At the beginning of the Pacific War, the Japanese Navy’s Zero Fighter dominated the entire battlefield. With an unprecedented long range and high mobility, it almost squeezed the performance of the US military’s active fighters and created the so-called zero. War myth. The Americans even called all Japanese fighter planes they encountered ZERO, half fear and half doubt. Because at the beginning of World War II, the level of Japan's aviation industry was not able to lead Europe and the United States, so why was Zero War so strong? In the darkest hour before dawn, the Goddess of Victory sent two great gifts to the Americans in a row, unveiling the "Invincible Zero War", which is the famous Koga Zero War and China Zero War.
1. Koga Zero War
In June 1942, Japan launched the Battle of Midway Island in an attempt to wipe out the main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in one fell swoop. In order to carry out a feint warfare, Japan also launched operations on the Aleutian Islands. The Ryūjō aircraft carrier dispatched 20 bombers. There was an air raid on the Dutch port of the Aleutian Islands with eleven zero fighters. Among them was an aircraft formation led by Sergeant Masaru Endo, and two wingmen were piloted by flying non-commissioned officers Tsuguo Kakata and Tadao Koga. As the son of a rural carpenter, the Koga Zhongyi Army Cao was only 19 years old and was short in stature. He piloted a No. 4593 Zero Fighter and was painted in light gray. The machine was only shipped from Nagoya Mitsubishi on February 19, and it has only been in service for three and a half months. It is the latest A6M2b.
The formation shot down a Catalina reconnaissance plane that day, and strafed the escape crew members, then switched to ground attack. Suddenly Koga's landline was hit by ground artillery fire, and the shell interrupted the oil loop between the zero war oil radiator and the engine, causing an oil leak. The photo of No. 4593 zero war dragging black smoke was permanently recorded by photographers in Holland Harbor. Z1z
Koga Tadayoshi understood that he could not fly back to the mothership Ryūchō, so under the escort of two friendly aircraft, he prepared to make an emergency landing on Akutan Island, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Holland Harbor, in order to get help from the Japanese submarine. Obviously Koga still wanted to save the plane as much as possible. This decision was his life, because the seemingly flat grass he chose was actually a swamp. When the main wheel touched the ground, it immediately sank and the plane turned over and shot in. In the mud and water. Koga broke his neck in the violent impact, ending his young life. However, Endo and Shikada thought that Koga might still survive, so they abandoned the destruction of Type 4593 Zero (in other words, only a simple blast) and returned to the mother ship.
Koga Zero was silent in the wilderness for more than a month. It was not until July 10 that it was discovered by a U.S. Navy "Catalina" PBY amphibious aircraft. Second Lieutenant Nathan, the co-pilot who participated in the survey, recalled: "You can see the Japanese pilot Koga's body completely tied up in the plane with a seat belt, his head and feet almost immersed in the water... The little Japan plane It is very well made and has many simple and unique features. The inspection board can be opened by simply touching a small black switch with your fingertips. After a latch is opened, the inspection board can be taken out. Foldable wings, as long as Remove the plug and flip up the wing tip by hand (the most important identifying feature of the A6M2b is the folding wing tip design). The pilot is equipped with an insurance umbrella and a life raft. "A lot of photos were left on the scene, this It provides first-hand information for us to explore the injuries of Koga Zero War today. From the inverted photos, it can be seen that the auxiliary fuel tank of Koga Zero Battle has fallen off, and there is a large hole, for some reason it was not abandoned before the crash landing. The air inlet of the oil cooler of the nose engine was recessed, the wing tips were damaged in many places, and there were many bullet holes on the wings. The landing gear disappeared, seemingly in the muddy water near the plane. From the photos taken during transportation, the vertical tail and cockpit of the aircraft were damaged, but they were all minor. The swamp perfectly absorbed the impact of the forced landing and protected the entire aircraft, just like the sky had sent a brand new aircraft to the Americans. The pilot Koga was already swollen, so he was buried near the plane. In 1947, he was moved to a nearby cemetery on Adak Island. In 1953, he was buried in the Chidorigafuchi cemetery in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
was not allowed by the environment at the time, and heavy machinery could not be transferred. In addition, the zero-wing wing was an integral T-shape and could not be disassembled. The U.S. Navy engineers had to let it stand upside down and drag the plane to the beach with a wooden slide rail on a tractor. To prevent damage to the fuselage, they also tied a circle of planks to the fuselage until it was transported to the Dutch port by barge.Later, it was turned over by a crane, cleaned, packed and transported to the "North Island Naval Air Station" in San Diego. The aircraft was successfully repaired in mid-September. It was called Koga's Zero or Akutan or Aleatian Zero. It was classified as top secret by the Americans and a large number of test flights were carried out. , The mystery of zero war was lifted.
