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USA: Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero of the Military Aviation Museum takes off

dewoitine

dewoitine

SOH-CM-2025
Sorry, in French!

USA: le Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero du Military Aviation Museum prend son envol – L’Echarpe Blanche

www.lecharpeblanche.fr www.lecharpeblanche.fr

On May 5, at Paine Field, Everett, Washington, USA, Mike Spalding conducted the new first post-reconstruction flight of the Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 32 Zero . Rebuilt by Legend Flyers and registered NX9940 , the aircraft belongs to the American collector Gerald Yagen and his Military Aviation Museum based in Virginia Beach, USA. This former Imperial Japanese Navy fighter is probably the first model 32 to fly since 1945.
 
An old Navy shipmate of mine is a docent at the Military Aviation Museum, where this Zero is headed. He has invited me to spend a day at the museum with him and now I'll wait until the Zero gets there.
 
Yes! A wonderful restoration to airworthy condition. It was originally to be restored using a Nakajima Sakae-21 engine, but cost and availability forced the restoration to use a P&W R-1830. The propeller is actually a DC-3 prop and the prop spinner is from a Lockheed Super Constellation spinner.
 
Did the A6M3 Model 32 have a rudder trim tab configured like the A6M2 (Ground Adjustable) or like the A6M5 (Flight Adjustable)?
This one ground adjustable and I thought that had gone away with the A6M2.
 
In watching the videos, I can tell you that the narrator in the first video really doesn't know anything about the A6M3 he is trying to describe.
Many of the details he notes are outright wrong.

- Ivan.
 
About 10-20 years ago, there were about a dozen new construuction A6M airframes built in Russia. These were new construction and not restored wrecks. As such, there were probably a few changes made to suite the fact that these were no longer combat aircraft and were most likely going into the airshow circuit and would be powered by P&W R-1830s instead of the original 1700 CID Sakae engine. One of the observations that can be made with some of the modern aircraft is that the "No-Step" area over the Flap Wells is no longer being observed. The original aircraft had very thin sheet metal over these areas and an outline denoting a "No-Step" area. The Pilot and Ground Crew accessed the cockpit by using retractable pegs intended to support their weight. This wasn't easy but was necessary because of the light construction. My belief is that the new construction airframes did not reproduce the cockpit adjustable Rudder Trim in order to simplify construction. In other aircraft such as the Chino A6M5, the fuel capacities are not original and the fuselage fuel tank is not installed. I suspect this is the most likely situation here as well.
 
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