid roll, though turn radius was slightly worsened.

At Pearl Harbor the Imperial Navy had 328 A6Ms embarked aboard carriers, and from the start they achieved complete mastery over the Curtiss P-40, Curtiss-Wright CW-21A, Brewster Buffalo, Hawker Hurricane I and other opponents. For example the hapless Buffaloes of the RAE, RAAF, RNZAF and Dutch East Indies were so out flown their 12.7-mm guns were replaced by 7.62-mm weapons, ammunition was cut by half and fuel by more than one-third, and still they could not bring their guns to bear over the more agile and much harder-hitting A6M. Not knowing what the fighter was called, the Allies named it 'Ben' then 'Ray' and finally 'Zeke'. The clipped-wing model was called 'Hap', until someone recalled that that was the nickname of the USAAF Chief of Staff, General H. H. Arnold, when it became 'Hamp'. When the type was recognized as merely another version of the 'Zeke' it was called 'Zeke 32'.

But desperate attempts to gather even pieces of the almost supernatural fighter proved elusive, until suddenly US troops found a perfect A6M2 in the Aleutians. Petty Officer Koga had taken off from the carrier Ryujo on 3 June to attack Dutch Harbor, but two bullets had severed the fuel supply pipe and he had glided in to the uninhabited island of Akutan. Landing on marshy ground, the A6M had somersaulted and Koga had broken his neck. The valuable prize was soon on test at NAS North Island, San Diego, where the myths were blown away and the A6M's numerous shortcomings revealed. For one thing, it is possible to do only so much on 1,130-hp. The A6M airframe was lightly built, and the vital parts were by Western standards deficient in armour. Tactics were worked out to gain superiority in combat, but at least as important was the first flight, on the other side of the United States, of the first Grumman F6F Hellcat in June 1942.

Larger and heavier than the A6M, this US Navy fighter had a 2,000-hp engine: this enabled it to be stronger, tougher and better protected and yet outfight the A6M in a dogfight. Another US Navy and Marines fighter, the bent-wing Vought F4U Corsair, was even more formidable, and the US Army's P-38 was not only much faster but could stay with an A6M at all heights above 10,000 ft despite being much larger. And all these Allied fighters had firepower that could actually cause an A6M to break up into pieces. Seaplane variant In autumn 1940 an Imperial Navy specification called for a fighter seaplane to operate over isolated beachheads and beyond the range even of the A6M, and, while the powerful Kawanishi NiKi (which in turn was eventually to lead to a formidable land-based fighter) was developed, the Nakajima company was instructed to build a seaplane A6M. The resulting A6M2-N flew on the day of Pearl Harbor and was soon in action.

Though as neat a conversion as could be imagined, it was inevitably inferior to Allied fighters and though 327 were delivered, the last in September 1943, they did not achieve very much. Another off-mainstream variant was the tandem dual control A6M2-K advanced trainer, which was the responsibility of the 21st Naval Air Arsenal, at Sasebo. Not even started until 1943, the first two-seater flew in November that year, and eventually 515 were built in two versions, with cannon and landing-gear doors removed to save weight. At Mitsubishi, Horikoshi had from 1940 pressed for a successor to the A6M, with his company's 2,200-hp MK9 engine, but this was repeatedly delayed, and the old A6M had to be kept in production, both at the parent firm and (in even greater numbers) by Nakajima. A 1943 attempt to improve performance at medium and high altitudes came to nothing: the 1st Air Technical Arsenal at Yokosuka fitted two A6M2s with turbo charged Sakae engines, but these were gravely unreliable.

Nothing could be done but hastily to contrive an interim improved version, the A6M5; and, like so many hasty interim fighters, such as the Spitfire Mk IX, it was made in greater numbers than all the others. The chief modification was a new wing, with fixed rounded tips of 36 ft in span and thicker skins to enable the new version to dive at much higher speeds; previously limitations in diving speed had made the Zero easy to catch. This added 416 lb to the weight, and did nothing for maneuverability, but a slight improvement in performance resulted from fitting individual or paired exhaust pipes to the 14 cylinders with nozzles arranged to give forward thrust at full power. Together with a careful detail refinement all this added up to a significantly better fighter, and when it reached combat units in numbers in the autumn of 1943, the A6M5 did something to redress the balance which had rather quickly tilted towards the US Navy with the entry to combat duty of the F6F Hellcat.

A 1943 attempt to improve performance at medium and high altitudes came to nothing: the 1st Air Technical Arsenal at Yokosuka fled two A6M2s with turbo charged Sakae engines, but these were gravely unreliable. Nothing could be done but hastily to contrive an interim improved version, the A6M5; and, like so many hasty interim fighters, such as the Spitfire Mk IX, it was made in greater numbers than all the others. The chief modification was a new wing, with fixed rounded tips of 36 ft span and thicker skins to enable the new version to dive at much higher speeds; previously limitations in diving speed had made the Zero easy to catch. This added 416 lb to the weight, and did nothing for maneuverability, but a slight improvement in performance resulted from fitting individual or paired exhaust pipes to the 14 cylinders with nozzles arranged to give forward thrust at full power.

Together with a careful detail refinement all this added up to a significantly better fighter, and when it reached combat units in numbers in the autumn of 1943, the A6M5 did something to redress the balance which had rather quickly tilted towards the US Navy with the entry to combat duty of the F6F Hellcat. Sheer lack of power in the Japanese fighter meant that it was far behind its opponent in armour and firepower, and in its ability to withstand battle damage. Lack of power was also the reason for the rate of climb falling off, compared with the lighter earlier versions, to levels below that of the heavyweight F6F. Even with thicker wing skins the A6M could not escape by diving away; in fact faced with an F6F, F4U or Spitfire Mk VIII there was no way an A6M pilot could survive except by exceptional flying, amazing luck or shooting down his opponent. And, as 1943 proceeded, this became more and more difficult. Fortune turns For one thing, the Allied fighters were not only getting dramatically superior but they were arriving in floods that completely overwhelmed the Japanese.

