Fargo Air Museum - Historic Aircraft

 
 
 
     
 
  Mitsubishi A6M Reisen Zero Fighter
The name of the Japanese Navy's legendary Zero Fighter came from the plane's official designation, Rei Shiki Kanjo Sentoki (Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter), shortened to Rei-Sen or Reisen.

A6M2 Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter Model 21
This early model A6M2 Zero kicks up dust as it lands at its home base near Rabaul in early 1943 after having just returned from a mission over distant Guadalcanal. Heat, insects, fatigue, poor food, and unshakeable illnesses plagued Japanese pilots throughout the South Pacific.

Begining in the 1920s, the Japanese Army and Navy used aircraft type designations based upon the last two digits of the Japanese national era calendar system, which began with the year 660 BC, the founding year of the Japanese Empire. When it was adopted by the Japanese Navy in the year 2600 of the Japanese Empire (our western year 1940), the Mitsubishi Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter received the designation Rei ("Zero") Sen ("Fighter").

The maneuverability and combat power of the Zero stunned Allied pilots when the Japanese offensive broke in December 1941. In spite of reports from China, the capabilities of this nimble, hard hitting carrier fighter came as a complete surprise. Its long range gave the Japanese Navy a great strategic advantage, but that range was bought at the expense of lightness of construction and lack of armor protection or self-sealing fuel tanks. When the Japanese were forced onto the defensive, the Zero's shortcomings were shown up by a new generation of Allied carrier aircraft.

A6M3 Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter Model 32
This rare photograph from the flight deck of a Japanese aircraft carrier shows an A6M3 Zero Model 32 taking off on a strike mission in the South Pacific in 1943. Air engagements between US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft and carrier-based Zeros were far less frequent than with Zeros based on land, which saw action daily.

Conceived out of the experience of air combat in China, the first prototype A6M Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter flew in April 1939. On the eve of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Navy had a total of 521 carrier fighters, of which 328 were A6M2s.

It was predominantly these aircraft, both carrier and land based, which were the instrument by which Japan effectively acquired superiority over the western Pacific, outclassing in air-to-air combat those few Allied fighters which had escaped being shot up on the ground.

By the end of 1942, however, the A6M2 and A6M3 were becoming outclassed by a new generation of Allied aircraft, although development and production of the Zero continued until the end of the war. The A6M5 could match the slightly less maneuverable Grumman F6F Hellcat in combat, but was much more vulnerable to battle damage. In late 1943, the A6M5b was introduced, at last incorporating some pilot protecting armor and fire extinguishers for the fuel tanks. But even these features could not save inexperienced Japanese Navy pilots from a crushing defeat in the 1944 'Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.'

A6M3 Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter Model 22
A6M3 Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter Model 22 and flight of Zeros leave their base at Rabaul, New Britain to fight US Navy F4F Wildcats and Marine Corps F4U Corsairs over Guadalcanal in the Solomons. The wing form of the Model 21 and the engine cowling of the Model 32 identify this aircraft as a Model 22.

Production continued right to the end, the last model to be developed being the A6M8, which had the forward fuselage redesigned to accomodate the 1650 hp Mitsubishi Kinsei radial. Two prototypes were tested and large production orders placed for the radically improved fighter, but Japanese industry was disintegrating under the pounding of US bombing, made worse by chronic shortages of raw materials. When A6M production finally came to a halt, 10,449 A6Ms had been built by Mitsubishi and Nakajima.
Check out the Fargo Air Museum's A6M2 Model 21 Zero Fighter 

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Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero-Sen, one of the fighters aboard the carrier Hiryu during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
Mitsubishi A6M2 Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter Model 21, one of the fighters aboard the carrier Hiryu during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
 
Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero-Sen of the 12th Combined Kokutai, 1941-42.
Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero of the 12th Combined Kokutai, 1941-42.
 
Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero-Sen. The Zero was the most famous Japanese fighter plane of World War II.
Mitsubishi A6M3 Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter Model 22. The Zero was the most famous Japanese fighter plane of World War II.
 
Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero-Sen based in the Philippines in late 1944.
Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero based in the Philippines in late 1944.
 
Mitsubishi A6M Reisen Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter ('Zeke')

Crew: 1
Power plant: Nakajima NK1F Sakae radial, 1130 hp
Armament: 2 x 20mm cannon, 2 x 7.7mm machine guns
Maximum speed: 350 mph
Range: 1190 miles