Japanese Zero

[uniform7]

Did the Japanese Zero's have a pitch trim gauge? Also, anyone watch the Black Sheep on TV? It looks like they are using the T6 Texan painted as Zero's. Could be mistaken.

[Fulbert]

Do you write about the A2A/Shockwave A6M5 "Zero" ?

[uniform7]

Actually, It is the original Microsoft's WW11 Wings of Power that I have ported over from my FS9 to my FSX. I added a trim gauge to it since it didn't have one but what I wanted to know was did the real one have that feature?

[hairyspin]

Don't think so, pitch was trimmed with a wheel on port side of the cockpit afaik, but the Zeke wasn't over-endowed with gauges.

[uniform7]

I though as much but wasn't sure. Flies pretty nice.

[Ferry_vO]

Have a look here: http://rwebs.net/avhistory/history/zeke32.htm#Cockpit

All I see is a trim wheel with a chain attached.

[uniform7]

Have a look here: http://rwebs.net/avhistory/history/zeke32.htm#Cockpit

All I see is a trim wheel with a chain attached.

Wow! Thank you for your research! From the information, would lead me to believe and it states it did have elevator trim control. Microsoft left it off theirs. What about the WOP model?

[trucker17]

The Planes of Fame's A6M5 Zero

[uniform7]

The Planes of Fame's A6M5 Zero

I didn't know there were any real ones still around! I live in Reno, NV and go to the air races almost every year. Get a lot of Warbirds but never a Zero. That I remember anyway.

[trucker17]

Yeah,,,,
The planes of fame Zero still runs the original sakae engine and prop......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuoVlQOO4xc

[Navy Chief]

I was reading a letter written by one of the Black Sheep pilots today (cannot recall which one). He wrote about the armored protection that the Corsair cockpit had? I am not knowledgable about WW2 aircraft, so had never heard or read about their construction. He was writing about one of the air battles involving Zeros. He said that although they were unbelievably maneuverable, their pilots did not share the same level of protection. In one instance, he was chasing a Zero that flew over a U.S. ship that was firing straight up, and his Corsair took a lot of hits, but made it home safely, and that was after he continued flying to shoot the Zero down. NC

[Bomber_12th]

In the "Black Sheep Squadron" TV series, and in movies of that era, like "Tora, Tora, Tora", and earlier films, the Zeroes are of course all AT-6 Texans that are dressed-up to appear as Zeroes - some with more modifications than others.

Besides many of these modified Texans still flying today as replica "Zeroes", there are quite a few authentic Zeroes flying today as well - currently 5 in all, with more on the way.

-The Planes of Fame Air Museum owns/flies an A6M5 registered as N46770, based at the Chino, CA airport. It is the only one that is still powered with an original Sakae engine (all of the other authentic Zeroes are powered by the American-equivalent, the P&W R-1830). It is currently disassembled, however, undergoing thorough restoration.
-The Texas Flying Legends Museum owns/flies an A6M2 registered as N8280K, based at Ellington Field, Houston, TX (when it is home). This is the specific type that was used in the attack on Pearl Harbor. This Zero is the most flown and traveled, per year, of any of the others.
-The Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force owns/flies an A6M3 registered as N712Z, based at the Camarillo, CA airport.
-The Flying Heritage Collection owns/flies an A6M3 registered as N3852, based at Paine Field, Everett, WA. This aircraft was restored with a copy of one of the Japanese field-mods, which converted the Zero into a two-seater, with two canopies.
-And there is a Japanese businessman that owns the flying/flyable A6M3 registered as N553TT, which is based in Anchorage, AK.

There is an A6M3-32 under advanced restoration to fly at Legend Flyers, which will be powered by an original Sakae engine, like the Planes of Fame example. There has also been an interest noted by the Flying Heritage Collection to potentially restore to fly at least one of the two A6M5's they also own (already restored to static), which is in addition to the A6M3 they already operate.

