Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen / Zero : livres - histoire

Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Flight Craft)

Le Mitsubishi A6M Zero vola pour la première fois le 1er avril 1939 et se montra rapidement supérieur aux premiers chasseurs alliés dans le Pacifique. Léger, solide et très maniable, il était armé de deux canons de 20 mm et de deux mitrailleuses de 7.7 mm.
Sa structure était particulière : moteur, cockpit, avant-fuselage et ailes formaient un ensemble rigide, fixé à l'arrière-fuselage et à l'empennage par 80 boulons.

En 1942, les Américains lui attribuèrent le code Zeke, mais le nom Zero s'imposa. Dans les premiers mois de la guerre du Pacifique, il obtint des résultats importants. Dans la bataille de Java, qui prit fin le 8 mars 1942, ses pilotes détruisirent environ 550 avions alliés.

Par la suite, le Zero fut dépassé par de nouveaux chasseurs américains comme le F6F Wildcat et le Corsair. Dans les derniers mois, beaucoup furent équipés de bombes pour des attaques Kamikaze.

Ce livre présente une vue claire de la conception et de la carrière opérationnelle du Zero. Il décrit son origine, son comportement au combat, sa comparaison avec ses adversaires et le rôle des ingénieurs et pilotes. Données techniques, photos et profils en couleurs complètent l'ouvrage.

Caractéristiques

Auteur :	Robert Jackson
Présentation :	96 pages, 30.5 x 21.5 x 0.6 cm, broché
Illustration :	200 photos en N&B et en couleurs
Langue :	anglais
Editeur :	Pen & Sword Books Ltd (GB, 2021)
Série :	Flight Craft (22)
ISBN :	9781526759948

P-39 / P-400 Airacobras vs A6M2/3 Zero-sen : New Guinea 1942 (Osprey)

After the huge advances made in the early months of the Pacific war, it was in remote New Guinea where the advance of Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force (IJNAF) A6M Zero-sen fighters was first halted due to a series of offensive and defensive aerial battles ranging from treetop height up to 30,000 ft.

Initially, the IJNAF fought Australian Kittyhawks, but by May 1942 they had fought themselves into oblivion, and were relieved by USAAF P-39 and P-400 Airacobras. The battles unfolded over mountainous terrain with treacherous tropical weather.
Neither IJNAF or USAAF pilots had been trained for such extreme conditions, incurring many additional losses aside from those that fell in combat.

Using specially commissioned artwork and contemporary photographs and testimony, this fascinating study explains how, despite their initial deficit in experience and equipment, the Airacobras managed to square the ledger and defend New Guinea.

Caractéristiques

Auteur :	Jim Laurier, Gareth Hector
Présentation :	80 pages, 25 x 18.5 x 0.7 cm, broché
Illustration :	50 photos en N&B et 13 en couleurs
Langue :	anglais
Editeur :	Osprey Publishing (GB, 2018)
Série :	Duel (87)
ISBN :	9781472823663

F4F Wildcat vs A6M Zero-Sen - Pacific, 1942 (Osprey)

The Grumman F4F Wildcat and the Mitsubishi A6M Zero-sen were contemporaries, although designed to very different requirements. The Wildcat, ruggedly built to survive the rigors of carrier operations, was the best carrier fighter the US Navy had available when the USA entered World War II, and it remained the principal fighter for the US Navy and the US Marine Corps until 1942-43.
With a speed greater than 300mph, exceptional manoeuvrability, long range, and an impressive armament the slick Zero-sen could out-perform any Allied fighter in 1941-42.
The battles between the Wildcat and the Zero-sen during 1942 represent a classic duel in which pilots flying a nominally inferior fighter successfully developed air-combat tactics that negated the strengths of their opponent.

Contents: Introduction - Chronology - Design and Development - Technical Specifications - The Strategic Situation - The Combatants - Combat - Statistics and Analysis - Aftermath - Bibliography - Index.

Caractéristiques

Auteur :	Edward M. Young
Présentation :	80 pages, 24.5 x 18.5 x 0.7 cm, broché
Illustration :	abondamment illustré de photos et dessins (en N&B et en couleurs)
Langue :	anglais
Editeur :	Osprey Publishing (GB, 2013)
Série :	Duel (54)
ISBN :	9781780963228

F6F Hellcat vs A6M Zero-Sen - Pacific Theater 1943-44 (Osprey)

The Grumman F6F Hellcat and Mitsubishi A6M Zero-sen were the two principal opposing fighters in the brutal aerial clashes of the Pacific War from 1943 onwards. Reminiscent of the preceding F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat was designed specifically to counter the earlier A6M2 Zero-sen, the strengths and weaknesses of which became fully understood by US designers after an undamaged example was recovered in the Aleutians. The powerful Hellcat had an impressive top speed, rate of climb and armament, and it retained its predecessor's incredible ruggedness.
The A6M5 Zero-sen was also born out of an earlier type, but was intended merely as a stop-gap until more modern Japanese fighters could be produced to restore performance parity with Allied aircraft. The chaotic conditions of the Japanese Aircraft industry and war economy prevented new types from being built.
Featuring detailed artwork illustrating the technical specifications of these two types and the dramatic encounters between them, this volume focuses on how these iconic fighters came into being, and how they fared as they faced one another over the Pacific skies of World War II.

Contents: Introduction - Chronology - Design and Development - Technical Specifications - The Strategic Situation - The Combatants - Combat - Statistics and Analysis - Aftermath - Further Reading - Index.

