[ARC5] Movie Info - the Zero

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

On 15 Aug 2012 at 19:56, Robert  Eleazer wrote:

> Many years later a couple of real Zeros were restored to flying condition

The aluminum that covered the fuselage-frame of the Zero was so thin it could be easily 
dented by hand. It was kind like heavy beer-can material. The wing-skin was so thin it would 
wrinkle if the plane was dived at some speed in excess of something like 325 MPH.

Later model Zeros had thicker wing-skin so they could safely dive almost as fast as many 
U.S. fighters.

The Zero was so maneuverable for two reasons, 1) it was built as light as it could possibly be 
built, and 2) it has very long ailerons...which also made it difficult to maneuver at high 
speeds.

Early in WWII, the P-40 was some 30 MPH faster in level flight than the Zero, but nothing the 
Allies had could maneuver with a Zero until much later in WWII.

Another interesting thing about the Zero was that the pilot sat on top of the fuel tank. Many 
Zero pilots would remove the radios because the early ones, at least, worked so poorly that 
they were essentially useless. The pilots used the weight reduction to add some ammo.

And the range of the Zero was very impressive: something over 1300 miles....way more than 
any other Allied plane at the time.

Ken W7EKB