CAPTURED AIRCRAFT - ODD PHOTOS

[Wurger]

The first captured Zero...

 

[vikingBerserker]

Great shot! I've never seen that one before.

 

[Wurger]

THX. I found it via the net.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

I have not seen it before either. Excellent find Wurger.

 

[Shinpachi]

Awesome find, Wojtek!

 

[buffnut453]

Great pic. Would make a fantastic diorama. That said, I thought the first captured Zero was in China??? (Ok, being a smartar$e!!)

 

[Wurger]

I wasn't sure as well. But I've believed the caption it was the Aleutian Zero.

The Wiki Tante says... The Akutan Zero, also known as Koga's Zero and the Aleutian Zero, was a type 0 model 21 Mitsubishi A6M Zero Japanese fighter plane that crash-landed on Akutan Island, Alaska Territory, during World War II. It was captured intact by the Americans in July 1942 and became the first flyable Zero acquired by the United States during the war.

More info there...

Akutan Zero - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[GrauGeist]

Wasn't the first U.S. captured A6m (A6M2 B11-120, Hiryu - AFC Nishikaichi, pilot) the one that put down on Niʻihau island on 7 December 1941?

 

[Capt. Vick]

That one what mostly destroyed IIRC

 

[Wurger]

If not in one piece it doesn't count...

 

[GrauGeist]

Well, aside from all the holes it received over the skies of Pearl Harbor...it landed pretty much intact.

So even if it was set on fire by Nishikaichi, it would still technically be the first U.S. captured A6m

 

[Capt. Vick]

True...true... I stand corrected.

 

[GrauGeist]

To be honest, I don't think much was done with Nishikaichi's A6m.

If you look at the wreckage of his aircraft after he set it on fire, there's still plenty of it to examine for information. But from what I understand, it was left there for quite some time, eventually being hauled off to a museum long after it deteriorated.

 

[Wurger]

The next great picture here.

So .. I have to change the caption into "the first captured flyable Zero".

 

[GrauGeist]

The next great picture here.

So .. I have to change the caption into "the first captured flyable Zero".

 

[Bernhart]

an intersting mix of people in the pic, some navy, some civilian I'm quessing and one wearing what looks like a french helmet but I'm thinking another civilian? and an old style brit helmet. Or would that be a Candian or brit?

 

[GrauGeist]

Early in the war, U.S. military had the British style helmet. You'll see them worn in photos from the Pearl Harbor attack and the the battle in the Phillippines.

The guy wearing the helmet seen in the far right of the photo looks to be wearing an old style "hard hat" worn by shoreman, loggers and construction workers in the U.S. and Canada.

 

[Njaco]

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very nice!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

What plane is in the bottom photo Chris?