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Platinum Fighter Sales
Sold. This Nakajima A6M2 Model 21 Zero has been sold and delivered to its new owner in Canada.
https://www.platinumfighters.com/inventory/1941-nakajima-a6m2-model-21-zero/History
Nakajima A6M-2 Zero was recovered as a wreck in the jungle on the island of Ballale in the Solomon Islands in 1965.
In 1994 restoration of the Zero was started by the Blayd Corporation of Canada. An estimated 60,000 man hours went into the restoration of the Zero. Over 14,000 new parts were manufactured. The original manufacturer, Mitsubishi Corporation provided some original plans / blue prints and Japanese engineering students to translate them. In 2000 the project was sold to a consortium lead by Gerry Beck who installed the instruments, hydraulics, and fitted a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engine for reliability.
This particular Zero, has been painted as A1-1-129, is a Nakajima-built A6M2 s/n 1498. The paint scheme is from one of the very few Nakajima built A6M2s for which, at the time, both the tail code and serial number were known. This was A6M2, s/n 6544, tail code A1-1-129, downed over Russell Island on 4 February, 1943.
This Zero was photographed by the Americans when they occupied Russell Island. Some artifacts which confirmed the serial number were also collected. The tail code identified this aircraft as being from the carrier Zuikaku.
The serial number 6544 also provided a date of manufacture in late December 1942. Given the markings and date of the loss of A1-1-129 ,it must have been flown by one of the two Zuikaku pilots lost on February 4, 1943.
Circumstantial evidence seems to suggest that the pilot was PO2c TANAKA Sakuji.
