4 FULL SCALE RESTORED Mitsubishi ZERO'S sighted in Farmville, VA TODAY!. While talking to my buddy in central VA today, he started shouting over his cell phone HEY HEY what the H--- is this? It looks like a Japanese Zero, Hey there's another and another, just then he said. "Can you hear this?" and held the phone out, sure enough I heard that radial engine sound as they passed directly over his place nexto a small airport nearby. They're going to land he shouted! "Those are WWII airplanes!" Knowing that I'm a student pilot and RC pilot he tried to described the aircraft as they made their downwind towards base and final approach , all the while needing to holler as the low flying Zero's engine noise roared in the background. I kept shouting at him, "Are they green " or "Grey?" "No-No they look white with bright Red circles and a band of red behind the canopy" GET PICTURES " GET PICTURES! I know he did'nt hear me. " I'LL call you back he shouted and hung up.

About an hour later and a lot quieter he explained that these four aircraft were in fact planes used in the making of the movie "Pearl Harbor" and are planning to be part of airshow this weekend when a strong front that was moving in from the west forced them to lay over. Having just recently heard from my wife that O'Hare had been shut-down due to storms and that she would be flying into BWI sometime friday, I guessed they decided "any port in the storm" and put down right there in central VA. Why did'nt that happen last week when I was down there I kept muttering the rest of the day.

Can you imagine watching 4 ghost grey Zero's comimg out of the dark clouds not more than 200 ft off the deck! TIME-WARP?

WEll if he got any pic's I'll be sure to post them.

Avionics switch? - OFF!-

Mikel-T

Wow...that must have been autrageous! It would be super if he got some pics! We would love to see them!
Thanks for the story,
Rob

I don't mean to rain on the party but there ae so few authentic zeros left - if there are any - that some number of AT-6s were modified (cowlings, spinners, livery, etc.) to look like zeros. All of the Hollywood films, old and new, used AT-6s.

The easiest way to spot the differences between the two aircraft are the profile of the tails. The fuselage end of the Zero is pointed where the AT-6's tail is not prominent at all. Also, the vertical fin profiles are different.

If they're Zeros, I would SURE like to see some photos of them!


Mike

Yes, there is only one flyable Zero in the world now with it's
original SAKAE engine. I remember she belongs to Planes
of Fame Museum CA. USA.

Tsutomu Mabuchi

Paul allen of Microsoft fame is an avid collector of war birds and has a museum here in Arlington. All his aircraft are in flyable condition and last week some guys took up a P-51 and a P-40 so they could be run. Now the story goes that he does have enough pieces (4 I believe) to make a flyable zero. One was found on the island of Rabaul and has since been shipped back here but paul Allen is a very tight lipped guy and isn't saying much about it.

So would that one be the second flyable Zero when restored?

Tsutomu Mabuchi

If anyone restores another, then yes, there would be two.

The planes the thread starter's friend saw were probably AT-6 in Japanese WWII paint. There is a group of them that does mock combat at airshows. I saw them a few years back in Omaha along with the B-2 bomber and other interesting flying aircraft.

Gents, while there is only one genuine Zero flying with the original Sakae engine there are several others which have been re-engined with American powerplants. They are still genuine Japanese airframes, just not powered by Japanese engines any longer. If you have ever watched the "Pearl Harbor" movie you have seen some of them (there are three in the movie). They include one owned by David Price and operated out of Camarillo, Ca., another owned by an un-named businessman in Los Angelas, and Paul Allen has one being converted to a two seater in Chino, Ca. The CAF also have one which was flyable up until several years ago which is undergoing rebuild also at Camarillo.

David Price's Zero


The CAF Zero:


I believe this is the one now undergoing conversion to two-seat status for Paul Allen:

Ahhh Chad, you beat me too it I thought I had seen a story a while back though that the CAF bird had finally been retrofitted with an original engine.

Looking at the CAF aircraft roster, they list both an A6M2 Zero and an A6M3 Zeke, both based in Southern California.

The A6M2 would be the light gray colored one in my post. The A6M3 would be the David Price machine, which I knew the CAF were trying to purchase. Apparently they did!

while I can definitely appreciate the number of "flyable" Zeros, the fact remains that the only "TRUE" Zero is the one located here in SoCal at Chino, complete with the correct powerplant. I restore old Mustang cars as my other hobby and one of my pride and joys is an authentic 1970 Boss 302 Mustang. WITHOUT the correct engine, it is just another Mustang fastback with a fancy stripe on it. I will be at the the Planes of Fame show this weekend and hope to shoot a LOT of digital pics of the Zero, a lot of which will be detailed closeups of the correct Sakae powerplant. Whatever I get, I hope to share with the RCU crowd on a CD....

randy

Bossman, wouldn't a boss 302 would be better with a 428cj or boss 429 ? Oh, I bet I'll get an ear full !

I've never seen any performance figures of the re-engined birds, wonder if it's higher ?

The fact is, a sakae radial must be astronomical to support, custom parts galore, like a gurney eagle small block F1 motor.

I'm happy to see a real zero, those hollywood types are, well, hmmmm, well, well, would look nicer as what they started out with, a AT-6/SNJ/Harvard.

I suppose they have their place, and really, 4 radials buzzing over your house beats just about everything but a merlin powered spit singing past !

S1

Not to hijack the thread or anything but....

bosssman, what color is your Boss? Mine was Wimbleton White with blue standard interior. The only piece it didn't have was the rev-limiter. Never found one before I sold it. I also used to restore Mustangs as a hobby several years ago. My senior year in high school, I probably bought and sold 20 different Mustangs. The ones I had kept were the 70 boss, a 69 Mach I with the R code 428SCJ, a 69 Mach I that originally came with an S code 390, but I replaced it with a 427 side oiler with a 2x4bbl carbs. The best looking one I had was a 69 Mach I with a 351W 4bbl, that was black with red interior, and the red side stripe. But Alas, they are all gone now Got married, bought a house and had kids.

my current "stable" stands at 12 Mustangs - 2 convertibles (1 69 and 1 70), 3 65/6 fastbacks and the other 7 all 69/70 fastbacks = my Boss, several mach 1s and a couple of plain janers....



MY "OTHER" MUSTANG

BEAUTIFUL!!!! Even the correct for '70 delux high-back bucket seats. Most of the ones I see people have put the ones out of a '69 in them. I have never seen another white one like I had with the blue standard interior. I sold it to a guy who did a complete nut and bolt restoration and I say it a couple of years later on the cover of Hot Rod magazine.

Zero was a ZERO!. Well of course you guys are correct they were bashed AT-6's for the movie, as noted by a vet WWII pilot that is my Bud's neighbor. He witnessed the fly-in as well then today he scoped the grounded Birds only to confirm that were modified AT-6's that he had earned his wings with. I guess the sound did not fool him. Oh Well, I guess you had to be there, I failed miserably as a news person, faking stories and exaggerating, hey I hear CBS is hiring!