NASM's Mitsubishi A6M5 61-131, then and now ...

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7560

... kind of cool seeing where it came from to where it is today.

Smithsonian's write up on 61-131 here.
http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/a ... 9600335000

The first two photos below are when 61-131 was 'captured' on Saipan c 1944.

On it's way to the States

61-131 was then shipped for evaluation in 1944 to Wright Field, Ohio and the following year to Eglin Field, Florida. Below shows what appears to be 61-131 at Wright Field with some 'friends'

And where 61-131 "hangs out" today.

... and there ya have it!

BAJ · **Joined:** Wed Jan 25, 2012 3:14 pm **Posts:** 126

Thanks for sharing Mark

k5083 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 12, 2016 9:57 am

They aren't actually sure it is 61-131.

Quote:

We believe the A6M5 Zero Model 52 on display in the National Air and Space Museum came 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 Museum's Zero show that it was evaluated in 1944 at Wright Field, Ohio, and the following year at Eglin Field, Florida.

They painted it as 61-131 because it was one of that group from Saipan.

August

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7560

k5083 wrote:

They painted it as 61-131 because it was one of that group from Saipan.

Well there ya go then. A 1 in 12 chance it's the real 61-131.

Here's another 1 of the 12 ...

AG pilot · **Joined:** Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:13 am **Posts:** 532

That's pretty interesting. It is hard to believe that all the identification tags were removed from the airframe. Very cool photos anyway.

maxum96 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 12, 2016 10:42 am

k5083 wrote:

They aren't actually sure it is 61-131.

Quote:

We believe the A6M5 Zero Model 52 on display in the National Air and Space Museum came 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 Museum's Zero show that it was evaluated in 1944 at Wright Field, Ohio, and the following year at Eglin Field, Florida.

They painted it as 61-131 because it was one of that group from Saipan.

August

That's not how I read it. I read it as they think it came from a group of 12 from Saipan. Nothing saying they weren't sure of it's identity.

dirtysidedown430 · **Joined:** Sat Apr 11, 2015 12:36 pm **Posts:** 336

i think the.correct thing to do is return it to Japan. I mean we returned wake island

ALOHADAVE · **Posted:** Fri Feb 12, 2016 12:27 pm

another photo of a recovered A6M Saipan

ALOHADAVE · **Posted:** Fri Feb 12, 2016 12:42 pm

They did find ID marks on the aircraft:

The following movement history was taken from the AAF Form 61, Propeller Historical Record, and miscellaneous correspondence found in the Aeronautics Division curatorial file:

-At Anacostia Naval Air Station across the river from Washington, D. C., September 1, 1944; 3:10 flying time (Allied) on the airplane by October 20, 1944.

-At Eglin Field, Florida, January 3, 1945 to February 9, 1945.

-At Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, April 18, 1945 to February 13, 1946. As of July 13, 1945, this Zero had flown for 93 hours and 15 minutes in Allied hands.

-To Freeman Field, Indiana, by March 4, 1946, and departed Freeman Field on June 14, 1946.

While in U. S. Navy and Army Air Forces custody, the aircraft was stripped of all markings and colors. Today, the only remaining clue to the original identity of the airplane is the manufacturer's serial number 4340, etched and painted on major components. To prepare artifacts for exhibit in the new National Air and Space Museum building on the national Mall, technicians restored the Zero from August 1974 to July 1975. They discovered several Japanese messages scribed inside the metal skin of the aft fuselage: "Pray for absolute victory; Win the air war; Devastation of the American and the British; New Years Day, 1944." A rivet bucking bar tool and a U. S. Navy flashlight were also discovered inside the left wing. Curators selected the markings of an aircraft from the 261st Naval Air Corps because an aircraft of this unit was captured at Saipan. The 261st NAC was more commonly known as the Tiger Corps. It was activated on June 1, 1943, and was soon assigned to the newly organized 1st Air Fleet. The Tiger Corps moved to the Marianas on February 16, 1944, and participated in some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

AG pilot · **Joined:** Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:13 am **Posts:** 532

Thanks for the insightful explanation.

sandiego89 · **Joined:** Mon May 21, 2012 12:28 pm **Posts:** 1161

dirtysidedown430 wrote:

..... I mean we returned wake island

Ummm, Wake is still U.S. Territory. Perhaps you meant Iwo Jima...

