The Fearsome Japanese Zero

At the outbreak of hostilities with Japan the fighter plane that was feared most by allied pilots was the Mitsubishi A6m Zero. Japanese commonly called the fighter plane "Zero-Sen", Zero after the last digit of the year it was made in the Japanese calendar 2600, and Sen Japanese for fighter. The A6m stands for A-Carrier Aircraft, 6-the 6th model built and M-Mitsubishi the manufacturer.

The Zero was designed by Jiro Horikoshi to fulfil a 1937 request for an updated and advanced fighter. The design requirements including five hundred km/h top speed, compact size for carriers and long endurance of up to eight hours at cruising speed which was considered not possible by Mitsubishi's competitor Nakajima who pulled out of the tender. To enable things such as small size for carriers, top speeds and quick climb to altitude a new aluminium was created that was much lighter but required anti-corrosive paint as it could become brittle.

The other key factor in achieving these goals was the absence of standard items in modern fighters of this time period of self-sealing fuel tanks and armour protection for the pilot. With these items missing and once allies developed strategies to counter the Zero it was prone to catching on fire quickly and/or the pilot being killed from gunfire.

By 1942 the Zero's engine had been upgraded from Nakajima Sakai 12 with 780hp to the more powerful Sakae 21 with 1130hp. This upgraded engine featured a 2-stage supercharger that enabled the aircraft to perform better at higher altitudes. In testing of captured aircraft, it was found that the Zero was a formidable opponent with an extremely low stall speed and a turn rate that was unmatched by any allied fighter at the time. Up until mid-1943 it was considered the most advanced fighter plane in the world and up until mid-1942 the aircraft achieved an astonishing kill ratio of twelve allied planes to every Zero lost. Those figures would certainly strike fear into any allied pilot. By the time the Japanese Zeros attacked Darwin on the 19th February 1942 the Japanese had pilots that had fought many air battles, highly experienced and trained, had the most superior fighter in the world and the confidence to match.

The Zero was manufactured by numerous Japanese companies under licence and a total of over ten thousand were produced between 1939 and 1945 making it the top produced aircraft by Japan in WWII. In addition to the normal carrier-based planes several other variants were produced including float planes and aircraft with an upwards facing cannon for attacking bombers from underneath.

With the sustained and relentless pressure of the Allies and the strength of US manufacturing eventually the Japanese were pushed further and further back. With pilots also learning techniques in a dog fight that made the Zero vulnerable eventually the pool of experienced Japanese pilots was reduced and near the end of the war the Zero became a weapon of kamikaze pilots with a two hundred and fifty kilogram bomb attached underneath. This kamikaze strategy worked to some success and continued the Zero's fearsome reputation. (Wikipedia 2019b)

In a talk I attended with Dick Dakeyne who was an Australian that flew with the US 380th Bombardment Group in a B24 Liberator when asked what the scariest thing was he faced in WWII and he described that up there would be a Kamikaze Pilot. Watching your mate in a plane next to you die when a Japanese aircraft intentionally flew into him and knowing your enemy had no regard to their own life, and even less of yours made you question whether this is an enemy you can defeat.

SPECIFICATIONS

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 9.06 m (29 ft 9 in)
Wingspan: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Height: 3.05 m (10 ft 0 in)
Wing area: 22.44 m2 (241.5 sq. ft)
Aspect ratio: 6.4
Air foil: root: MAC118 or NACA 2315; tip: MAC118 or NACA 3309[153]
Empty weight: 1,680 kg (3,704 lb)
Gross weight: 2,796 kg (6,164 lb)
Max take-off weight: 2,796 kg (6,164 lb)
Fuel capacity: 518 l (137 US gal; 114 imp gal) internal + 1x 330 l (87 US gal; 73 imp gal) drop tank
Power Plant: Powerplant: 1 × Nakajima NK1C Sakae-12 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 700 kW (940 hp) for take-off, 710 kW (950 hp) at 4,200 m (13,800 ft) Propellers: 3-bladed Sumitomo-Hamilton constant-speed propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 533 km (331 mph, 288 kn) at 4,550 m (14,930 ft)
Cruise speed: 333 km (207 mph, 180 kn)
Never exceed speed: 600 km (370 mph, 320 kn)
Range: 1,870 km (1,160 mi, 1,010 nmi)
Ferry range: 3,102 km (1,927 mi, 1,675 nmi)
Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 15.7 m/s (3,090 ft/min)
Time to altitude: 6,000 m (20,000 ft) in 7 minutes 27 seconds
Wing loading: 107.4 kg/m2 (22.0 lb/sq. ft)
Power/mass: 0.294 kW/kg (0.179 hp/lb)

Armament

Guns:

2× 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 97 aircraft machine guns in the engine cowling, with 500 rounds per gun.
2× 20 mm (0.787 in) Type 99-1 Mk.3 cannon in the wings, with 60 rounds per gun.

Bombs:

2× 60 kg (130 lb) bombs or
1× fixed 250 kg (550 lb) bomb for kamikaze attacks

(Wikipedia 2019c)

Next Page, The Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk

References