A6M2 Sen Baku in the Battle of the Philippine Sea
 
 
Ryan Toews from j-aircraft.com
 
 
The fighter-bomber version of the A6M2 is probably the least documented Zero variant. This article is an attempt to shed some light on some of the distinguishing details of this plane.
 
First, allow me to offer a few a words on the proper nomenclature. Most published sources call this Zero a “Bakusen”. However, in the last year Manabu Kawasaki wrote a new study entitled A New View of the Battle of Philippine Sea. This book points out that the official records term the Zero fighter-bomber the Sen Baku; this is also supported by the memories of a number of pilots. My thanks to Kenji Miyazaki for drawing this to my attention.
 
The A6M2 Sen Baku was introduced in early 1944. The D3A Val carrier-borne dive-bomber was recognized as becoming increasingly inadequate for front line use and the replacement IJN dive-bomber, the D4Y Judy, needed a longer take-off roll than could be accommodated on the light carriers comprising part of the First Mobile Fleet. Accordingly, a number of A6M2s were modified to carry a 250 kg bomb by replacing the drop tank so as to fit a centre-line bomb rack. These modified Zeros lacked dive brakes and bomb-throwing racks and so were restricted to less effective shallower bomb approaches, but it was thought that the flight decks of the American carriers could be damaged enough to render them incapable of aerial operations.
 
Concurrent with the introduction of the A6M2 Sen Baku was the rebuilding of the Japanese carrier force. Training for both the 601 Kokutai only began in February of 1944 and 652 Ku and 653 Ku began training a month later. Very likely then the Zero Sen Baku only began arriving from the factory sometime in the period from February to April.
 
Mitsubishi had stopped producing the A6M2 in mid-1942, so it can be safely assumed that all of the A6M2 Sen Bakus were built by Nakajima. Gakken 33 gives Nakajima’s monthly production numbers for both the A6M2 and the A6M5. Production of the latter was well underway in March 1944 and it was in full production by April. Yet production of the A6M2 only shut down gradually, with 111 aircraft still being built in April and May 1944. It may very well be that this drawn out production of the A6M2 during the time the A6M5 was being turned out in strength was due to the need for additional Sen Baku variants of the Zero. As will be explained below, the Zero fighter-bombers were not a simple conversion and were much more likely to have been given their necessary modifications on the assembly line.
 
The A6M2 Sen Baku also appears to have been the first Zero to make use of two wing drop-tanks. On page 82 of Aero Detail 7 is a small notation which states that a number of A6M5bs were modified to carry both a centre-line bomb load as well as wing tanks. This was done to maintain the same range performance as regularly equipped Zeros. A photo on pages 20-21 of the recently published Japanese Naval Air Force in Action shows several carrier-borne A6M2s equipped with wing mounted drop-tanks. (Image 1) The tail codes visible on several other aircraft in the foreground help identify the image as having been taken some time before the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Using the evidence from this photo, it can be argued that the bomb carrying A6M2s used during the Battle of the Philippine Sea were also equipped with wing drop-tanks. Further substantiation for this can be found in looking at the battle itself. The Japanese strategy was to use the advantage of their planes’ longer range to be able to attack before the Americans were within range themselves. And to maintain this longer range the A6M2 had to be able to use the additional fuel available in external drop-tanks.
 
 
A6M2 Sen Baku Markings
 
Information on markings for the Battle of the Philippine Sea Sen Bakus is likewise very sparse, being limited to only one such aircraft. The picture below is form the USMC collection at NARA. It is identified as being taken on Guam in July of 1944. According to Jim Lansdale a second photo in the same series appears to show the same plane in the background of the image with the code of “323“ visible on the tail (Image 12)
 
It is assumed here that the “2” in the “247” part of the tail code identified the role of plane “47” as a bomber instead of a fighter, continuing a practice used previously by IJN carrier units. The tail code prefix of “323” serves to further identify the plane as belonging to the 3rd Carrier (Ryuho) of the 2nd Carrier Division. All of the aircraft of the 2nd Carrier Division were administratively assigned to the 652 Kokutai.
 
According to Hata and Izawa as well as Tillman the 652 Ku launched either 25 or 26 of its full complement of 26 A6M2 fighter-bombers as part of the second Japanese air strike on the 19th of July. This force came in from the north and had minimal contact with American forces. In spite of this, 4 A6M2 fighter-bombers were lost. It seems safe to assume that any of these 4 planes might have crashed on Guam.
 
