A6M Zero - Recognition Guide 1
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- Опубліковано 6 сер 2024
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The A6M 'Zero' is perhaps the most recognisable Japanese fighter aircraft from World War 2. Let's have a closer look how the design progressed over time and how you can recognise each variant.
- Sources
Artur Juszczak, Mitsubishi A6M Zero
Brian Criner, Modelling the Mitsubishi A6M Zero
James D’Angina, Mitsubishi A6M Zero
Jiro Hirokoshi, Eagles of Mitsubishi
NARA
Thank you to QAZ and Justin Pyke for additional input.
Thank you to Task Force Admiral for visual footage. Wishlist the game here:
store.steampowered.com/app/12...
- NextUp
A-6 Intruder
Junker Ju-87
Lavochkin La-5
Republic P-47
....
- Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:21 Prototype 12/ A6M introduction
01:39 Design
02:48 Designation System
04:42 Introduction into recognition
05:56 A6M2
07:29 A6M2-N
07:50 A6M3
09:33 A6M5
12:10 A6M7 / A6M8
12:43 Outro
- Audio
Music and Sfx from Epidemic Sound
#zero #a6m #recognitionguide
I am trialing this as a new series on the channel. The aim is to give an introduction into specific aircraft and show the main changes between the types, so that they become easy to recognise on pictures, in movies or in a museum. Let me know what you think!
Im only 2:30mins into the vid, and I can already tell you I am absolutely excited for the continuation of this series! Can’t wait until you get around to the RAF and Luftwaffe aircraft!
I like it!
great explanation of the evolution of the Zero
Thumbs up.
More of this, please.
9:42 when you have a two-numbered model designation, but realize this is just not complicated enough and create an additional 4 sub-variants... No wonder why the Germans allied themselves with the Japanese.
Germany and Japan need to collab on the next gen fighter (I mean 6th gen). I think it'd be the most awesome, most impractical thing ever.
Laughs in Yak fighter designations
@@yamato3151 I say it's easy! From 1 comes the 7, a trainer. From 7 comes 7B, a converted single-seater. From 7 comes 9, which is bigger than 3, which comes from the improved 1 and does not have a chin scoop. The 9 also loses a chin scoop later...what's messy about that? :-D
To be fair, the Japanese DID do a fantastic job taking the messy American Navy aircraft designation system (F4F, F4U, F7F, etc) and fixing the major issues with it. Mainly, counting aircraft developed by sequential number, instead of sequentially *per manufacturer* like the US did (and starting with "1", instead of omitting that number like the US did).
@@BleedingUranium Yeah...IMHO, the USAAF/USAF system is the best: Clear marking of purpose and sequence, while also giving aircraft names for easy remembering.
British system of just names and marks, soon supplemented by purpose (F, LF, HF, FB, B) is...alright, I guess? It has the advantage of changing the purpose of an aircraft without changing the main name, but it's not as elegant.
Nice touch showing old uncle Ronny before he became important.
Ronny Raygun. 😂
It’s always bedtime for bonzo
I'm pretty sure Bismarck wouldn't know who Regan was!
This was what Ronald Reagan did during WWII. He was actually IN the military but - since he was already an actor and they needed to make training films - that's what they used him for. Jimmy Stewart however flew combat. So - some of the people who had been actors before the war made Training Films, others served in Combat. Clark Gable did a bit of both - going on missions as part of making a movie about AAAF operations. Gable wanted to do more but he was way to old so they discharged him before the end of the war. John Wayne who was 8 years older than Jimmy Stewart (who was single), was also married and had several young children so he wasn't drafted. Then you had a whole bunch of guys that served in the military during WWII but only became actors later - such as Lee Marvin.
.
Some gave all, but all have some
Very nice! I spend far too much time squinting at blurry Zero photographs.
Know the feeling, did plenty of squiting for this video as well + contrast/ lighting changes to see if anything pops up.
Guess you weren’t kidding when you mentioned in Drach’s video that Zero fighter designations were a hot mess.
“A unique light weight material called Extra-Super Duralumin, E.S.D., was used extensively for the first time in this aircraft as a main part of the wing spar. This was very similar to the 75S aluminium adapted several years later by the United States. This new alloy, manufactured by the Sumitomo Metal Industry, had a tensile strength 30 to 40 percent higher than that of previously used Super Duralumin, comparable to 24S aluminium. Acquired from the manufacturer in the form of angle bar stock, it was then cut and milled to taper with the wing form and used for the main wing spar caps, creating a very light yet strong wing structure.”, pg. 17-18, “Zero Fighter” by Robert C. Mikesh and Rikyu Watanabe.
