Mitsubishi A6M7 Type Zero Carrier Fighter Model 62 Rei-sen (Zero)

From The Air Combat Wiki

Contents 1 Fighter Ace Screenshots 2 Fighter Ace Ratings 3 Fighter Ace Performance 4 Historical Statistics 5 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 7 History 8 Sources 9 See Also

Fighter Ace Screenshots

Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ
Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ

Fighter Ace Ratings

Durability: 4

Speed: 6

Maneuverability: 7

Firepower: 3

Climb Rate: 4

Ground Attack: 4

Fighter Ace Performance

Top Speeds						Climb Rates
	Sea Level	4921' 1000m	9843' 3000m	19685' 6000m	Best Speed	Best IAS	to 1000m	to 3000m	to 6000m
mph	288	301	314	336	338@ 20997'	155 mph	1:23	3:52	7:45
kph	464	484	505	541	544@ 6400m	250 kph

Historical Statistics

Service Date: May 1945

Primary Guns: 1x Type 3 13.2 mm machine guns with 230 rpg in cowl and 2x Type 3 13.2 mm machine guns with 240 rpg in wings

Secondary Guns: 2x Type 99-2 20 mm cannon with 125 rpg in wings

Ordnance: 2x 110 lb (50 kg) bombs or 8x 22 lb (10 kg) A2A rockets or 2x 238 lb (108 kg) drop tanks under wings, plus 1x 550 lb (250 kg) or 1x 1103 lb (500 kg) bomb under fuselage

Engine(s): 1x Nakajima NK1F Sakae 31b radial rated for 1,130 hp

Int Fuel Capacity: 968 lbs (439 kg)

Ext Fuel Capacity: 2x 238 lbs (2x 108 kg)

Maximum Speeds: 342 mph (550 kph) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m)

Ceiling: 33,400 ft (10,190 m)

Loaded Weight: 6,506 lbs (2,950 kg)

Wing Area: 229.3 sq ft (21.3 sq m)

Wing Loading: 28.4 lbs/sq ft (138.5 kg/sq m)

Strengths

Maneuverability: The A6M7 could easily turn inside any of its contemporary 1945 era aircraft.

Weaknesses

Speed: With a top speed of only 342 mph the A6M7 is nearly 100 mph slower than its contemporaries.

History

When it became apparent in the late summer of 1944 that their new A7M1 Reppu would not make it into production, the Mitsubishi design team decided to make yet another upgrade to the venerable Zero airframe. In order to make it more competitive against the American planes it was facing, the Zero had its guns and armor upgraded considerably.

A single Type 3 13 mm machine gun with 240 rounds was placed outboard of each cannon in the wings and the pair of 7.7 mm machine guns in the cowl was replaced with another 13 mm machine gun. To upgrade the armor, an 8 mm plate was installed behind the pilot's seat and a 55 mm piece of armored glass was placed behind the pilot's head. For frontal protection, the windscreen was covered with a 45 mm piece of armored glass.

Unfortunately, the Navy refused to allow Mitsubishi to use one of their more powerful engines in favor of a Sakae 21 engine upgraded to use water-methanol injection. However the new engine was not ready and so the A6M5c Type 52c, as it was known, had to use the original Sakae 21 and was thus left considerably underpowered.

To avoid loss of performance due to weight increase, the Sakae 31 engine with a water-methanol injection system was developed. The first installation of the Sakae 31 in the A6M6c Type 53c proved to be a failure, due to problems with the the water-methanol injection system. Thus the A6M7 was forced to use the Sakae 31a/31b series of engines without the water-methanol injection system. The additional weight however caused performance to degrade compared to previous models. The water-methanol injection system was finally ready in the Sakae 31c variant, but it was too late to see service.

The new A6M7 was more than a re-gunned fighter, it was a fighter-bomber featuring several improvements of its own. The lower/center fuselage section was strengthened to allow a bomb as large as 500 kg. to be carried. New wing racks outboard of the landing gear allowed the Type 62 to carry either a pair of 150 liter drop tanks, a pair of 50 kg. bombs or eight 10 kg. rocket projectiles.

The prototype of the A6M7 Type 62 first flew in May 1945. The chaos caused by the end of the war prevents any accurate determination of how many Type 62s were actually produced. In the late 1970s an A6M7 was found and recovered from Lake Biwa near Kyoto and was placed on display at the Arashiyama Museum.

Sources

Francillon, Rene J.; Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War; Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD; 1979.

Green, William; Warplanes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume Three; Hanover House, Garden City, NY; 1960.

Green, William; Famous Fighters of the Second World War; Hanover House, Garden City, NY; 1960.

Nohara, Shigeru; A6M Zero In Action; Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, TX; 1983.

See Also

Mitsubishi Jukogyo K.K.

Aircraft Manufacturers During World War II

Japanese Aircraft Designation System

Fighter Ace Planes Inventory