From all of the above it may be possible to reconstruct the appearance of at least one of the rather elusive A6M2 Sen Baku that took such heavy losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Bearing the tail code of “323-247” it was equipped with two wing mounted drop tanks as well as a flush-mounted bomb rack to carry a 250 Kg bomb.
 
Over the past months Dave Douglas has been allowing me to berate him with endless suggestions concerning his outstanding series of Zero profiles. He has been kind enough to take my contradictory notes and comments and create a profile of the Sen Baku which has been described above. (Image 13) Dave has also provided a drawing of the bomb rack used on the A6M2 Sen Baku. This illustration also provides a better look at the Type 99 #25 Model 1 Ordinary bomb and its markings. The bomb’s markings are of the earlier war pattern which were continued up to July 1944. (Image 14)
 
 
 
 
A6M2 Sen Baku Package: for SF/WoV/WoE WW2, PTO installs
 
This little modification creates a new aircraft based off ArmorDave's A6M5 "Zeke" IJN fighter and Wrench work. Included in this package are the skins, inis, and some various small and sundry bits. The aircraft LOD and cockpit folders are NOT included - you 'll be transfering them over from the stock A6M5. Therefore, it is NOT a complete aircraft package.
 
= You MUST have the latest Weapons Pak installed for the WW2 Weapons!!! =
 
Obviously, you must have AD's Zero's installed to use the package....
 
---------------------
Install instructions:
 
Unzip, as I always reccomend, the "A6M2 Sen Baku.zip" to a temp folder somewhere that easy to find.
 
Create a new folder, "A6M2 Sen Baku" in your game's main /Aircraft folder.
 
Copy/paste all the new items; inis, skin folder, and the various and sundry bits I've supplied, into the new A6M5C folder.
 
From the original A6M5, transfer over (copy/paste) the following items:
 
 
A6M5.LOD
A6M5.OUT (usefull for decaling)
 
Cockpit folder -- the whole, entire folder :)
 
Copy/paste the "LavEngine.wav" into your sounds folder, if you don't have it already. This is from Hinchbooke, and was (duh!) designed for the Soviet Laggs and the LA-9 and 11. It has a nice raspy radial sound.
 
Hangar and Loading screens are included. They're my old one's for a way's back.
 
That's pretty much it...go fly!
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
--Credits/Sources:
 
ArmourDave for creating the Zero in the first place;
Volksjager and Lansen for the original skins;
MoonJumper for finding the PappaRomeo EAW sight pack;
Hinchbrooke for the LavEngine sound;
All the other WW2 Junkies out there;
TK for creating the open sourced marvel for use to play with
 
Famous Airplanes of the World #55: Mitsubishi A6M, Model 11-21
Aero Detail #7: Mitsubishi A6M Zero Fighter
Aircam #16: Mistubish A6M Vol.1
Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #22: Imperial Japanese Navy Aces 1937-1945
Kagero: 3/202 Kokutai
Mushroom YS 3: Mitsubishi A6M Zero
Profile #236: A6M5-A6M8
Profile Aircraft #129: Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero-sen
Squad/Signal #1059: A6M Zero In Action
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Any problems, questions, comments or other ideas can be directed to me on the CombatAce and SimHQ message boards.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal BS:
This is freeware; it CAN be distrubuted as such if permission is granted by me, AD, and the original readme and all pieces of the package remain intact.
The Mitsubishi A6M5 remains the intellectual property of ArmourDave (and Mitsubishi Aircraft, it's heirs and/or successors)
See the original readme documentation for further allowances and restrictions
Any persons wishing to make further modfications of the aircraft inis, skins, cockpit, etc, MUST obtain permission from the whole of the developers/moders.
This package may NOT in any way, shape or form be used in any payware addition without permission of myself, ArmourDave, or anyone associated with it.
Percentages of payment are -always- open for negotiation.
 
-----------------------

***********************************
Japanese Aircraft Pack for
Strike Fighters : Project 1 by Armourdave
***********************************
build 27-11-2004
 
 
***********************************
Installation
***********************************
 
Unzip the japanese_aircraft.zip to your \objects\aircraft folder
 
Move the nations.ini to your \flight folder.
 
