or if they werent real zero’s, which type were they supposed to be?
These were the modified T-6s from Tora Tora Tora. As were the Vals and Kates.
Those were North American AT-6 Texans. These airplanes were among the replicas built for Tora Tora Tora, and anytime Hollywood needs a Zero, voila. They actually present rather well on camera, and I would much rather see a replica such as that used than the computer animation that Aviator employed. It takes a real airplane to film like a real airplane!
Oh, look for these replica Zekes in the TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep, too!
So they were the Val dive bombers and Kates then?
I agree Ashley!
I wish the guys that did “Battle of Britain” would go back and just touch up the effects, then that movie would be awesome.
Don
I live in Tx. and am lucky to see Tora Tora Tora at every airshow down here. If you would like a closer look at some of their bird, here’s a couple of links to photos I have taken.
Eddie
http://www.midwaysailor.com/eddiemiller/vintage.html
http://www.midwaysailor2.com/houstonairshow/index.html
Coincendently, The Final Countdown was the last time that all of the Tora birds were filmed together.
For the Czech film “Tmavomdry Svet” or “Dark Blue Word” that is exactly what they did. The Film makers took scenes from “Battle of Britain” and digitaly enhanced them. They only had two Spitfires for use in the film and those Heinkels & 109’s had to come from somewhere. “Dark Blue World” is a great film and the attack on the train is breathtaking. In some scenes they even had spent shells ejecting from the Spitfires!
The type they were representing are Mitsubishi A6M2 Navy type Zero.
The Val/Kates were BT-13 trainers modified a bit. It is a bit amazing that the basic airframes were actuall quite similar.
The Kates did have a BT-13 component, but it was just the tail section. The rest of the fuselage, wings, etc. was from a Harvard with a new-build section between the Harvard ending and the BT-13 beginning. It was the most ambitious of the Tora conversions. It even had three crew positions, the two Harvard seats and a third, the Kate’s gunner’s seat which could be occupied. I flew one once a long time ago with my friend Bill Barnes in the front seat and my fiance in the gunner’s seat - brave girl.
The Tora Zeros, Vals and Kates have been used in several movies and TV shows that needed WW-II Japanese planes. The newest “Pearl Harbor” movie with Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckensale used actual P-40s, Zeros and B-25s, Some of them were the wrong models that weren’t introduced until later in the war. Most of them came from Planes Of Fame at Chino with Steve Hinton as the Head Honcho In Charge.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
The Kates also had extensions on the wing tips and a fibre glass fillet added to the vert stab. The fuselage extension was done in house at the place that modified the originals. The mods to the Vals was a bit more extensive and used more fibre glass. There was a really good article in “General Aviation News” about two months ago on what was involved in modifying the A/C. I’ll have to dig it up and look at it again.