During the restoration process, a series of discoveries made the Americans stunned. For example, the power of the engine used in Zero War is very small, even much smaller than the power of the defeated F4F Wildcat fighter. Then why does Zero War have such high performance? The problem was solved after opening the fuselage: the crazy Japanese made weight-reducing holes for the frame, wing spar, etc. of the fuselage. In order to reduce the weight, the zero warfare used a large number of aluminum-magnesium alloys, and even self-sealing fuel tanks and any were not installed. Automatic fire extinguishing device, the pilot also has no bulletproof glass and armor protection! In the words of the technicians present at the time, this product is absolutely impossible to pass in our factory! In history, the zero-battle training accident rate remained high, and it was very easy to disintegrate, let alone the US military standard 12.7mm machine gun. In contrast, the U.S. F4F is known as the "Grumman Iron Factory" and has a record of surviving four zero-war siege for a long time. Since Zero War uses Igarashi-type super duralumin, which is light in weight, high in strength, but poor in high temperature resistance, as long as the surface of the body is shot, it may cause the aircraft to catch fire. The bullet can easily penetrate the zero aluminum alloy skin and ignite the entire aircraft.
From September 20 to October 15, 1942, Navy test pilot Captain Edward Sanders conducted 24 test flights in Koga Zero War, which enabled the US military to obtain valuable first-hand information about Zero. The analysis results show that Type Zero has a good climb rate, can easily surpass F4F and P-40, and its range is better than any type of Allied fighter. Sanders recalled: This kind of aircraft has excellent maneuverability and a very small turning radius only at lower speeds. But when the speed reaches 371 km/h, its roll control will be very difficult. At this time, pulling the joystick must pay a lot of physical effort. It is much easier for the zero machine to roll and turn to the left than to the right. This is because the zero machine uses a flexible control system. In addition, under the condition of negative G value, the engine of the aircraft is very easy to stall-this is the biggest shortcoming of the floating carburetor it uses. Of course, there were also post-war Japanese scholars who questioned this, believing that the US military did not fully repair the Koga Zero War. The U.S. military thus explored and summarized the air combat tactics aimed at the performance weakness of the Type Zero: In air combat, as long as the power dives in the vertical direction and the afterburner is turned on, it can quickly get rid of the attack, and the Type Zero aircraft will often stop suddenly at this time. The plane can also suddenly turn right and roll at a speed of 370 km/h. The Zero could not catch up at all. This discovery saved the lives of many US military pilots.
Since then, Koga Zero War has been officially incorporated into the U.S. Navy battle sequence, but still uses the Mitsubishi factory serial number 4593, and is painted with the U.S. Navy logo. It was later transferred to the Army Air Force. Sid P-38 Lightning, North American P-51 Mustang, Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, and F4U Corsair have played against each other, and developed several effective counter-zero tactics. Although Koga Zero War was hit by a Curtis SB2C dive bomber at San Diego Airport in February 1945, the war was nearing its end and Koga Zero War had completed its most important historical mission. Today, there are only a cylinder head pressure gauge, an airspeed indicator, and the left wing tip folding plate left in the Koga Zero War. The Washington Naval Museum is now in existence. There are also bronze medals from two manufacturers, and the Alaska Aviation Museum . The significance of
to the Koga Zero War, the Japanese naval officer Masatake Okumiya mentioned in his book: "The Allied forces won Koga Zero War, and its severity is no less serious than Japan’s defeat in Midway Island. Our final defeat and surrender contributed a lot." Even the Japanese right-wingers also shouted the slogan of the national thief Koga, thinking that Koga would be better off hitting the ground! U.S. Lieutenant General Noscher believed: "Zero deciphering is the great success of the U.S. military in air combat!" Compared with the famous Koga Zero War,
is more famous than the famous Koga Zero War.Much smaller. But it was indeed the first zero war American won in World War II-even before the outbreak of the Pacific War! Regrettably, as the first Zero War fighter to be completely captured by the Allies, the test flight was carried out after almost a year of repair due to inconvenient transportation and backward equipment. This is also the reason why China's Zero War is not famous.
Back in November 1941, Japan began a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, sweeping the Philippine Islands and Southeast Asia. In order to attack the British forces on Burma and Malaya and support the bomber units of the 22nd Air Force, the Japanese Army deployed the 23rd Air Force Fighter Air Force, Tainan Naval Air Force and the Third Naval Air Force on November 22. The 22nd Air Force Command affiliated fighter team. Among them, the fighter unit deployed by the Tainan Air Force must land on Hainan Island to refuel from the Tainan base to the Saigon base in French Indochina (now Vietnam). Among the pilots is the first-class Air Cao Inoue Shichigosan who was born in Fukuoka Prefecture. He drove the plane of the unit leader Lieutenant Inano: Mitsubishi No. 3372 A6M2b, with the aircraft number V-172, which was delivered on October 21, 1941. His wingman was a second-class Air Cao Shimoto Takaaki, born in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and he drove his own landline. The serial number of the fuselage is unknown, and the number is V-174. In order to increase the range of Zero War, the radio equipment on the two Zero Wars was removed.