Even in 1941-2 the Zeros had been outnumbered, but they had been deployed in concentrated groups that gained total local control and inflicted catastrophic losses, whilst the motley collections of Allied machines were scattered and often under no central direction. By 1943 the US Navy, US Marines, US Army Air Force and British Commonwealth forces were all coordinated and enjoyed numerical superiority everywhere. Not least of the Imperial Navy's problems was its rapid attrition in aircraft-carriers. Even as early as the Battle of Midway in June 1942 - often regarded as the start of the turnaround in fortunes in the Pacific war - the great carriers Akagi, Hityu, Kaga and Sotyu were all sunk; the light carrier Shoho had been sunk a month earlier, and Ryujo went to the bottom in August 1942. These crippling losses in seagoing air power gravely restricted the Imperial Navy's ability ever again to achieve command of the sky, at any place or at any time. There was yet a further serious problem which had as much effect as all other factors combined. In air combat the man is every bit as important as the machine.

Even flying an inferior aircraft, in the rather primitive days of World War II, a brilliant and courageous pilot could often run up strings of victories over opponents flying faster or better-armed aircraft. In 1941 the Imperial Navy pilots had been well trained, and were aggressive and in most cases experienced. Many had seen a year or more of actual fighting in China or against the USSR, and in their hands a Zero was deadly. By 1943 hardly any of these pilots were still alive, and their replacements were by comparison ineffectual. The home-based training program was wholly inadequate, and by autumn 1944 the once-dominant Sentais were being reorganized into kamikaze (suicide) squads in a desperate attempt to stem the tide of Allied advance.

Improved armament Throughout the war the need for long range had been manifest, but whereas at the start the A6M had been supreme in this regard, especially after its experienced pilots had learned correct long-range cruise techniques at high boost pressure but low crankshaft revolutions, by 1943 the Sakae 21 had resulted in smaller fuselage tankage (in part rectified by adding two small 45-litre/9.9-Imp gal tanks in the outer wings) and appreciably higher fuel consumption. Crucial need to keep weight down precluded heavier armament, though the Type 99 cannon was improved through several versions with a longer barrel and higher muzzle velocity, rate of fire increased from 490 to an eventual 750 rounds per minute, and a 125-round belt in place of the original 100-round drum. The greater muzzle velocity had the possibly important effect of extending the effective range (typically from 12,624ft to 3,281ft, this was one factor where the A6M could have scored over the US fighters that relied on the 12.7-mm (0.5-in) Browning.

In practice, Japanese pilots lacked the shooting skill to open fire accurately at long ranges, and at normal air-combat distances the much more rapid rate of strikes from the typical US armament of six 12.7-mm (0.5-in) guns proved decisive. When fitted with the long-barrel belt-fed cannon the A6M5 became the A6M5a, available from production in the spring of 1944. Within weeks the A6M5b, was coming off the line, and this partly rectified one of the type's gravest shortcomings, lack of protection. The A6M5b had improved armour, automatic fire-extinguishers in the main fuel tanks and a slab of bullet-proof glass behind the windscreen. A small increase in firepower resulted from substituting the 13.2-mm Type 3 heavy machine-gun for one of the rifle caliber weapons ahead of the windscreen.

Hundreds of A6M5a and A6M5b fighters took part in the great battles around the Marianas and Philippines in the summer of 1944, but the first major engagement of the A6M5b was such a slaughter at the hands of F6Fs that US pilots called it 'The Marianas Turkey Shoot'. To a considerable degree this was because of the superior skill of the American pilots. Desperate Measures This debacle spurred the Imperial Navy into a further desperate attempt to improve the A6M, a requirement being issued for racks for underwing rockets, extra 13.2-mm guns outboard of the cannon, a large additional fuel tank behind the cockpit and a fully armored pilot seat. If the A6M had needed extra power beforehand, it doubly needed it now, but permission to fit a larger engine was not granted. After building 93 with the improvements demanded Mitsubishi did receive some Sakae 31 engines, with extra power gained by injecting water/methanol to prevent detonation at full throttle, but most of these engines were retained by the maker, Nakajima, which went into production with the resulting A6M6c at the end of 1944.

This was the final model of Reisen to see action, and it could not do more than earlier models to hold back the overwhelming advance of the Allied land, sea and air forces towards Japan. The A6M7 was equipped to carry a 551-lb bomb as well as outer-wing drop tanks. The A6M8 at last had a more powerful engine, the 1,560-hp Mitsubishi Kinsei 62, resulting in a slightly larger cowling and removal of the machine-guns previously fitted above it. This did not fly until May 1945 and no production aircraft could be completed. There were many experimental forms of armament and special equipment fits, but by far the most important were the kamikaze lash-ups with, usually, a 551-lb bomb hung on the rack normally used for the centerline drop tank.

Total production of the A6M was 10,449 (3,879 by Mitsubishi and 6,570 by Nakajima), and these were complemented by 327 Nakajima-built A6M2-Ns, and 515 A6M2-Ks and A6MS-Ks (236 by DaiNijuichi Kaigun Kokusho and 279 by Hitachi Kokuki KK).

Question: Which company manufactured the World War 2 'A6M Zero' fighter aircraft?
Answer: Mitsubishi