image: Zero Enterprise
A restored Zero fighter plane from World War II is set to take flight over Japan next week, marking the first time since the war’s end 70 years ago that one of the iconic aircraft has flown in Japanese airspace, the Japan Times reported on Monday. The Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero had been in storage in the U.S., and was brought to Japan last September by Zero Enterprise Inc., a U.S.-based company. It has been on display at an air base, where it was reassembled after shipping, and its engine was tested on July 7. “We hope this [flight] will make people reflect on the past and think of their future,” said Hitoshi Okubo, a spokesman for Zero Enterprise. “We wanted to give young people in particular an opportunity to think of the impact of war.”
The flight still must receive final safety clearance from authorities, according to the Times. If the flight occurs as planned, the Zero will be flown by a U.S. pilot, since no Japanese pilot is certified to fly the plane. The Zero has a maximum speed of 288 knots. This particular aircraft was found in Papua New Guinea in the 1970s and was restored by a U.S. collector. In 2008 the airplane was bought by Masahide Ishizuka, a native of Japan living in New Zealand. Ishizuka reportedly paid $3.72 million for the airplane, and established Zero Enterprise with the aim of bringing a Zero back to Japan. “[The Zero fighter] is a historic heritage and a memorial of the war,” Ishizuka said. “We must never forget the war if we want to continue striving for peace.”
Six of the airplanes are still flying, according to the Times, five of them in the U.S. AVweb took a tour of a Japanese Zero at EAA AirVenture in 2011; click here for the video.