I see we have the same source... Great book collection ; I have the Spitfire volume and Bf-109 too, bought with my weekly allowance back in middle school. Now looking for the Fw190 and F4U tomes...
Oh this is printed in a book? Fantastic.
My dad used to work for toyota australia in the late 70s, there was a japanese man at the factory that my dad was friends with, he told my dad about the special aluminium by sumitomo, ive argued with so many older people about who invented it, glad to see he/ i was right haha
There was a book written by one of the Mitsubishi engineers, translated into English. It was a short book. I am not sure if he was the senior engineer. There were 2 earlier fighters, 1 looked like the Boeing P-26 Peashooter and the other the Curtiss P-36. He really resented any suggestion that they were design copies. But, the freaky detail is that Mitsubishi built the factory where they built the Zero without a runway. This meant the fighters were assembled to check fit and then the wings were removed for shipment. The Japanese had a policy, owing to resource shortages, of strictly prioritizing resource dependent equipment. Allotment was made by critical need. One of the strictly rationed items was fuel and gasoline, this meant trucks. Since it did not matter how long it took to move the new-built Zeroes across town to the airport, they were not requisitioned trucks. Instead every Zero fighter began its life being pulled across town on a wooden, oxen pulled cart.
The Brewster aircraft factory, US, also did not have a runway. I believe it was in Queens, New York City.
The early fighters did not have radios, to save weight. One of the all time, amazingly stupid decisions. This can be seen in a number of the photos, where there is no antennae. At the Battle of Midway, there are the stories of ship crew waving at Zeroes to try to get there attention and have them climb back, just before the dive bombers arrived.
As Martin Caidin writes in his book 'Zero': "Jiro Horikoshi watched while gushing his teeth as his beautiful new aircraft was pulled by a pair of slow oxen." (quoting from memory)
I very much enjoyed this video - it encapsulates the differences between sub-types of the A6M very neatly. I have a couple of reference books that go over all of this, but this format’s much more accessible for general reference.
This is a wonderful feature and I would be happy to see this extended to other aircraft types.
Glad you liked it!
@@MilitaryAviationHistory The explanation of the "Model" part was especially helpful! I had wrapped my head around the A6Mx differences, and the ko/otsu/etc suffixes, but I could never figure out why the Model numbers were how they were, until now. :)
*_If it’s faster than you, climbs better than you, has better acceleration, turns on a dime, and better combat radius. It’s probably a Zero!_*
Or a ki-100.
or a spitfire ?
@@eneskesicioglu3907 The Spitfire has short combat radious, low climb rate, and bad pilot vision ( compare to the Zero, in 1940-41)
@@user-tb6uj9hz6k spitfire has a great climb rate and its radius is bad becuse it doesnt need to be that far away from britain,but yeah pilot vision sucked
One saving grace no armour! If you can get a jump on him....
We need the A6M5 Model 52 Hei in WT. The one that got two 13mm MGs in the wings in addition to the 1 7.7 and 2 20s. I think it would make an interesting addition, maybe make it the last zero in the A6M5 line.
I think it's the only major Zero we're missing, and that extra firepower would be awesome. Though I would love the A6M7/8 too...
and BR 6.0...
Yeah they can probably squeeze that in after the A7M2 but before the Shidens
6:48 höhöhö I see what you did there :P
If you dont know its because he said zero, it took me a minute
Awesome :)
" Dogfighting is an incredibly complex and dynamic environment, the most difficult part is perceiving what the adversary is doing. You're looking for minut change in their lift-vector which foreshadows their next move. That's why it's important to have good vision."
Major Justin Lee, an F-35 Pilot Instructor and former F-16 pilot, tells Sandboxx News
One of the best pilot vision fighter is the Zero. ( 1940-45 )
I like how this series goes more in depth of the mechanical aspects of the aircraft.
Nice episode. A suggestion for a future episode: discuss external fuel tanks - we hear much of how "drop tanks" help the P-51 mustang improved range - ? was this a risk to have an active fuel port, how were they built? how were they dropped? the mechanism had to be durable enough not to break free yet, simple enough for the pilot to quickly ditch.
Well done! I encourage you to continue these thoughtfully produced guides. Mahalo
Cool video. I think it would be really cool if you did a video/ videos about Second World War aces; talk about their combat techniques, why they were effective, as well as other things. Hans Joachim Marseille would be an interesting one.
Well done. Easy to understand. One of your best videos.