Great photos and information. She is a favorite of mine at the main museum. I like the green as a contrast, as most of the zero's (and Tora zero's) I have seen in my life are gray.

dirtysidedown430 · **Joined:** Sat Apr 11, 2015 12:36 pm **Posts:** 336

Opps thanks for the corection

mike furline · **Joined:** Wed May 05, 2004 3:45 pm **Posts:** 2536

ALOHADAVE wrote:

They did find ID marks on the aircraft:

The following movement history was taken from the AAF Form 61, Propeller Historical Record, and miscellaneous correspondence found in the Aeronautics Division curatorial file:

-At Anacostia Naval Air Station across the river from Washington, D. C., September 1, 1944; 3:10 flying time (Allied) on the airplane by October 20, 1944.

-At Eglin Field, Florida, January 3, 1945 to February 9, 1945.

-At Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, April 18, 1945 to February 13, 1946. As of July 13, 1945, this Zero had flown for 93 hours and 15 minutes in Allied hands.

-To Freeman Field, Indiana, by March 4, 1946, and departed Freeman Field on June 14, 1946.

While in U. S. Navy and Army Air Forces custody, the aircraft was stripped of all markings and colors. Today, the only remaining clue to the original identity of the airplane is the manufacturer's serial number 4340, etched and painted on major components. To prepare artifacts for exhibit in the new National Air and Space Museum building on the national Mall, technicians restored the Zero from August 1974 to July 1975. They discovered several Japanese messages scribed inside the metal skin of the aft fuselage: "Pray for absolute victory; Win the air war; Devastation of the American and the British; New Years Day, 1944." A rivet bucking bar tool and a U. S. Navy flashlight were also discovered inside the left wing. Curators selected the markings of an aircraft from the 261st Naval Air Corps because an aircraft of this unit was captured at Saipan. The 261st NAC was more commonly known as the Tiger Corps. It was activated on June 1, 1943, and was soon assigned to the newly organized 1st Air Fleet. The Tiger Corps moved to the Marianas on February 16, 1944, and participated in some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

Photo Credit - NARA, Army Signal Corps Collection, US Navy Collection, Marine Corps Collection, Air Force Collection (I went there and scanned these myself.)

#4340 Photos are dated 02/20/45, Certainly not Eglin if accurate date.

k5083 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:02 am

maxum96 wrote:

k5083 wrote:

They aren't actually sure it is 61-131.

Quote:

We believe the A6M5 Zero Model 52 on display in the National Air and Space Museum came 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 Museum's Zero show that it was evaluated in 1944 at Wright Field, Ohio, and the following year at Eglin Field, Florida.

They painted it as 61-131 because it was one of that group from Saipan.

August

That's not how I read it. I read it as they think it came from a group of 12 from Saipan. Nothing saying they weren't sure of it's identity.

I have read more detailed statements from NASM about the plane in which they said that they don't know whether it was 61-131. As noted by AlohaDave, they did find its construction number. But I don't think they ever linked that to the 61-131 ID.

Planes of Fame's Zero, which they mark as 61-120, was part of the same group of 12 and I'm not sure how sure they are of its ID either.

August

k5083 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 16, 2016 11:21 am

I should add, also, that the "Atlanta Zero" now with Paul Allen is another of this group, and is said to be 61-121.

Pacificwrecks says that the NASM's Zero probably was really 61-108 and that the real 61-131 was c/n 4361, which does not survive, but I don't know how it knows that.

August

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