My uncle Richard flew TBFs in the Pacific war for several years. He's 97 now. He had to bail out of one shot up, and crash landed another on his carrier that was almost shot in two. He transitioned to Corsairs when they ran out of targets for the Avengers. The sight of that Zero would trigger him....
The Two medium blue color tail bands on the vertical area of the tail identify which carrier the aircraft is from. The letter and number identify the air group, and place there in. Another place carrier Id colors were found was around the fuselage just ahead of the tail assembly, but always Two parallel bands.
I had a hand in the restoration of this aircraft in the 90's,my dad was the lead sheet metal fabricator in charge of the restoration until the project got sent to Russia,the back half of the plane was done by my dad and his team and forward section and wings were done in Russia,if you look closely the tail looks smooth as glass while the rest looks very ripply in appearance,due to the Quality of the work,the other flying Zero's were done I'm Russia and really look horrible.
from the internet, as I previously heard: "manually folding wingtips. This odd feature was added to improve the clearance of the fighter on aircraft carrier elevators" so, these folding wingtips were not ment to "storage", but just to fit in the carrier elevators!!
the zero had a center drop tank and wing mounted tanks. none were self sealing. they burnt because of the heavy 50 cal tracers we used. the Atlanta ga zero recovered from behind the old rose mansion located on peachtree st had patches on the top of the right wing through the tanks. it must have made it home w/o burning since it flew around the country in 45 until it was ground looped in atl and sold for scrap. yes,there are 45acp tracers. I have some....but Im not going to shoot someones zero. (:
The Zero was no longer "state of the art" by 1945, but I can't imagine a better WW2 warbird for fun flying today. The Pratt+Whitney 1830 would make the operating costs half of a plane with a V12 or an R2800. There is one Zero still flying with the original Sekae engine.
It had incredible range over open ocean. Very light weight. I think it would be cool to give it the missing paint blotches the Japanese planes often had. The tropical climate took paint off and they had a very weathered look. Above 300 mph the ailerons became as rooted in cement. It loves mid speed acrobatic maneuvering. I once found a downed Avenger and it’s massive strut was all I could do to lift upright for photo. It’s seals and structures as 1943 some still very much serviceable. The light parts were much as new. Feathers don’t hit hard. Heavy parts smashed to smithereens. The parts tag said Trenton New Jersey.
I think the tactics used to fly against the Zero were developed initially by Clair Chennault and the AVG flying P-40s in China. Gregory Boyington, a former Flying Tiger, brought this tactical knowledge to his Marine Corps aviators flying F4-U Corsairs, but the Navy didn’t catch up until they replaced the F4-F Wildcat with the F6-F Hellcat. The “Thatch Weave” was, however developed by naval aviator, John Thatch as a way for two wildcats to defeat a single Zero or survive by forcing the Japanese pilot to disengage or to to pursue one of the Wildcats while exposing himself to a attack by the second one from astern.
General Chennault's main tactics were to always fly in pairs, (1 lead, 1 wingman covering the lead) and to never dogfight the Zero. The Thatch Weave was first used in the battle of Midway, as far as I know, and it is a totally defensive maneuver.
The Japanese High Command did not intend for the A6M5C Mitsubishi 'Zero' to last the war but were compelled by wartime exigencies to continue upgrading the airplane as far as it would go. The penultimate Zero was the A6M5C, which could fly 358 mph, faster that its famous predecessor, the A6M2 of Pearl Harbor infamy, which could only fly 311 mph. But in 1944 the Zero faced the Navy Hellcat flying 376 mph, the F4F Corsair's 400 mph and the U.S. Army Air Force P-38's 405 mph, the P-51B's 441 mph, and the P-47B's 410 mph. The final Zero incorporated minimal armor plating for the pilot and rudimentary self-sealing fuel tanks, making the A6M5 more survivable but still lagging behind the contemporary American fighter types. The last generation of Japanese fighters eclipsed the Zero and could take on the American fighters planes but it was a matter of too little, too late, and not enough trained pilots and not enough fuel.
