CAF A6M2-21 Zero for Sale

Eureka181 · **Joined:** Wed Jul 13, 2005 7:27 pm **Posts:** 182

The A6M2 flew in to our Wing located at Camarillo, CA in 1997 or 1998. I can't remember. Anyway, we were to rebuilt the airplane and get it up to the CAF standard. We did some good work on the tail section. After that the spars was inspected and we found some major corrosion. It would have cost at the time over $100,000 to get a new one built. Now $100,000 seems like nothing. Anyway, we did not have that kind of money back then and it was put on the back burner. And we have not done anything since then.

Eric

corsair166b · **Posted:** Tue Oct 11, 2005 5:52 pm

So we have 3 flying Zeroes...POF, CAF, and Blayd...and a fourth on the way over at Darryl Skurich's hangar in Ft. Collins CO for the Evergreen museum, but a ways off from flying as of yet...it is an A6M3 model being built up from the remains of 3 Zeros....so eventually we'll have 4...and if the ex-CAF's Zero gets bought from Courtesy and restored, we'll have 5...

M

BLR · **Joined:** Mon May 03, 2004 2:47 pm **Posts:** 425

bdk wrote:

Well spotted BLR!

http://www2.nfb.ca/boutique/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?a=b&formatid=17667&support=VHS

Slow day at work. :wink:

It's been a while since I've seen that video so I picked up a copy of it from the library.

What was the quality of the Vals restoration? The same? It was registered as CF-TZT in Canada at one time.

Brian....

Brad · **Joined:** Thu Apr 29, 2004 10:30 pm **Posts:** 1131

Best I can recall, the plane first flew in August of 1985. J.K. West was the pilot. After that, Lefty Gardner took over the rest of the test program. The Defender movie shows Lefty as the first pilot.

Bob Van Ausdell flew it quite a bit and took it to a couple of airshows after that.

Jack Kelly became the sponsor around 1989-1990 and it moved to Dallas. They did some more work on it and corrected a little of the bad restoration work done in Canada. Kelly flew it at airshows as did Randy Wilson. One of the two did aerobatics in it and I know several people that were concerned it might come apart. Jeff Ethell flew it some during this period as well. At some point, it went to Breckenridge and they did some work to it.

I'm not sure when it finally moved out to California, but I think it was in the late 1990s.

Harlingen, Texas, 1984

Harlingen, Texas, 1985

Breckenridge, Texas, 1997 or so....

Eureka181 · **Joined:** Wed Jul 13, 2005 7:27 pm **Posts:** 182

corsair166b wrote:

So we have 3 flying Zeroes...POF, CAF, and Blayd...and a fourth on the way over at Darryl Skurich's hangar in Ft. Collins CO for the Evergreen museum, but a ways off from flying as of yet...it is an A6M3 model being built up from the remains of 3 Zeros....so eventually we'll have 4...and if the ex-CAF's Zero gets bought from Courtesy and restored, we'll have 5...

M

Don't forget Paul Allen's A6M3 Model 22 under restoration at Fighter Rebuilders. That has had some great progress done to it in the past few months. I am pretty sure it is a two seater. It is C/N 3852.

Is Darryl Skurich's A6M3 going to be a Model 22 or 32? It would be nice to have a 32. Do you have any pictures?

Eric

stumac · **Joined:** Tue Nov 23, 2004 11:19 pm **Posts:** 185

OK so some of Bob's work on airplanes was a little questionable however anybody who takes a back ho and digs a pit in his living room for a swimming pool is a stud in my book. And that wasn't just any pit/pool it had the good (best) quality astro-turf lining. Anyone who watches the Defender and dosn't walk away with a smile on his face isn't human. God bless Bob Diemert for producing the Defender.

AirJimL2 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 11, 2005 8:24 pm

corsair166b wrote:

So we have 3 flying Zeroes...POF, CAF, and Blayd...and a fourth on the way over at Darryl Skurich's hangar in Ft. Collins CO for the Evergreen museum, but a ways off from flying as of yet...it is an A6M3 model being built up from the remains of 3 Zeros....so eventually we'll have 4...and if the ex-CAF's Zero gets bought from Courtesy and restored, we'll have 5...

M

Wasn't their another MOF plane flying a few years ago. N553TT? What happened to that plane? So that could be flyer 6?

Jim

Eureka181 · **Joined:** Wed Jul 13, 2005 7:27 pm **Posts:** 182

AirJimL2 wrote:

corsair166b wrote:

So we have 3 flying Zeroes...POF, CAF, and Blayd...and a fourth on the way over at Darryl Skurich's hangar in Ft. Collins CO for the Evergreen museum, but a ways off from flying as of yet...it is an A6M3 model being built up from the remains of 3 Zeros....so eventually we'll have 4...and if the ex-CAF's Zero gets bought from Courtesy and restored, we'll have 5...

M

Wasn't their another MOF plane flying a few years ago. N553TT? What happened to that plane? So that could be flyer 6?

Jim

N553TT was flying for the movie Pearl Harbor. Flight Magic Inc. restored the airplane and sold it to a business man, here in Los Angeles. I believe the owner has it stored at Mojave Airport. Just recently I have been trying to find out if it is still at Mojave, but no luck. But obviously, it does not fly anymore.

Maybe somebody else has more info on where it is.

Eric

stumac · **Joined:** Tue Nov 23, 2004 11:19 pm **Posts:** 185

yes it is in Majove and is flying condition.

Eureka181 · **Joined:** Wed Jul 13, 2005 7:27 pm **Posts:** 182

stumac wrote:

yes it is in Majove and is flying condition.

What other information do you have on this aircraft? Do you have some pictures? I am very much interested. You say it is in flying condition, but does it still fly?

Eric

Manonthefence · **Posted:** Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:56 am

Quote:

Seems to me that a simple engine failure is more likely. That's what oil screens are for after all.

Thanks for the replies. I seem to remember something about water in the fuel damaging the engine.

It had to be sabotage because McDonnell - Douglas were out to get him because his aircraft would render the F-18 useless. :shock:

Randy Haskin · **Posted:** Wed Oct 12, 2005 4:33 am

stumac wrote:

God bless Bob Diemert for producing the Defender.

From the little photos I've seen here it's obvious that Bob, like some people who are trying to do the same thing today <cough>Javelin<cough>, have no idea what it takes to have a successful air defense fighter.

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

Manonthefence wrote:

It had to be sabotage because McDonnell - Douglas were out to get him because his aircraft would render the F-18 useless. :shock:

Looks like he got his revenge after all! Where is McDonnel Douglas now??????

Rob Mears · **Posted:** Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:01 pm

Mark,

Do you think Evergreen will actually fly their Zero once it's completed? From what I understand, they don't fly much of anything from the museum anymore. Would love to learn otherwise.

David_Aiken · **Joined:** Mon Jul 12, 2004 3:31 pm **Posts:** 403

[quote="Eureka181Well, what can I say. I admit I am not an engine historian, but the Sakae is basically the same engine as the R-1830.

Eric[/quote]

To say basically be wary. The two are NOT.

The DC-3 engine is NOT the same as the Zero... gomen nasai.

Looks deceive the clouded understanding.

The CAF Zero engine is a larger diameter than the original Zero cowling, so a modified cowling had to be made....not to mention the internal differences...which makes Japanese 1940 technical ability to be admired.

NO, the Zero engine is NOT a direct copy of any US design...yet, both engines are copies of previous lineages of engines which meet in the 1920s.
Cheers,
David

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