ZERO A6M
H. P. WILLMOTT
ARMS & ARMOUR PRESS
1980
29 x 22 cm. 64 pp. HB/DJ
The Zero fighter, built by Mitsubishi, was Japan's most famous combat aircraft of World War II. The aircraft was developed in the late 1930s and was first used with devastating success in the China War, but its characteristics still came as a shock to the Allies as the Japanese overran Southeast Asia. Despite its phenomenal qualities of maneuver and range, it possessed many weaknesses, not least of which was a shortage of trained pilots. The Japanese squandered their pilots in the first year of the war and those losses were never made good. The shortage of trained pilots was exacerbated by the fact that the better American pilots were flying aircraft which ultimately outclassed the Zero. Inevitaoly the Zeros were overwhelmed by the Dauntlesses and other aircraft of the Allied forces, but converted to suicide roles they bravely defended Japan's outer rim of Empire and the Home Islands of Japan itself bitterly to the end of the war. The story of the Zero is told
brilliantly by N H Willmott, a historian of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Illustrated
many rare photographs with colour profiles and a cutaway drawing by Mike Badrocke, Zero will be a useful addition to the library of ail aviation enthusiasts.
ZERO A6M
H. P. WILLMOTT
ARMS & ARMOUR PRESS
1980
The Zero fighter, built by Mitsubishi, was Japan's most famous combat aircraft of World War II. The aircraft was developed in the late 1930s and was first used with devastating success in the China War, but its characteristics still came as a shock to the Allies as the Japanese overran Southeast Asia. Despite its phenomenal qualities of maneuver and range, it possessed many weaknesses, not least of which was a shortage of trained pilots. The Japanese squandered their pilots in the first year of the war and those losses were never made good. The shortage of trained pilots was exacerbated by the fact that the better American pilots were flying aircraft which ultimately outclassed the Zero. Inevitaoly the Zeros were overwhelmed by the Dauntlesses and other aircraft of the Allied forces, but converted to suicide roles they bravely defended Japan's outer rim of Empire and the Home Islands of Japan itself bitterly to the end of the war. The story of the Zero is told brilliantly by N H Willmott, a historian of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Illustrated withmany rare photographs with colour profiles and a cutaway drawing by Mike Badrocke, Zero will be a useful addition to the library of ail aviation enthusiasts.
29 x 22 cm. 64 pp.
Very good + condition. Ends of the spine lightly bumped but otherwise like new.