[DaveB]

There was an American programme on the TV here in the UK not that long ago called Air Combat.. one of which was about the F6F and the Zero. They said pretty much the same thing NC. Armour plate on the Zero was seriously lacking and IF the Hellcat could get into position.. the Zero couldn't take much punishment (or the pilot for that matter).

ATB
DaveB

[bazzar]

Here's a pic of the JF Zero trim control and chain.

[Dangerous Beans]

I always loved the A2A Zero, lots of fun to fly.
Although it does have pitch trim it doesn't have very much so is impossible to trim at higher speeds. I don't know if that's true IRL.

Its also the one plane in the WWII fighter pack that they never updated to full FSX spec although it works fine in FSX. Unfortunately it makes P3D crash which is a shame.

[ejoiner]

I was reading a letter written by one of the Black Sheep pilots today (cannot recall which one). He wrote about the armored protection that the Corsair cockpit had? I am not knowledgable about WW2 aircraft, so had never heard or read about their construction. He was writing about one of the air battles involving Zeros. He said that although they were unbelievably maneuverable, their pilots did not share the same level of protection. In one instance, he was chasing a Zero that flew over a U.S. ship that was firing straight up, and his Corsair took a lot of hits, but made it home safely, and that was after he continued flying to shoot the Zero down. NC

Far as I know, Zeros didnt have armor protecting the pilot. I also dont think they had self sealing tanks. Very nimble in a turning fight, especially down low, but could be beaten in a zoom and boom fight. Thats how P-38's fought them. Dive, lay on the heavy MG's, then run away to take another run.

[uniform7]

I always loved the A2A Zero, lots of fun to fly.
Although it does have pitch trim it doesn't have very much so is impossible to trim at higher speeds. I don't know if that's true IRL.

Its also the one plane in the WWII fighter pack that they never updated to full FSX spec although it works fine in FSX. Unfortunately it makes P3D crash which is a shame.

I seem to have my FS9 Microsoft Zero working fine in FSX except the textures play hard on even my Inteli7 processor and the Nvidia 770 card wonder what makes it crash your P3D? I don't have P3D or I might take a look. A Gauge maybe? Remove the gauges and see what happens then add them back a couple at a time.

[heywooood]

Far as I know, Zeros didnt have armor protecting the pilot. I also dont think they had self sealing tanks. Very nimble in a turning fight, especially down low, but could be beaten in a zoom and boom fight. Thats how P-38's fought them. Dive, lay on the heavy MG's, then run away to take another run.

No armor plating, no self sealing fuel cells, and the aluminum used was a blend of magnesium alloy that helped save weight but was more brittle and prone to corrosion (not to mention flammable), that's why all of the Japanese aircraft had that distinctive light green coating - designed to slow the corrosion.

all of these weight saving measures made the Zero highly maneuverable but also fairly defenseless.

The Marine Corp pilots called them Zippos - after the cigarette lighter...

one other flaw in the design was that they could not safely dive for more than a few seconds - they suffered from control lock at high speeds...well speeds higher than their rated max combat speed

this was the main reason that Chennaults boom and zoom tactics were so effective against all Japanese aircraft...you could engage them from a dive, score a few hits to ignite them and then climb out and hit them again, totally negating their one strength of maneuverability in combat

[ViperPilot2]

Even with its shortcomings compared to Allied aircraft, a Zero in the hands of a skilled pilot was a formidable foe. Its light weight construction gave the Zero the ability to fly great distances (over 1,200 nm), equipped with its belly drop tank.

A good example is Saburo Sakai; on 5/7/1942 Sakai flew from Lae to Guadalcanal (about 550 nm) in his A6M2 to engage the Cactus Air Force. After some heavy ACM, and at the start of his return leg, he tried to attack a flight of either SBD Dauntless dive bombers (or TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, depending on the source) and was shot up badly, including being struck in the head by a bullet, losing vision in one eye, and suffering paralysis on the left side of his body. With these grave injuries, he still managed to fly the 500 miles back to Lae and actually land his crippled Zero.