Excellent video look forward to seeing more in the series
beautifully done, you nailed this one id say and now i get to revel in the engineering dynamic that was, the A6M Zero. Jolly Good sir!!!
Nice! Love the new series Bismarck!
Absolutely in love with this series. Can’t wait till we see more!
Again another Outstanding presentation!
Thanks Bismark!
Thanks for making this. As you said, it can get pretty hard telling the difference when all you have to go with are old photos.
That was very well done, thank you.
Thank you very much for your magnificent videos! All the details in them are excellent. You must've put a lot of effort into it. Keep up the good work good sir. Cheers!!!
I really enjoyed this episode and appreciate the detailed research that went into it. I've been "studying" the model Zero since childhood and found many new learnings (exhaust changes, gun changes). I had never seen the model explanation done so well. Speaking of recognition of this great airplane, why did so many of the AVG Flying Tiger pilots confuse the Ki-43 for the Zero? Great find on the instructional film that featured future US President, Ronald Reagan.
Fantastic - Looking forward to more of these mate :-)
An informative little video. Fantastic work Bismarck
Glad you liked it!
Thanx for posting this video and for showing these well researched technical details. The construction of the Zero shows considerable technical talent and a readiness to experiment, unexpected in the world of aviation and navy before WWII.
All aircraft, but particularly fighters are a package of compromises and their subsequent variants come from pilot and ground crew feedback. This has been an excellent presentation Bismark. It goes to show incrementalism eventually gets outdone by quantum leap innovation in configuration and components on the part of the enemy..
Very nicely done Bis. Keep up the great work. Also, i hope you are feeling better these days
Glad you made it back from your last sortie with the TBLF in IL2...That was both an epic yet hilarious episode!
Great vid Chris 👍🏻
very interesting, thanks for the treat
I love the idea of this series! Almost limitless video subject matter, and when you shoot a cockpit video you can make great use of b-reel footage for a second video. Very interested to see more like this!
Love it Chris
This is what I've been waiting for!
Informative, enjoyed.
great video! thank you so so much ❤❤❤
Thanks for this good video!
I really enjoy these series Bismarck. I had relatives who spent part of WW2 fighting the IJN so the Japanese equipment really interest me.
I Need More of These Aircraft Recognition!
I really like this format :)
"The aim is to give an introduction into specific aircraft and show the main changes between the types, so that they become easy to recognise on pictures, in movies or in a museum. Let me know what you think!"
Since you asked, I think that the series you are proposing will be worthwhile and informative. There are obvious candidates--aircraft that had a long service life throughout a conflict and therefore many variations--- such as the Spitfire and the BF109 as two notable examples. Of course, I'll look forward to the video that introduces the P-38 in this format. Cheers!
Thanks for another great video. I love the Zero like most Japanese WW2 aircraft had a great look and shape to it.
Very interesting thankyou.
I chuckled when you said "Next to Zero" regarding the differences between the Model 11 and Model 21.
nice show
beautiful
nice vid thx
Ahhh ha! Love the cameo by Ronaldo Maximus Reagan!!!
Thanks, Christoph. Another great video, especially as it's my birthday. I am SEVENTY today. Danke.
Happy Birthday!
Great content, Chris. I was interested to learn of the improvements Mitsubishi made on the zero throughout the war, a fact often glossed over in many accounts of the pacific naval campaign. Clearly the later versions were more capable. What I’d like to know is how the later versions of the zero compared to the allied aircraft that entered service as the war progressed. The usual trope is the zero was dominant in the skies up until the introduction of both improved tactics and new aircraft able to beat them accompanied by a drop in pilot quality among the Japanese. While undoubtedly true in the main, it seems to me that story needs to be finessed to take into account the improvements to the zero. Again thank you for your really impressive videos. See you in the sky!
I LOVE THIS!!!
Ah, it was good to hear Reagan's voice. Nice video overall.
An old mate of mine, now deceased, flew as Catalina air gunner/air frame rigger and one of his favorite stories was the time a RAAF Catalina splashed two Zeroes. Now, naturally when he told me that story I was skeptical until he told me about the pilot. It turned out that the pilot had flown Spitfires during the Battle of Britain and upon his return to Australia, he was pissed off to be assigned to fly a Catalina flying boat. He saw himself as a Fighter Pilot and not a bus driver. I also found it strange that an experienced fighter pilot had been assigned to flying boats when we needed fighter pilots. Did he do something to piss off someone in command and was banished? Anyway, I suspect that he must have trained his crew to be used to flying fighter manuvers because when they were jumped by two Zeros the gunners managed to shoot them down. Normally, two Zeros against a Catalina would result in the Cat going down in flames, so a crew used to flying fighter manuvers must have made the difference. R.I.P Bill.
