Koga's Zero: The Fighter That Changed World War II : Found in Alaska

by Jim Rearden

Book by Rearden, Jim

Genres: History

124 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating true story of how the US found, salvaged, repaired, and flew a state of the art Japanese fighter plane that went down during the Aleutians campaign in WWII. The recovered Zero provided American pilots an inside look at the strengths and weaknesses of the best fighter plane of that time. This allowed for development of tactics in dealing with them in combat as well as making improvements to our aircraft. Background was provided by people who were there or had direct knowledge of the stories of pilots and others involved from both the US and Japan. Some parts were slightly technical in providing performance comparisons of the Zero to our main fighters of that time. A great look at a mostly forgotten campaign where Japan occupied part of America's Alaska territory. Recommended especially for anyone who studies WWII.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worthy read of the recovery of the "Aleutian Zero" that revealed the secrets of the famed Zero Fighter found upside down in a boggy marsh in the Aleutians. It was restored to flying condition after successful salvage and used to examine its strengths and weaknesses as well as a training aid at NAS North Island to enlighten US fighter pilots in the air before heading west to combat.