FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

Developed from the A5M “Claude”, the Mitsubishi A6M Type 0 Reisen "Zero" (allied code name “Zeke”) was a formidable long-range fighter during the early years of World War II. It evolved during the course of the war into several variants. All the variants were agile, relatively fast, had a low stall speed, could climb quickly and had remarkable range. It followed the "light as a kite" design paradigm whereby all excess weight was removed to give the Zero its legendary flight characteristics. However, its superiority came at cost. First, it had no armor or self-sealing fuel tanks and one or two hits from an opponent would often time send a Zero down in flames. Second, it used mechanical rather than hydraulic controls so that control surfaces would be unresponsive at airspeeds above 410 mph. The Zero could not outdive allied aircraft due to this flaw and this was exploited by opponents who used "boom and zoom" tactics where they would attack from above and dive away from the Zero then gain altitude and start the process over again. Dogfighting a Zero in the early part of the war usually ended up with the Zero victorious.

The Zero first saw action in China in September 1940 and was the premier carrier-based plane with a 12:1 kill ratio. However, after 1943 allied aircraft began to match and exceed the the performance of the Zero. The model shown here is an example of the earliest variant of the Zero, the A6M2b Model 21. It has markings of a plane from the aircraft carrier Akagi that attacked Pearl Harbor. With the addition of two 20-mm cannons, the Zero possessed more firepower than the A5M which made it more effective against the better  armored allied aircraft. The A6M2b's main adversary was the U.S. Navy's Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat. Mitsubishi built 740 A6M2 aircraft with another 800 built by Nakajima. Here's a short video clip of me flying the A6M2b against a Wildcat (sorry for the flickering).

MITSUBISHI A6M2b Model 21 Reisen "Zeke"

 

 

 Class: Fighter

 Crew: 1

 Engine: Nakajima NK1C Sakae-12 14-cylinder twin-row radial (940 hp)

 Max Speed: 346 mph at 19,930 ft

 Climb Rate:  3,100 ft/min

 Service Ceiling: 32,800 ft

 Range: 1,929 miles

 Armament:  2 x .303 inch machine gun (fuselage mount)
                        2 x 20 mm cannon (wing mount)
                        2 x 130 lb bomb

 

  Model Scale:  1:87



















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