Warbird Information Exchange

It had an interesting article on an American Civil War museum. I think the museum is in Georgia. That in addition to civil war memoribilla it had a Japanese Zero as part of its collection. Evidently the collection was owned by a man named James Eliot. Anyone know about this? Probably not a Zero, more likely a T-6 but I thought it sounded interesting.

Hi--

Decades ago there was indeed a Zero (or at least most of one), in rough shape, at a small war museum in Atlanta. This sounds like it might be the same one. Had wondered what was up with that Zero. Anybody seen it recently? In the pix I remember seeing (probably a bit over twenty years ago in one of the Challenge mags), it was sitting outside and I think the rear fuselage was absent...

S.

Todays article did not say much about the Zero other than James Eliot salvaged it and it was in the back of the museum but it was somewhat of an interesting lunchtime read. I was not expecting to see anything about warbirds in the WSJ.

That would be the Whittington Zero, from what I know that was purchased at a pretty high price in 1999 or 2000. No one seems to know where it went, and the tail section was pretty rough.

If someone can give me a more specific location I may be able to go check this out...

It's actually an A6M5 Model 52. It was damaged during a Navy airshow right after WW2. The landing gear folded outward during a ground loop, and the Navy was going to scrap it. Some civilian bought it, and then it wound up w/ Mr. Whittington in Ga.

The aircraft was indeed owned by Mr. Elliott, who owned and ran the small museum on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. It was resting on some dunnage and its belly in the back yard of the museum for a number of years, slowly being ravaged by the elements. I took some photos of it in the mid-80's, and later went by again and there was a Mitsubishi pick-up truck parked next to the Zero. I thought to myself "Father and Son". Wished I'd had a camera with me then.

Walt