According to Japanese rule,
they pronounced mod 21 as
model two one, not twenty one.
was Nii Ichi gata.
gata means model.
Task Force Admiral! They made me find your channel.
Welcome
If only I had waited a few years before figuring out the main variants of the Zero! This video could have made sure I did my homework instead of figuring out Zero variants.
Bis, but we all know this is too easy for you. Gotta go that extra mile and do the Japanese engine designation system!
I like this format with original photos and video and I also like your presentations in museums with live aircraft. It would be amazing if you could combine both approaches but I guess there are not too many Japanese aircraft in your area.
The gear thing... I thought he was making a joke.
It’s just showing you how it looks with and without it’s gear out... no?
Yep.
My best assumption is it's drawing attention to the fact that it has retractable gear. While that certainly wasn't *brand new* in 1943, a few other notable Japanese fighter (or fighter-sized) planes had fixed gear. The Ki-27, A5M, and D3A come to mind.
Man you brought me back to 2010-12 SAS1946 forums where people would research and discuss every little detail of a WW2 planes for people who made mods for IL2 Sturmovik, I think at that time it might have been the place with the most info about certain planes gathered at one place on the internet.
Zero is nimble and elegant like crane sharp like katana beautiful like cherry blossom
Task Force Admiral, Yes!!
Awesome.
Really a very beautiful airplane.
I really enjoyed this. It makes a good counterbalance to the in the cockpit. Now you can do aircraft that no longer exist as the HE-219 night fighter or the Italian Breda BA-88 (my vote for the worst active?? aircraft of the war.)
I love this plane it’s just so cool
Kurze konstruktive Kritik. Es wirkt, als würdest du die saubere Aussprache der Geschwindigkeit opfern. Ist vielleicht subjektive Wahrnehmung, aber es hört sich oft sehr genuschelt an.
@@neues3691 Finde es ist generell so, nicht nur bei diesem Video. Bitte nicht negativ verstehen. Chris macht das grundsätzlich super!
Konstruktive Kritik ist immer willkommen
Hallo Chris, hast Du vielleicht auch schon in betracht gezogen, Deine tollen Videos auf Deutsch zu moderieren oder mit Untertiteln zu versehen?
Ich denke einfach nur an die Personen welche seit ihrer Schulzeit praktisch kein Englisch mehr gelesen bzw. gesprochen haben.
Wenn ich an mich denke sind das, OMG, auch schon 40 Jahre her.
Beautiful aeroplane
If you're close enough to ID a Zero, either it or your plane will go up in flames soon
At Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California, they have the last flyable Zero with the original Sakai engine (A6M5). The other 4 flyable Zeros all have a swapped out P&W R1830.
Great video, can you maybe make a video about the Nakajima Ki-84?
Found this video really interesting and answered a number of questions / confusions I have over the progression of Zero models and their evaluation. Is it just me or do the sources mostly contradict each other when it comes to Japanese aircraft of WW2 ? Thanks for making this - enjoy the channel. Like your brother Bernards one too.
Please do more aircraft!! P51, Bf109 and so on!
There is an A6M7 on display at the IJN Yamato museum in Kure
I bought some of your spicy masks for school I will probably by another cuz they are fire.
Awesome! Happy you like them
Hi Bismarck
Were you ever planning to make a similar recognition guide for the various variants of either the Bf 109 or the Fw 190? .Otherwise great work as always.
Great vid, clarified a few things for me. Does anyone know why swapped out one of the MGs in the nose for a larger calibre? Was it to do with the difference in ballistic performance between the 7.7 and 20mm ? Easier to lead tracer onto the target?
I have old WW2 American recognition manuals that i picked up about 50 years ago. I will try to dig them out and see if I have any information that I can add.
The photo 7:52 should be the model22. In accordane with the coding rule, the model52 should have been coded as the model42, but the model code42 was skipped since the sound 42 is the homonym as “death” in Japanese.
Yep, the plane in the picture was one Nishizawa's personal mounts too, and we know that the 253rd Kokutai was equipped with Model 22's fresh of the factory when they were deployed in Rabaul.
There is one Zero still flying with its original engine. It's owned and operated by Planes of Fame Air Museum.
It’s a glorious bird - I got to see it when I lived in Southern California.
I think it is a good idea, to bring us this new series. Looking forward to it. Thanks for posting.
I want more of these videos from all sides of the war. But that's just me.
