Warplanes of Japan: Mitsubishi A6M Zeros preserved in the USA

Mitsubishi A6M Zeros preserved in the USA

The aim of this website is to locate, identify and document Warplanes from the Second World War preserved in the USA.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these aircraft to provide and update the data on this website.  Photos are as credited.  Any errors found here are by the author, and any additions, corrections or amendments to this list of Warplane Survivors of the Second World War in the United States of America would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.

(Mark Grossman Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero Model 21 (Serial No. 1498), coded A-1-1-129, Reg. No. N8280K, Last Samurai LLC, Dover, Delaware.  Airworthy.

(James Lansdale, US Army Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Serial No. 2266), coded BII-120.  Photo of the eemains of Nishikaichi's Zero that crashed on the Island of Niihau on 17 Dec 1941.  A small amount of this wreckage from the "Niihau Incident" is on display at the Pacific Aviation Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Serial No. 3618).  In storage at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.

Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Serial No. 3852).  Owned by the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett, Washington.  This aircraft was recovered from Babo Airfield, Indonesia, and restored, first in Russia, then in California, and finally in Washington state, before being delivered to the Flying Heritage Collection.  It has a P&W engine installed.

Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Serial No. 4043).  In storage at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.  Along with several other Zeros, this aircraft was recovered by the Australian War Memorial Museum in the early 1970s from Rabaul in the South Pacific.  The markings suggest that it was in service after June 1943 and further investigation suggests that it has cockpit features associated with the Nakajima-built Model 52b.  If this is correct, it is most likely one of the 123 aircraft lost by the Japanese during the assault of Rabaul.  The aircraft was shipped in pieces to the attraction and it was eventually made up for display as a crashed aircraft.  Much of the aircraft is usable for patterns and some of its parts can be restored to one day make this a basis for a flyable aircraft.

(350z33 Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero, Model 52, Zeke (Serial No. 4340), coded 61-131.  This aircraft may have come from a group of Japanese aircraft captured on Saipan Island in April 1944.  Navy personnel removed 12 late-model Zeros from the island and sent them to the United States for evaluation.  The earliest records pertaining to the NASM's Zero show that it was evaluated in 1944 at Wright Field, Ohio, and the following year at Eglin Field, Florida.  It is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Serial No. 4400).  In storage at the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett, Washington.

(Cliff Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Serial Nos. 5356 and 5451). On display at the Pacific Aviation Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. This aircraft was formerly flown by the Commemorative Air Force after being restored by Robert Diemert.

(Greg Goebel Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Serial No. 5357), coded 61-120.  Owned by the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.  This aircraft is the only airworthy example powered with an original Sakae radial engine.

(Shizuo Fukui, Kure Maritime Museum Photo)

Aircraft are prepared for a morning sortie on the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Zuikaku, east of the Solomon Islands, on 5 May 1942.  On 7 and 8 May, this carrier was involved in an exchange of airstrikes with United States Navy carriers USS Lexington (lost on 8 May 1942), and USS Yorktown (damaged), during the Battle of the Coral Sea.

(IJN Photo)

Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Zuikaku, Nov 1941.

(USN Photo)

Heavy explosion on board the USS Lexington (CV-2), 8 May 1942.

(Hiroshima Prefecture Yamato Museum Photo)

Imperial Japanese Navy Aircraft Carrier Sh?kaku, shown here in 1941, was damaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea.

(Rob Bixby Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M2B Zero Model 21 (Serial No. 5450), coded EII-140. On display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.

(Tomás Del Coro Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M7 Model 63 Zero (Zeke), (Serial No. 23186), coded E-143.  On display at the San Diego Air and Space Museum in San Diego, California. This aircraft is on loan from the National Air and Space Museum.  The museum previously had another Zero in its collection, (Serial No. 4323), but it was destroyed in a fire on 22 February 1978.

(Goshimini Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Serial No. 51553), coded A-3-102.  On display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero Model 21 (Serial No.) replica.  Owned by Warren Pietsch at the Texas Flying Legends Museum in Houston, Texas.  This aircraft, known as the "Blayd" Zero, is a reconstruction based on templating original Zero components recovered from the South Pacific. To be considered a "restoration" and not a reproduction, the builders used a small fraction of parts from the original Zero landing gear in the reconstruction. This aircraft was damaged in a ground accident on 15 March 2016.

(IJN Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 22, flown by Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa over the Solomon Islands, 1943.

(USN Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero, coded T2-157, wreckage abandoned at Munda Airfield, Central Solomon Islands, found after the Allied Invasion, Sep 1943.

(Articseahorse Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero (Serial No.), coded U1-161, Reg. No. N3852.  The Flying Heritage Collection, Everett, Washington.

(Goshimini Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero (Serial No. 1303), coded 61-121, being restored.  The Flying Heritage Collection, Everett, Washington.

Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero (Serial No.) replica.  Owned by the Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force in Camarillo, California.  This aircraft is an A6M3 that was recovered from Babo Airfield, Indonesia, in 1991.  It was partially restored from several A6M3s in Russia, then brought to the United States for restoration. The aircraft was re-registered in 1998 and displayed at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, California.  It uses a Pratt & Whitney R1830 engine.

Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Serial No.) replica.  Being rebuilt by Legend Flyers in Everett, Washington.  This aircraft uses a small amount of parts from (Serial No. 3148).

(Kogo Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M3c Zero Model 22 (Serial No. 3869), coded X-133, Reg. No. N712Z, Commemorative Air Force, Camarillo Airport Museum, Camarillo, California.  This is one of only three flying Zeros in the world, first put back in the air in 1998.  Bruce Fenstermacher found this aircraft, one of three (Serial No. 3852), (Serial No. 3858) and (Serial No. 3869), at the abandoned Babo airfield in West Papua, New Guinea in 1991.  This airplane was used in the filming of the movie Pearl Harbor.

(Zaereth Photos)

(Frank Kovalchek Photo)

(?? Photo)

Mitsubishi A6M3c Zero (Serial No. 3858), AI-112, Reg. No. N553TT, built in 1942, is currently airworthy and up for sale with Boschung Global.

(USAAF Photo)

Captured Mitsubishi A6M5 on Saipan, 1944.

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