Kermit Weeks in Florida. He has a Zero in his collection that still has
the original 1300 HP Nakajima Sakae 21 engine and is under restoration.
In un-flyable condition it is worth $250,000! The only flying original
engined Zero known to be in existence is at the Planes Of Fame museum
right down the road from me in Chino, CA. They give warbird rides at
Chino in a B-17, Corsair, Mustang and even a P-38! The P-38 costs $2000
for a one hour ride. The others cost less. $500 I think for the Mustang.
I know what I want for my Birthday. I personally saw a flyable Zero at
Kadena AB on Okinawa. It was in a covered revetment where it has been
since the war. It's the only plane that did not get destroyed or taken
from the Japanese in WWII. It has not been started in many years, so I
don't know how flyable it is, but it ran when parked! A relatively easy
restoration compared to, say Glacier Girl.
Mike MacLean
60 Sprite
56 BN2
Jim Johnson
> Mike,
>
> You are asking a lot of an old guys failing memory!! To the best of
> my recollection, the original Kensei engine had cooked and was
> replaced with a Pratt-Whitney (don't remember the model number) but
> I'm not for sure if that happened before or after I got to fly it. I
> do recall the cockpit covered in embossing tape stickers with english
> translations on everything!! There wasn't a lot of instrumentation on
> the Zero however... Pretty basic and simple.
>
> If you find out who is still flying an original, please let me know. I
> wasn't aware that any were still flyable!
>
> Cheers!!
> Jim
>
> On 2/8/07, rrengineer@dslextreme.com <rrengineer@dslextreme.com> wrote:
>> Jim,
>> Did the Zero have an original Japanese engine or an American
>> retro-fit?
>> I understand there is only one flying Zero with an original engine.
>> Mike MacLean
>> 60 Sprite
>> 56 BN2
>> and only flown an R/C version of the Zero.
>>
>>
>> Jim Johnson
>> > Got my ticket in the late 60s and finished my commercial in early 70s.
>> > Flew a lot of right seat in the late 70s out of Houston. Am most proud
>> > of my very few hours in a Mitsubishi A6M (Zero), a B-25, and an F4U
>> > Corsair with the CAF back in 1979. WhooEeeeee!!
>> >
>> > Cheers!!
>> > Jim - 68 Midget in Dodge City
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