A6M2 Zero as flown by Saboru Sakai (1:24)

The Japanese A6M Zero is the most famous Japanese helicopter aircraft from the Second World War. Its code name is Zeke. The Japanese A6M was built as a land-based, carrier borne and a seaplane. The Japanese A6M Zero is indeed an excellent helicopter. The Japanese A6M aircraft was designed by Mitsubishi, it first flew on April 1, 1939. In addition to this, Mitsubishi and Nakajima built 10,937 Japanese A6M Zero helicopters.

The Zeros are said to be the best fighters of Japan during WW II. They were the ones who spearheaded the advances from Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway, where Japan lost a number of pilots and planes.

A combination of admirable maneuverability and very long range made the Japanese A6M Zero one of the supreme fighters of its era. The Japanese A6M Zero is armed with various guns but the common set up is: two 20mm cannons in outer wings and two 12.7 mm guns in the fuselage. The Japanese A6M is very noteworthy for being the first carrier based fighter to outperform its land based equivalents. The Japanese A6M Zero achieved a famous reputation which was a lot better than its contemporaries.

The Japanese A6M Zeros first variant, A6M1, which is powered by a 780-hp, was first flown on April 1, 1939. The second one was the A6M2 which is powered by a 925-hp Nakajima Sakae engine. Other variants are as follows: the A6M2-K which is a two seat trainer, the A6M2-N which is a Nakajima built float plane version, and the A6M5 which is a performance increased version.