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| IJN ? Kōkūtai |
Aircraft History Built by Mitsubishi, estimated date of assembly August 1943 as the 42nd Model 52 completed. At the factory, painted with green upper surfaces and gray lower surfaces. Delivered to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as Type 0 Carrier Fighter Reisen / A6M5 Model 52 Zero manufacture number 3946. Wartime History This Zero likely arrived at Rabaul in September 1943. It was either one of sixty A6M5 Model 52 Zero flown via Truk to Rabaul. Alternately, it was disassembed and crated then shipped to Rabaul, unloaded and reassembled. Assigned to an unknown Kōkūtai. Tail Code 8-1?? (last two digits unknown). Likely, during late 1943 this Zero flew interception missions from Rabaul to Bougainville. This Zero was abandoned or destroyed on the ground at Kara Airfield (Toripoil) on Bougainville. Possibly, destroyed by a nearby bomb blast the caused a nearby crater. Wreckage This Zero remained in situ. As of 2002, only the tail section remained near a bomb crater. Jessie Owens adds: "This plane was heavily overgrown and took me some time to clear it but what a find it is upside down and not more than ten metres from a bomb crater. Apparently the area was used as the parking area away from the airfield the tail number is definitely 8-1." References Production figures of the Mitsubishi/Nakajima A6M Zero by Jim Long Thanks to Jim Lansdale, Jim Long and Richard Dunn for additional information Contribute
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