Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen (Zero)

History of the Mitsubishi A6M Travel (zero)

The Mitsubishi A6M "Rei-sen" was the main naval fighter of the Japanese Empire en route to World War II. According to the Imperial Almanac (time 1940 morning), the aircraft was identified as "Zero Sen" by its pilots. The Allies eventually adopted the name "Zero" as a nickname for the genre, and the official Allied codename was "Zeke".

The A6M attracted widespread attention in the early days of the Pacific War, becoming the first naval aircraft capable of surpassing any land-based adversary through a combination of speed, maneuverability and range. Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has produced about 10,939 prototypes since 1940.

The series survived the entire war until Japan's surrender in September 1945 and was tested by five years of conflict.

The A6M originated in 1937 before the war, when Mitsubishi had just delivered the A5M. The A5M was a monoplane fighter developed for the Imperial Japanese Navy with a streamlined fuselage, low forward-sloping monoplane wings and a single-seat cockpit.

While 1,094 aircraft of this type entered inventory, the type still contains some old-fashioned design cues that make it a seemingly outdated aircraft by World War II standards. It features an open-air cockpit for the pilot with a raised fuselage spine and fixed main landing gear legs, painted.

Visibility from the cockpit was poor, and the armament was concentrated around a pair of 7.7mm Series 89 machine guns.

In the face of these constraints, the Imperial Japanese Navy urged both Mitsubishi and Nakajima to develop new carrier-based naval fighters with greater capabilities (especially range) to demonstrate their importance in Japan's forthcoming campaign in the vast Pacific Ocean . Also, the strike power of the aircraft should be boosted by a cannon weapon combined with a machine gun for an impressive double strike. The aircraft also needed to be relatively compact and have foldable wing assemblies for storage, given the space on the Japanese carrier.

IJN asked for specific specs for their new mount: a top speed of 310 mph, a rate of climb of 9,850 feet, and a finish in 3.5 minutes.

Nakajima engineers eventually found the requirements to be too stringent and did not submit a formal design, leaving Mitsubishi to lead the project. Her design (attributed to Jiro Horikoshi) became a smooth-contoured monoplane fighter with a fully enclosed cockpit and fully retractable landing gear. As usual, the engine was installed in a compartment in the front of the fuselage, and the wings were located forward of the midship. Visibility is slightly improved compared to the A5M because the fuselage spine is lowered into the fuselage shape.

The canopy is conservatory while still providing adequate situational awareness for the pilot. When stowed, the wingtips can be folded to reduce the wingspan.

One of the strengths of the Mitsubishi design was the lack of armor on the main components of the aircraft - the cockpit, engines and fuel tanks (as well as the self-sealing fuel tanks). While the lack of this armor protection resulted in the aircraft being lighter and therefore more agile, it decisively reduced the survivability of the crew and airframe in combat with equivalent or superior fighters. The Mitsubishi design was also an excellent lathe, which at one point gave it an edge over its contemporaries. The armament is a mix of 2 x 20mm cannons on the wings and 2 x 7.7mm machine guns on the front cowl.

Power comes from a Nakajima radial piston engine driving a three-bladed propeller.

The first prototype was introduced on March 16, 1939, with its maiden flight on April 1 of that year. On September 14, the aircraft was officially accepted by the Japanese Navy as its new standardized carrier-based fighter. The first aircraft were powered by Mitsubishi engines (Ruicheng series) until the decisive switch to Nakajima products.

Mitsubishi aircraft were adopted as A6M Zero Sen 00 fighters and were first used against the Chinese in July 1940. It quickly proved to be the best fighter in the world, beating nearly every opponent in the Asia and Pacific theaters, and certainly stunned observers in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere, but no further work of this type was done.

The production of the A6M eventually eclipsed all other Japanese fighters. Mitsubishi is its manufacturer, but additional manufacturing is handled by rival Nakajima, with just over 6,200 examples produced.

Hitachi and Sasebo saw additional production, including a seaplane derivative that was also widely used in the war.

When the Japanese raided Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy managed a stable of about 400 Zero fighters and carriers to deploy them. The Zeros were involved in devastating raids that destroyed or damaged many U.S.

Navy warships and pushed the United States toward an official declaration of war against the Japanese Empire. From then on, the A6M was used in all major Japanese campaigns and maintained its air superiority until 1942, with the addition of 2 x 132lb bombs for ground attack.

The plane now commands the respect of Washington observers, and its capabilities are on full display.

It wasn't until mid-1942 that the Allies managed to capture a complete A6M in the US and inspect it from the inside out. Thanks to this work, the weaknesses of the Mitsubishi aircraft were quickly discovered and new counter tactics were arranged for the Allied pilots.

The Type Zero's lack of armour proved to be a critical design flaw that Allied pilots would strive to exploit. Additionally, the U.S. Navy is now moving to more modern, more powerful combat mounts in its F6F Hellcats and F4U Corsairs to replace outgoing frontline types like the F4F Wildcats.

The turning point in the early days of the Pacific War came at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, when these new American fighters repelled oncoming Zeros and achieved a huge victory in the process. Americans benefited from armor in key components, improved weapons and tactics, and increased power from the dominant engines.

In contrast, Type Zero has now found its official match.

Beginning in 1943, the Type Zero proved to be a weaker and more vulnerable foe than the early days of the war. The A6M8 produced the "authoritative" Zero with a 1,560-horsepower Nakajima Kinsei engine, but the arrival of this variant proved a moot point.

By 1945, the tide had turned from Imperial Japan to Allied forces and territorial losses. In the ensuing kamikaze attack, the Zero was eventually relegated to a carrier for suicide pilots. These have been equipped with 1 x 550lb bombs for maximum lethality.

There are very few operators outside the Imperial Japanese Navy, including Thailand. Postwar use was observed in China (Republic of China) and Indonesia. Several aircraft exist in airworthy form today, and many survive as museum exhibits. Some have appeared on screen in multiple films to date.

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