General History

Undoubtedly, the most famous Japanese aircraft of all time, the Mitsubishi Zero was considered the best fighter in the Pacific Theatre until mid-1943.  It participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which brought the United States into World War II.  The aircraft was very maneuverable and had a range of over 1000 miles when first produced.  As the war progressed, the aircraft began to suffer because of its lack of self-sealing fuel tanks and armor protection for its pilots. Japanese aircraft suffered terrible losses at the battles of midway and the Coral Sea.  Particularly devastating for the Japanese was at Rabaul in the New Britain island chain in November of 1943, where the U.S. Navy destroyed 123 Zeros out of 175 in a two-week period.  These were losses, in both aircrews and aircraft, from which the Japanese would never recover.  Despite its drawbacks, the Zero soldiered on as the mainline defensive fighter for Japan.  As the situation became more desperate for Japan, the Zero became the most numerous of the Kamikaze aircraft that were used for suicide missions against allied shipping.

Personal History

This particular aircraft was recovered by the Australian War Memorial Museum in the early 1970’s.  Along with several other Zeros it was found near Rabaul in the South Pacific.  The markings suggest that it was in service after June 1943 and further investigation suggests that it has cockpit features conducive to the Nakashima built model 52b.  If this is correct, it is most likely one of the 123 aircraft lost by the Japanese during the assault of Rabaul.  After the Australian Museum restored 1 of the recovered Zeros, the balance of the aircraft and parts were traded off to Robert Greinert from Sydney.  Kermit purchased the aircraft from him in the late 1980’s where it was eventually made up for display in Fightertown as a crashed aircraft.  Much of the aircraft is usable for patterns and some of its parts can be restored to one day make this a basis for a flyable aircraft.

There is only 1 true original Zero flying in the world today and is displayed and flown at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California.  Several rebuilds have been almost scratch built, from aircraft similar to this one, and are flying today with American-built engines.  Original Japanese engines are almost impossible to find in a condition to be overhauled.  Most recovered aircraft have significant corrosion because of the salty South Pacific environment.  Little of the original metal is usable in aircraft that are to be restored to flying condition.  Most of the Zero's seen in movies, such as “Tora, Tora, Tora” and “Pearl Harbor” are dolled up American AT-6 trainers.  Real Zeros would fly much faster than the ones seen in Hollywood films.

Kermit Comment

Up until the 1960’s, there were many Japanese, as well as American, aircraft scattered throughout the South Pacific in restorable condition.  At a time, when no one cared about recovering or collecting World War II aircraft, the Japanese went back to the old airfields with salvage ships.  They chopped up and melted hundreds of aircraft down for scrap.  Today, Japan finds itself with very few of their historic aircraft.