Caractéristiques

Auteur :	Edward M. Young
Présentation :	80 pages, 25 x 18.5 x 0.8 cm, broché
Illustration :	abondamment illustré de photos et dessins (en N&B et en couleurs)
Langue :	anglais
Editeur :	Osprey Publishing (GB, 2014)
Série :	Duel (62)
ISBN :	9781782008132

Mitsubishi A6M 1 / 2 / -2N Zero-Sen of the Japanese Naval Air Service

Reknowned Japanese aircraft historian Richard Bueschel revises and updates his classic series of books on Japanese Naval and Army Air Force aircraft of World War II. The A6M-1/2/-2N ZERO-SEN is the first volume. All variations and markings are covered in this the first of a projected multi-volume series.

Caractéristiques

Auteur :	Richard M. Bueschel
Présentation :	64 pages, 28 x 21.5 x 0.6 cm, broché
Illustration :	plus de 60 photos
Langue :	anglais
Editeur :	Schiffer Publishing Ltd (USA, 2004)
ISBN :	9780887407543

Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Osprey)

Unquestionably the most iconic Japanese fighter of World War II, the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-Sen, Type Zero fighter was used from the initial raid on Pearl Harbor up to the Kamikaze attacks at the end of the war.
Facing off against the likes of the Wildcat, Corsair and even the Spitfire, the Zero gained a legendary reputation amongst Allied pilots due to its incredible manoeuvrability.

Detailed analysis of its technical qualities show why the Zero was so feared, but also pinpoints the weaknesses that would eventually be its downfall as Allied pilots learned how to combat it.
A selection of historical photographs and unique artwork accompany the analysis as James D'Angina delves into the history of the premier Axis fighter of the Pacific Theatre, exploring the design and combat effectiveness of the Zero as well as the tactics developed by Allied pilots to counter it.

Caractéristiques

Auteur :	James D'Angina, Adam Tooby
Présentation :	64 pages, 25 x 18.5 x 0.7 cm, broché
Illustration :	35 photos en N&B et 12 en couleurs
Langue :	anglais
Editeur :	Osprey Publishing (GB, 2016)
Série :	Air Vanguard (19)
ISBN :	9781472808219

Mitsubishi Zero - Japan's Legendary Fighter

Engineered with manoeuvrability in mind, the light-weight, stripped-back Mitsubishi Zero had a performance that left her opponents totally outclassed. The dogfights she engaged in with the Chinese, British, Dutch and American warplanes in the 1941-42 period are the stuff of aviation legend. All aircraft designs are a compromise of course, and the Zero had faults as well as strengths, two of which were to finally doom her; one was her lack of armour protection and the other was the inability of the Japanese to match the overwhelming production strength and innovation of Allied aircraft construction. Even so, she remained a potent threat until the end of the war, not least in her final role, that of a Kamikaze aircraft, in which she created as much havoc on the sea as she had done earlier in the air.

Peter C. Smith takes the reader on a journey from inspired inception to the blazing termination of this unique aircraft, the first Naval fighter to be superior to land-based aircraft. It describes in detail the many victories that punctuated the early days of its operational career as well as the desperate dying days of the Second World War which witnessed her final demise. Smith also lists the preserved Zero aircraft on display today. This is a fast-paced and fascinating history of a fighter aircraft like no other.

Caractéristiques

Auteur :	Peter C Smith
Présentation :	240 pages, 23.5 x 15.5 cm, relié
Illustration :	16 pages photos en N&B
Langue :	anglais
Editeur :	Pen & Sword Books Ltd (GB, 2014)
ISBN :	9781781593196

Seafire F III vs A6M Zero - Pacific Theatre (Osprey)

Products of vastly different design philosophies, the Seafire F III and the A6M Zero were never intended to meet in combat, and never should have.
The Zero, extremely nimble at low speeds was purpose-built as a shipboard fighter. In contrast, the Spitfire was intended to operate from established airfields, and needed to be adapted as a carrier fighter.
The book examines these two iconic fighters and their two very different histories, using fantastic artwork and first hand accounts to illustrate the last aerial duel of World War II, as the British Seafire overcame its critics to emerge victorious over the Japanese Zero.

Contents: Introduction - Chronology - Design and Development - The Strategic Situation - Technical Specifications - The Combatants - Combat - Statistics and analysis - Aftermath - conclusion - Bibliography - Further Reading - Glossary.

Caractéristiques

Auteur :	Donald Nijboer, Jim Laurier
Présentation :	80 pages, 24.5 x 18.5 x 0.7 cm, broché
Illustration :	abondamment illustré de photos et dessins (en N&B et en couleurs)
Langue :	anglais
Editeur :	Osprey Publishing (GB, 2009)
Série :	Duel (16)
ISBN :	9781846034336

Zero - The Story of Japan's Air War in the Pacific - As seen by the Enemy

This is the thrilling saga of war in the air in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II told from the Japanese point of view. It is the story of the men who created, led, and fought in the deadly Zero fighter plane.

In their own words, Jiro Horikoshi (who designed the Zero), Masatake Okumiya (leader of many Zero squadrons), and Saburo Sakai (Japan's leading surviving fighter ace) as well as many other men, tell the inside story of developing the Zero and Japan's air force.

They tell what it felt like to bomb American ships and to shoot down American airplanes - and then of their own shock when the myth of invincibility was shattered by the new Lightning, Hellcat, and Corsair fighters.
They tell of the fight against the growing strength of a remorseless American enemy; and how, in desperation, the Japanese High Command ordered the ceration of deadly suicide squadrons, the Kamikaze. And finally, they reveal their reaction to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Caractéristiques

Auteur :	Masatake Okumiya, Jiro Horikoshi, Martin Caidin
Présentation :	364 pages, 23 x 15 x 2.1 cm, relié
Illustration :	photos en N&B
Langue :	anglais
Editeur :	ibooks (USA, 2014)
ISBN :	9781596874510