Permanently blinded in his eye, and after a long recovery, Sakai returned to service and flew from both Iwo Jima and the Japanese home islands at the end of the war. He was also a Consultant on CFS2 for Microsoft.

[Dangerous Beans]

I seem to have my FS9 Microsoft Zero working fine in FSX except the textures play hard on even my Inteli7 processor and the Nvidia 770 card wonder what makes it crash your P3D? I don't have P3D or I might take a look. A Gauge maybe? Remove the gauges and see what happens then add them back a couple at a time.

It was a few versions ago that I last tried it so I just tried it again in 2.5 just to be sure but no joy.
I even aliased both the panel and sounds to the FSX C172 but that didn't fix it.

I get an appcrash popup that says Prepar3D.exe has stopped working and that the fault module name is ai_player.dll if that means any thing to anyone.

[uniform7]

It was a few versions ago that I last tried it so I just tried it again in 2.5 just to be sure but no joy.
I even aliased both the panel and sounds to the FSX C172 but that didn't fix it.

I get an appcrash popup that says Prepar3D.exe has stopped working and that the fault module name is ai_player.dll if that means any thing to anyone.

The ai.player.dll as far as I know in FSX has to do with your AI Traffic.

[DaveB]

The ai.player.dll as far as I know in FSX has to do with your AI Traffic.

It is and it's been a pain from day one on my current FSX install. A number of things can cause it from rogue traffic files to memory shortage. I finally got rid of it by binning the default trafficAircraft.bgl!! This sounds a bit drastic I know but as I rarely go to tubeliner airports.. it matters not. I now see what I want to see and don't get an error from ai.player.dll

ATB
DaveB

[robert41]

This is the A2A Zero that came with the WW2 fighters package.
Have it working in FSX with the usual prop issue and older gauges not working. Repaint by William Bruce Ellis.

[PRB]

I always loved the A2A Zero, lots of fun to fly.
Although it does have pitch trim it doesn't have very much so is impossible to trim at higher speeds. I don't know if that's true IRL...

I read somewhere that the A6M did have trim issues at high speed. However, even if true, and you want to "fix" yours, you can do so by finding the elevator_trim_limit in the aircraft.cfg, in the [airplane_geometry] section. I think the original value was 4. Mine is now 16 and it trims ok. I figure this is "my" Zero (PRB Planes of Fame), and I had the trim system upgraded so I could fly around without my arm getting too tired from pushing on the stick all day...

[PRB]

Even with its shortcomings compared to Allied aircraft, a Zero in the hands of a skilled pilot was a formidable foe. Its light weight construction gave the Zero the ability to fly great distances (over 1,200 nm), equipped with its belly drop tank.

A good example is Saburo Sakai; on 5/7/1942 Sakai flew from Lae to Guadalcanal (about 550 nm) in his A6M2 to engage the Cactus Air Force. After some heavy ACM, and at the start of his return leg, he tried to attack a flight of either SBD Dauntless dive bombers (or TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, depending on the source) and was shot up badly, including being struck in the head by a bullet, losing vision in one eye, and suffering paralysis on the left side of his body. With these grave injuries, he still managed to fly the 500 miles back to Lae and actually land his crippled Zero.

Permanently blinded in his eye, and after a long recovery, Sakai returned to service and flew from both Iwo Jima and the Japanese home islands at the end of the war. He was also a Consultant on CFS2 for Microsoft.

I love that part of the book. Until August 7, 1942, Sakai and friends had been flying against under-trained and/or under-equipped opponents in China, the Philippines, and Indonesia. In the book he relates how he and his squadron mates had heard that the US navy carrier aviators were well equipped and trained. He knew he would be flying against them for the first time and wondered how these adversaries would “stack up”. After the long boring 500 mile flight from Rabaul, they were approaching the Guadalcanal area, on the lookout for enemy planes, when he saw, first, one of the G4M bombers he was escorting explode and fall out of formation, and a couple seconds later, two blue F4F Wildcats diving vertically through the bomber formation! One hopes that for a brief moment, the Japanese version of “Dang...” crossed his mind...