Saturday 7 January 2012

stills/vid of the restored Dakota Blayde Zero A1-1-129


Some stills from a neat vid of the restored Dakota Blayde Zero A1-1-129. This aircraft, a Nakajima-built A6M2 s/n 1498, was restored from a wreck discovered in the Ballale Island jungles in the Solomons in 1965. The airplane's restoration has been praised by Japanese aeronautical engineers and other world experts. Everything is original on the aeroplane except the engine, a Pratt & Whitney R-1830. The restoration took several decades to complete. Note the colour and the presence of yellow IFF strips on wings and white-outline fuselage Hinomaru.