トラ!トラ!トラ!
Tomorrow marks the 65th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. Earlier this year, I was lucky to be able to see close up two of the three Japanese carrier aircraft types that took to the skies above Hawaii to destroy the US Pacific Fleet.
九七式艦上攻撃機 (This is a rebuilt prototype; The front part of the plane, i.e the engine and the cowling, was not the original from Nakajima. No complete example survived the war intact.)
零式艦上戦闘機 (The famous "Zero" fighter. This is probably an earlier model - Model 21. Note one of the two 20mm cannon gun barrels protruding from the left wing.)
For some reason, the third member of the IJNAF's unholy trinity was not available for display.
ニイタカヤマノボレ一二○八 (攀登新高山一二○八)
Technorati: Pearl Harbor, Zero, Kate
10 comments:
a conspiracy theory states that the US actually wanted japan to attack. Oh well.
You are thinking of Gordon Prange's book 'At Dawn We Slept'.
Where were these photos taken? They're gorgeous.
And I like the box art from that model kit.
Forgive me, there seems to be something wrong with that A6M. The wings are somewhat bent. The length and proportion seem to be somewhat off.
Is it a trick of perspective? Could this be a modified AT-6 Harvard?
Okay I did a check.
Is this a real A6M?
The length appears wrong. The wing appears bent. Is this a trick of perspective?
Could this be a modified AT-6?
The cowling is okay. The machine-gun cowling is okay. The holes behind the cowling is okay. The gaps behind the cowling is there.
The propeller spinner is missing. The undercarriage appears wrong too.
Contrast with this image:
http://www.aviation-militaire.com/Galerie/NMNA_Pensacola_00/039_36P.jpg
It was bugging me somewhat. So, I did a few searches.
Okay, I found another.
http://www.airliners.net/photos/small/0/7/4/1075470.jpg
I think it's pretty much confirmed. It's a modified AT-6. There are photos of that modified A6M which was used in some films on http://www.airliners.net.
I like your sleuthing skills. Yeah, I did realise the A6M looked a little weird, but when I was there I was only focusing on the B5N.
Good job! Which was why I said 'probably'.
Thanks.
The B5N is just beautiful in the sense that it is purposeful and functional in its design. I love the photo you took. Do you have more photos of the aircraft?
Where were these taken again?
At a US Naval Air Station. There are other pics too of WWII warbirds (B25, SBD etc), as well as the USAF's F-22 Raptor. Will put them up at a later date.
I also had the chance to see the Blue Angels perform. :)
Whoa! SBD and B-25! I can't wait!
Hi takchek,
Would you like to meet someone related to Artem Mikoyan, original principal designer of the MiG jets?
let me know.
Cheers,
Trout
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