Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. A6M5 Zero

The A6M5 Zero 61-120 on display at the Planes of Fame Air Museum, Chino, Calif. is the worlds’ only authentic  flying example of the Mitsubishi A6M5 model 52 Zero. Completed in May 1943 at the Nakajima Aircraft Corporations’ Koizumi factory, it was the 2357th Zero produced.

 

61-120’s first assignment was with the Imperial Japanese

 

 

Navy’s 261st Naval Air Corp. also known as “Tiger Corp”, which was part of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s First Air Fleet. Established on July 1, 1943, “Tiger Corp” was assigned to the defense of the region of Japan surrounding Tokyo, during ”Operation Pogo”, the air defense of the Japanese home islands.

 

Near the end of 1943, the 261st Naval Air Corp., under the command of Capt. Ibusuki was transferred to the island of Iwo Jima, remaining there until March 1944. In March 1944, the 261st was again transferred to the island of Saipan at Aslito airfield for the protection of the Marianas Islands. It was here that “Tiger Corp.” was frequently engaged in combat with elements of the U.S. Navy’s Task Force 58. On June 15, 1944, as part of Operation Forager, the island of Saipan was invaded by U.S. forces and after three days of intense fighting, on June 18, 1944, Aslito airfield was captured and a dozen Zeros including 61-120 and seven spare Nakajima Sakae radial engines and other equipment was secured. These aircraft were transported to the Garapan Anchorage on July 8, 1944 and loaded aboard the escort carrier U.S.S. Copahee which departed on July 12, 1944 for the United States and arrived at N.A.S. North Island in San Diego, Calif., on July 28, 1944.

 

The Technical Air Intelligence Center, based at N.A.S. Anacostia, Maryland, assigned the identification number of T.A.I.C.#5 to 61-120 to identify this specific airframe during its evaluation and testing. Between July 28, and August 5, 1944 61-120 and three other late model Zeros were repaired and made airworthy, with the first flight with the U.S. Navy occurring on August 5. Two of the Zeros were transferred to the U.S. Army Air Force, while 61-120 and another Zero were retained by the U.S. Navy. By August 22, 1944 61-120 had been ferried to the U.S. Navy’s Tactical Test Division based at N.A.S. Anacostia, Md., and the next day it was transferred to N.A.S. Patuxent River, Md. for evaluation.

 

Between August and October exhaustive study and flight testing had been performed on 61-120, and its performance characteristics being carefully cataloged. On October 22, 1944, 61-120 participated in an event known as the “Joint Fighter Competition”. During this event 61-120 was comparison flight tested against Americas best fighters including the P-51, P-38, P-40, P-47, F6F, and F4F, and by coincidence with what is now the Planes of Fame Air Museums’ own YP-59 serial number 42-108777 which was the only jet aircraft to participate in this event. During this event many of Americas’ leading test pilots had an opportunity to fly this latest variant of Japans’ vaunted Zero fighter. 61-120’s logbook would come to read like a Who’s who of Americas’ aviation elite with names such as the U.S. Navy’s Lt. Commander Cook Cleland, Jack Woolams of Bell Aircraft Corp., C.H. “Corky” Meyers of Grumman Aircraft Corp., Boone Guynton and C.L. Sharp of Chance-Vought Aircraft Corp., and most notably by Charles Lindbergh of United Aircraft Corp., and “Spirit of St. Louis” fame. Following the end of the “Joint Fighter Competition”, 61-120 remained at N.A.S. Patuxent River until returning to N.A.S. Anacostia on November 30, 1944.

 

By December 6, 1944, 61-120 was back at N.A.S. North Island San Diego, Calif. where she continued in service being flown by front line pilots whom would be given the chance to familiarize themselves with the Zero’s idiosyncrasies. 61-120 would serve in this capacity until the end of the war and by September 1945, she had accumulated 190 hours of flight time. Finally on September 30, 1945, 61-120 was ferried to N.A.S. Alameda, Calif., where it declared as surplus to U.S. Navy requirements. At some point 61-120 was transported to N.A.S. North Island where it would remain in storage. Normally this would have been the end for so many surplus World War II aircraft, but that was not to be this aircrafts’ fate.

 

In 1950, Edward T. Maloney, the founder of the Planes of Fame Air Museum, had received a report that some Japanese Zero fighters were being scrapped at N.A.S. North Island in San Diego, Calif., and upon his arrival there, he had discovered that one Zero had already had its wings cut off and the fuselage was in the process of being cut in half with 61-120 intact but waiting for its turn with the scrappers. Mr. Maloney quickly arranged to purchase both of the aircraft and transport them back home and into storage.

On January 12, 1957, Mr. Maloney opened his “The Air Museum” on Route 66 in Claremont, Calif., featuring ten aircraft including 61-120 on display with the tail code V-101, but this was later change to its original tail code of 61-120. Over the coming years, 61-120 would be witness to many changes including the acquisition of more aircraft and two venue changes, and always remaining one of the crown jewels in “The Air Museums” collection. In 1973, after museum personnel had completed several aircraft restorations to airworthy condition, including the very complex restoration of a Nakajima Ki-84 “Frank”, a decision was made to restore 61-120 to airworthy condition.

 

This was the beginning of a monumental five year effort to breathe new life into 61-120. The Nakajima Sakae 21 radial engine was sent to Stewart-Davis’s shop in Long Beach, Calif., for overhaul while the airframe was taken in hand in “The Air Museums’” shop for a complete restoration. During the course of this rebuilding effort, hastily repaired combat damage had been discovered in the aft fuselage which was properly repaired. With the restoration of 61-120 nearing completion, the aircraft was registered with the F.A.A. on May 3, 1978 as N46770 and the first post-restoration flight taking place on June 28, 1978. Three test flights took place that day with three museum pilots, Don Lykins, Steve Hinton, and Jim Maloney at the controls.

 

Immediately following the successful restoration of 61-120 to airworthy status and an extensive flight test program, the Zero embarked of an extensive tour if Japan in which 61-120 was the first original Zero fighter to take to the skies over Japan since 1945. Following 61-120’s return in early 1979 from its very successful tour of Japan, this aircraft quickly became one of the most popular aircraft in the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s collection. It became a regular flier during the museums’ annual air shows and in the early 1990’s a Japanese film crew arrived at the museum in order to film a documentary about World War II Kamikaze pilots in which 61-120 featured prominently. A second tour of Japan followed in March 1995, and in 2000, 61-120 was one of the aircraft featured in in the motion picture “Pearl Harbor”. 61-120 was one of three Zeros that had been leased for filming of the movie on location in Hawaii, along with the Planes of Fames’ BT-15/D3A “Val” dive bomber replica that was a veteran of the 1960’s movie “Tora, Tora, Tora” and Curtiss P-40.

 

In recent years 61-120, participated in yet a third tour of Japan, leaving Chino, Calif. in October 2012 and returning in November 2013. Upon returning from Japan, the decision had been made for what was effectively a second restoration on the aircraft in order to address several issues that had surfaced over the years and while 61-120 was disassembled, a complete re-wiring of the aircraft was accomplished. Currently 61-120 remains airworthy and may be seen in flight approximately three times each year, twice during the Planes of Fame Air Museums’ annual air show and also during the December monthly symposium. 61-120 may be seen on display in the “Foreign Aircraft” hangar at the Planes of Fame Air Museum facility in Chino, California.

 

During World War II 10,936 Zeros were built with approximately 40 airframes still in existence. Of these only about six are currently in airworthy condition and of those 61-120 is the only original condition Zero flying with its original Nakajima Sakae 21 radial engine and Sumitomo propeller.

 

By Kenneth Keller