The use from A US engine is easy to explain: at end WW2, the USA who see never war or destructions on it's own home land (exept some islands) and was the only economy winner from WW2 was able to preserve they aircrafts and equipment stocks, and the counties who was ruined from the war, some because they defeat, some because was plundered from the ennemy occupants, recycle all they military materials, this explain why Japanese, German or French aircrafts or engines are so rare (ex: In France NONE WW2 fighter is today airworty (the only flying MS406 is a Swiss built D3800), the only complete Dewoitine D520 was destroyed by accident in 1986...)...The Nakajima Sakae is basicaly a evolution from the French engine Gnome Rhone 14K Mistral Major (license was buy from Japan in 1935), and this explain sommeting: this engine as limited power (925hp), and this need to built the fighter so light and small as possible to preserve a good power to weight ratio...
So glad there are people who love to make old things look new. Excellent!
My uncle Richard flew TBFs in the Pacific war for several years. He's 97 now. He had to bail out of one shot up, and crash landed another on his carrier that was almost shot in two. He transitioned to Corsairs when they ran out of targets for the Avengers. The sight of that Zero would trigger him....
I learned a lot about the A6M3 Zero from this.
Very informative interview about a legendary aircraft. Thanks, Betty!
The Two medium blue color tail bands on the vertical area of the tail identify which carrier the aircraft is from. The letter and number identify the air group, and place there in. Another place carrier Id colors were found was around the fuselage just ahead of the tail assembly, but always Two parallel bands.
Beautiful warbird............
What a beauty! It looks like it just rolled off the Mitsubishi factory! 🇯🇵👍
I had a hand in the restoration of this aircraft in the 90's,my dad was the lead sheet metal fabricator in charge of the restoration until the project got sent to Russia,the back half of the plane was done by my dad and his team and forward section and wings were done in Russia,if you look closely the tail looks smooth as glass while the rest looks very ripply in appearance,due to the Quality of the work,the other flying Zero's were done I'm Russia and really look horrible.
I always respect your work.
from the internet, as I previously heard:
"manually folding wingtips. This odd feature was added to improve the clearance of the fighter on aircraft carrier elevators"
so, these folding wingtips were not ment to "storage", but just to fit in the carrier elevators!!
the zero had a center drop tank and wing mounted tanks. none were self sealing. they burnt because of the heavy 50 cal tracers we used. the Atlanta ga zero recovered from behind the old rose mansion located on peachtree st had patches on the top of the right wing through the tanks. it must have made it home w/o burning since it flew around the country in 45 until it was ground looped in atl and sold for scrap. yes,there are 45acp tracers. I have some....but Im not going to shoot someones zero. (:
The Zero was no longer "state of the art" by 1945, but I can't imagine a better WW2 warbird for fun flying today. The Pratt+Whitney 1830 would make the operating costs half of a plane with a V12 or an R2800. There is one Zero still flying with the original Sekae engine.
Yeah it’s in Chino, California owned by the Planes of Fame museum.
Mrs Betty ,thank you very much.....I learned interesting information.
It had incredible range over open ocean. Very light weight. I think it would be cool to give it the missing paint blotches the Japanese planes often had. The tropical climate took paint off and they had a very weathered look.
Above 300 mph the ailerons became as rooted in cement. It loves mid speed acrobatic maneuvering.
I once found a downed Avenger and it’s massive strut was all I could do to lift upright for photo. It’s seals and structures as 1943 some still very much serviceable.
The light parts were much as new. Feathers don’t hit hard. Heavy parts smashed to smithereens. The parts tag said Trenton New Jersey.
Thank you for this video!