On November 26, 1941, two pilots were separated from the home team and lost their way during the transition flight. They made an emergency landing on the beach near Qianshan Town on the southeast coast of Leizhou Peninsula. Inoue Kakao's zero battle successfully landed, but the Xiadong's zero battle was seriously damaged. These two confused pilots were subsequently captured by the Kuomintang army. Their fate remains a mystery to this day, and they were probably executed at that time. Then Chinese troops and local villagers pulled the 3372 Zero Battle off the beach intact. The zero battle piloted by Xiadong was cut into sections, and the aircraft was pulled into the mountains by manpower (ox carts or coolies) to hide in order to prevent Japanese airstrikes. It took them several months to disassemble the two zero-wars and transport them from the Leizhou Peninsula coast under the nose of the Japanese to the inland city of Liuzhou.
In October 1942, Major General Chennault, the commander of the US 14th Air Force in China, appointed the German Sergeant Gerhard Newman to organize a repair team (including two American personnel and six Chinese mechanical personnel) to make an emergency near Guilin In the woods outside the reserve runway, the repair work of No. 3372 Zero War was carried out. Due to lack of tools, they mounted the fuselage on three 50-gallon empty oil drums for repair, and also collected other parts of the zero war that were shot down. Since the tires of this plane were cut off by Chinese farmers to make shoe soles, and the feather cloth skins on the ailerons, rudder and elevator were also used as clothes, Newman had to use Hawker's biplane tires instead, which were painted with Chinese silk. Several layers of paint replaced the skin, and an American-style radio was installed on the plane for communication. During the repair, it was discovered that the No. 3372 Zero War lost the fuselage skin behind the engine fairing during transportation. Therefore, the Chinese technicians have completed a louvered vent to replace the skin, which has become an important feature for identifying the 3372 zero battle.
The test flight process after the zero war in China can be described as troublesome. After the aircraft was repaired, the pilot, Major John Allison, was escorted by P40 and B25 to fly directly to Guilin. As a result, the right landing gear was suddenly retracted when it landed and the right wing touched the ground due to the gravel jamming the lowering and locking device of the right landing gear. , The fuselage and wings were broken, and No. 100 gasoline was spilled all over the floor! The only intact tail of the entire plane was broken when the driver of the car took a short cut when it was disassembled and repaired. Poor Newman had to continue the repair project despite suffering from jaundice. In this restoration, China Zero War was repainted with paint and the Chinese Air Force logo, and the vertical tail was painted with the Chinese serial number P-5016, and only the "Mitsubishi No. 3372" was retained on the lower edge of the right side of the vertical rudder. Typeface.
The aircraft later flew to Kunming with the landing gear not retracted. The US military pilots also established a unique club called "The Zero Club". The club’s US military ace has always used this zero warfare and various types of American equipment. Fighter performance comparison and simulation fight. On March 15, 1943, the U.S. Army Air Force Command ordered the aircraftThe valuable Zero War 21 was shipped back to the United States. The struggling Newman flew ahead on a B-25 bomber and flew over the hump route with China’s Zero War. The four P-40K fighters escorted by the 23rd Fighter Group failed due to various reasons, and none of them could accompany them all the way. In the end, only China Zero War arrived in Karachi, India alone. (It seems that Newman's bad luck was also taken away by China's Zero War. After the war, this person was prosperous and became the head of the J79 engine, all the way to the vice president of General Motors.)
During the shipment and transportation, China's zero war His ordeal is still not over. His front fuselage and main wing were damaged in a storm (the other said that she was damaged when she unloaded and changed ships in Havana, Cuba, to a port on the American continent). As a result, Curtis Aircraft Company voluntarily repaired the damaged "Zero" war again. China’s Zero War was painted on the emblem of the US Army Air Force, and the vertical tail was changed to the EB-2 of the Evaluation Department. And further flight tests were conducted at the Army Proving Grounds at Wright Airport in Ohio and Eglin Airport in Florida. At Eglin Airport, the zero combat vertical tail number was changed for the last time, from EB-2 to EB-200. In 1945, the aircraft appeared for the last time during a war bond parade in California, and then lost. news.
Regrettably, China’s Zero War only conducted a test flight one year after it was discovered. If China's Zero War can repair the test in time, it may let the United States understand the Japanese trump card before Pearl Harbor and reverse the unfavorable situation in the early stage of the Pacific War. However, in view of the fact that China’s Zero War is a patchwork of two aircraft, many parts have been remade, and the structure of the fuselage has already had many differences or damages, which can no longer reflect the true capabilities of Zero War. It was too long to be shipped to the United States in 1943. It's late, so Koga Zero War has more influence.
Summary
Whether it is Koga Zero War or China Zero War, whether it is Koga Tadayoshi Hike, Inoue Schigosanzo, Shimogashi Takaaki Hike, they are all victims of the criminal war launched by Japan, and they are all Japanese aggressive ambitions. Cannon fodder under. The fragile zero war carried too many unrealistic ambitions and madness, and surpassed Japan’s own manufacturing capabilities. It was overwhelmed as early as the miracle of zero war, and could only be transformed into a splendid face of the allied machinery that was fully operating. Fireworks. The emergence of Koga Zero War and China Zero War is both a historical accident and a historical inevitability. History has given him the heaviest ridicule of this nation that does not take the lives of its own people, let alone the lives of the people of the world, and opened the door to the cemetery with its own zero war.
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row Version: Jiangpanyue
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