A great book about the Niihau zero shot down on December 7th

[Taigh Ramey]

I have had the pleasure of flying with Syd Jones in the Collings B-25J out of Moffett and he gave me a copy of his new book, Before and Beyond the Niihau Zero. I haven't had much time to read books lately but I really loved this one and couldn't put it down. A great story and a good read. Syd is a good guy and a good stick and we really had fun flying together. What's cool is that he negotiated the recovery of what was left of the Zero with the Robinson family, who own Niihau Island. He also designed and made the display for the Zero at the Pacific Air Museum on Ford Island.

Another really cool aspect was the Billy Mitchell tie in and the fact that the Robinson family, at their own expense, bought a Cletrac tractor and plowed up Niihau because Billy Mitchell predicted the attack and the Japanese using Niihau as a potential air base. They plowed furrows every 100 feet over the whole flat island so it could not be used by the Japanese as an airfield. Syd even asked the Robinson's if they could put the Cletrac tractor on display and it now can be seen at PAM.

I thought you all might like this one. I rarely promote books but this is one worth spreading the word plus Syd is a fellow Warbird and history nut.

Click on the Amazon link through WIX so Scott and WIX gets the credit and search for "Before and Beyond the Niihau Zero" well worth the $17 on Prime.

Flying with Syd up the middle of the SF Bay doing pylon turns around the USS Hornet over the very pier where the Doolittle Raiders loaded up and set sail to go and smack the Japanese back for Pearl Harbor. All that while giving passengers a tour of their life in the aircraft named for Billy Mitchell who predicted the attack years before December 7th, 1941. Good stuff!



From http://www.j-aircraft.com/jiml/niihau_crashsite_a.jpg



from http://cdn.damninteresting.com/wp-conte ... kaichi.jpg

[JohnB]

I got it for Christmas and enjoyed it.
While the writing left a bit to be desired, it does a good job at explaining a very little known part of Pearl harbor history...

[Lon Moer]

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Flying with Syd up the middle of the SF Bay doing pylon turns around the USS Hornet over the very pier where the Doolittle Raiders loaded up and set sail to go and smack the Japanese back for Pearl Harbor. All that while giving passengers a tour of their life in the aircraft named for Billy Mitchell who predicted the attack years before December 7th, 1941. Good stuff!


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Uhhmmm......four...engines...........

[maxum96]

Uhhmmm......four...engines...........

Experimental 4 engine B-25 that was hidden on the moon with a B-32.


Taigh, thanks for the recommendation on the book. I went and ordered a copy.

[Taigh Ramey]

That Saturday at Moffett I had the good fortune to fly both the B-25 and the B-24 thanks to Jim Harley. 5 flights in the B-25 and 6 in the B-24. It was a good day! The photos from the B-25 of the Hornet weren't as good as this one.

The photos in Syds book are more consistent than the ones in my post!

[Chappie]

So glad you brought this up Taigh. I remember reading about that book a while back, but could not remember where or what the title was. Thanks!

Chappie

[Zac Yates]

Great photos and story, Taigh! I remember hearing an interview about the Niihau Zero book on WarbirdRadio and I really enjoyed the story. I'll have to buy a copy of the book.

[Mike]

Is this the same Zero that has the remains displayed in the museum on Ford Island?

[Taigh Ramey]

Is this the same Zero that has the remains displayed in the museum on Ford Island?

Yes it is

[Russ Matthews]

Is this the same Zero that has the remains displayed in the museum on Ford Island?

This is what the display looked like when I visited the Pacific Aviation Museum in 2009.