Very nice detailed video indeed! :) Will be a next part of it (as it is Guide 1)? One notice: if I'm right, the A6M3 Model 32 (short, squared wingtipped model) initially called 'Hap' which was changed for 'Hamp' as General Henry Harley Arnold ('Hap Arnold') had the nickname and that's why American didn't wanted to give 'Hap' as codename for this Zero model. Other Zero models had the Allied codename 'Zeke', but many source only refers this Mitsubishi fighter family as 'Zero'.
May you will make a same video for the IJA Air Force Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa 'Oscar' as well? It was literally the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force counterpart of the Zero (and Allied airmen frequently mistaken them for Zeros).
Hey Bismarck, great vid.
Have you ever visited the "Flugausstellung P. Junior" in Hermeskeil/Germany? If so, do you plan on taking an "Inside the Cockpit" there once international travel is opened up again?
Wozu braucht er dafür Internationale Reisegenehmigung?
You didn't mention about the *A7M Reppū*
@6:47 "well, it's next to zero" haha
debriefing officer: So what was the type and number of planes encountered?
pilot: Zero
do: So what was the problem?
pilot: Zero
This is actually funny unlike all those tired "do you want this or this" ...."yes" posts
"What planes do we have?"
"A P-400"
"Oh so it's a P-40 with a Zero on its tail"
"Go to Hell"
Very nice. Isn't the prop spinner smaller on the Mod 11 than on the Mod 21?
I find it funny that in old ww2 movies T-6 Texans were used as Zeros
The T6 Texans look good enough for job if you ask me. As long as they don't use a Spitfire as a stand in Zero (shivers)
Patrick Brennan “they are so close in looks” nah, proportions are different, wings are completely different. Mainly they both have radial engines, I guess the long canopy is vaguely similar when squinting hard but really the fact that most people couldn’t tell the difference between two only very superficially similar aircraft is more of a reflection on the people not the planes.
Few real ones survive.
WALTERBROADDUS you don’t say lol. I’ve seen one of the few remaining zeros fly at an air show. Definitely an amazing sight.
Could you possibly do one about spitfires and all the variations
Can you make a video on nose art and your favorite pieces
So much for the easy one. Now about the F4U Corsair? Geoff Who has been fooled by accepted references more than once.
I grew up on yap as a child in the 50s. There were 3 or 4 zeros at the airport that we could sit in a play with. These were painted red. I have never seen pics of a red zero. Have always wondered about this. Know anything about this ?
Great content.. yep, somehow it's difficult to recognise the Model through the pictures.. also I want to ask and maybe seems dumb, why there are no A6M4 and A6M6 variants?.. maybe it's good to know through this video...
I searched about those two variants and found a little(dunno if it's true and it's only theories)... That A6M4 attempting to improve the Reisen. At low altitudes, it could still hold its own against Allied aircraft, but at medium and high altitudes it was hopelessly outclassed by the Lightnings and Corsairs. In an attempt to correct this situation, two A6M2s were modified by Dai-Ichi Kaigun Koku Gijitsusho at Yokosuka and, designated A6M4s, were powered by an experimental "turbosupercharger" Sakae engine, name design called the "A6M4 Mod. 41/42".. and other theories state that the A6M4 was a very brief transitional design between the A6M3 and A6M5 models, although many factors remain unknown.
- from the j-aircraft website, The Imperial Japanese Navy's A6M4, By Rob Graham.
And the A6M6 design is to use the Sakae 31a engine, featuring water-methanol engine boost and self-sealing wing tanks. During preliminary testing, its performance was considered unsatisfactory due to the additional engine power failing to materialize and the unreliability of the fuel injection system. The engine is almost the same as A6M5c and is somehow called the "A6M6c" or "A6M6 Mod. 53". this model also comes in WarThunder Game lol...
- from Wikipedia(sorry, lol..) through the Fighters of the 20th Century book pp. 41, AIAA Student Journal, Volume 20, Issue 3, etc
also there's a "K" model for A6M2 and A6M5 for trainers (two-seat trainers.) called A6M2-K and A6M5-K
- from combinefleet website.
06:48 Brilliant!
But what is "next to zero"?
Another zero? But which Mod? 😉
I have a question that might make an interesting video:
You made a video about Soviet Spitfires. Could you make a follow-up about Soviet P-51s? I know they got ex-RAF early models (secondhand planes again), and Wikipedia states that the Soviets thought the planes underperformed. Any light you can shed?
I want to learn about the Japanese float planes. Seems to be many. Such as the Aichi e13 “jake” and e16? “Paul”.