That was quality ,,,,,,,,,
I think the tactics used to fly against the Zero were developed initially by Clair Chennault and the AVG flying P-40s in China. Gregory Boyington, a former Flying Tiger, brought this tactical knowledge to his Marine Corps aviators flying F4-U Corsairs, but the Navy didn’t catch up until they replaced the F4-F Wildcat with the F6-F Hellcat. The “Thatch Weave” was, however developed by naval aviator, John Thatch as a way for two wildcats to defeat a single Zero or survive by forcing the Japanese pilot to disengage or to to pursue one of the Wildcats while exposing himself to a attack by the second one from astern.
General Chennault's main tactics were to always fly in pairs, (1 lead, 1 wingman covering the lead) and to never dogfight the Zero. The Thatch Weave was first used in the battle of Midway, as far as I know, and it is a totally defensive maneuver.
The AVG never saw a zero. They fought the Nakajima ki43 but misidentified it as they look similar besides the tail and vertical stabiliser
Great interview and explanations, very interesting.
Excelent video, very interesting, thak You friends !!
I’d love to fly that as well as the Oscar among other planes.
The Japanese High Command did not intend for the A6M5C Mitsubishi 'Zero' to last the war but were compelled by wartime exigencies to continue upgrading the airplane as far as it would go. The penultimate Zero was the A6M5C, which could fly 358 mph, faster that its famous predecessor, the A6M2 of Pearl Harbor infamy, which could only fly 311 mph. But in 1944 the Zero faced the Navy Hellcat flying 376 mph, the F4F Corsair's 400 mph and the U.S. Army Air Force P-38's 405 mph, the P-51B's 441 mph, and the P-47B's 410 mph. The final Zero incorporated minimal armor plating for the pilot and rudimentary self-sealing fuel tanks, making the A6M5 more survivable but still lagging behind the contemporary American fighter types. The last generation of Japanese fighters eclipsed the Zero and could take on the American fighters planes but it was a matter of too little, too late, and not enough trained pilots and not enough fuel.
great betty w thanks
Lovely - she's a beauty.
nice video&job.
very informative video!!!
I've actually seen one of these in real life #blessed
Remember, American soldiers.
Sunday morning, December 7, 1941.
Souls of Arizona... ...
The souls of the U.S. Navy,May you be with God... ...
There has to be a market for these enough to produce a very similar aircraft. Light, fun, efficient. What's the problem?
Do they still have the original motor for it?
there all in the ocean
BANZAI! Aregato. 🇯🇵
"...GPS here, just to point out, was produced in 1947, so this missed the war by a couple of years....snicker-snicker..."
hahahah hilarious
Wish there was a german stuka flying also 😂
A6M3, unless I miss my guess.
tsmgguy you did miss your guess. It’s a A6M5
@@aihualu6176 an a6m5 has individual exhaust stacks
🔻 🔻 🔻
🔻 🔻 🔻
🔻 🔻🔴🔻🔻
🔻🔻🔻
🔻 🔻 🔻
A nimble aerial combatant, light weight, high power to weight ratio, a hundred and fifteen pound pilot.
She was like a candy wrapper in an updraft.
Some models had a hydro-assist aileron servo system but pilots could over stress the wing spars so it was deleted.
The use from A US engine is easy to explain: at end WW2, the USA who see never war or destructions on it's own home land (exept some islands) and was the only economy winner from WW2 was able to preserve they aircrafts and equipment stocks, and the counties who was ruined from the war, some because they defeat, some because was plundered from the ennemy occupants, recycle all they military materials, this explain why Japanese, German or French aircrafts or engines are so rare (ex: In France NONE WW2 fighter is today airworty (the only flying MS406 is a Swiss built D3800), the only complete Dewoitine D520 was destroyed by accident in 1986...)...The Nakajima Sakae is basicaly a evolution from the French engine Gnome Rhone 14K Mistral Major (license was buy from Japan in 1935), and this explain sommeting: this engine as limited power (925hp), and this need to built the fighter so light and small as possible to preserve a good power to weight ratio...