 
***********************************
Pack introduction & History
***********************************
 
*******
A6M
*******
 
The Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Sen legendary status mirrored the fortunes of the rising sun, in which four years, the sun would finally set. For the Japanese and its former enemies, the A6M was the symbol of Japanese air power. The A6M fighter marked the beginning of a new epoch in naval aviation and was the first shipboard fighter capable of surpassing land-based aircraft.1 With its tight turning radius, it was an extremely deadly weapon in a dogfight, and was famous for its ability to outmaneuver, Brewster F2A Buffaloes, Curtiss P-40s and Grumman F4F Wildcats. As early as 1937, Claire Chennault, the author of 'The Role of Defensive Pursuit,' warned the USAAF about the dangers of Japanese air power. Apparently his warnings were ignored, as the superiority of the A6M was a complete surprise to the American forces.2 As leader of the Flying Tigers, Chennault constantly stressed to his pilots, 'Never try to turn with a Zero. Always get above the enemy and try to hit him with the first pass.'3 Because of the A6Ms exceptional range and performance, it was to bear the brunt of the action, of almost every military engagement in the Pacific, until the end of the war. 4
 
*******
Ki-43
*******
 
The Hayabusa was a sleek little dogfighter, relatively slow and lightly armed (just two fuselage-mounted machine guns at a time when other fighters were carrying multiple machine guns or even cannon in their wings). At first, these weaknesses seemed not to matter, but as time went on, the Hayabusa was totally outclassed by its opponents in every respect except tight-turning dogfighting. And even that advantage counted little against enemy aircraft that refused to meet the Hayabusa on its own terms. Unfortunately for Japan, the Hayabusa had to continue on as a front-line fighter to the end, because its successor-the Ki-84 Hayate (which see)-was never available in sufficient quantities, and was not as reliable as the older fighter.
Interestingly, design work on the Ki-43 began even before its predecessor, the Ki-27 Nate, entered service with the JAAF. In December 1937, the Army told the Nakajima company to design a new fighter to supercede the Ki-27. The new plane would be faster in level flight (300+ mph), swifter-climbing (5 minutes to 16,405 ft.), longer-ranged (a radius of action of 500 statute miles), with the same armament and maneuverability as the earlier fighter. The Nakajima team, led by Hideo Itokawa, worked steadily for a year, and the new plane was first flown early in January 1939.
 
*******
G4M2
*******
 
Designed to an incredibly demanding 1938 Navy specification, the G4M family (given the code-name "Betty" by the Allies) was the Imperial Japanese Navy's premier heavy bomber in World War II; yet the insistence on the great range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,706 km) with full bomb load made the saving of weight take priority over defence and the aircraft was highly vulnerable and not very popular. The wing was of the same Mitsubishi 118 section as the Zero-Sen and boldly designed as an integral fuel tank to accommodate no less than 5,000 litres (1,100 gal). The company kept recommending four engines and being overruled by the Navy, which, during the early flight-test stage, wasted more than a year, and 30 aircraft, in trying to make the design into the G6M bomber escort with a crew of ten and 19 guns.
 
Eventually the G4M1 was readied for service as a bomber and flew its first missions in South East China in May 1941. More than 250 operated in the Philippines and Malayan campaigns, but after the Solomons battle in August 1942 it began to be apparent that, once intercepted and hit, the unprotected bomber went up like a torch (hence the Allied nickname "one-shot lighter"). Total production reached the exceptional quantity of 2,479, most of them in the many sub-types of G4M2 with increased fuel capacity and power. Finally the trend of development was reversed with the G4M3 series with full protection and only 968 gal fuel.
 
***********************************
Known Issues
***********************************
 
* Hires textures might cause you problems if your graphics card is from the previous century
* Ki-43 has no fast prop.
* G4M2 is AI only so dont even bother
 
***********************************
Aircraft Files
***********************************
 
All aircraft models, cockpit models and cockpit textures authored by David (AD).
 
All flight models authored by Wolf257
 
This pack contains 4 aircraft and 6 skins.
 
Aircraft Skin
 
A6M2 - White (Volksjaeger)
White (Lansen)
 
A6M5 - Camo (Volksjaeger)
Green (Volksjaeger)
 
Ki-43 - Green (Volksjaeger)
 
G4M2 - Green (Volksjaeger)
 
All Hangar screens and A6M2/5 loading screens by Kevin "Wrench" Stein
 
 
***********************************
Thanks to
***********************************
 
Jason "Volksjaeger" Brash
Jim "Wolf257" Farmer
Kevin "Wrench" Stein
Lansen
Whoever hosts this pack

A fake, Italian, '30's aircraft for target practice. I'm sure there is much wrong with the set-up, but she seems to work for me!

Heinkel He 219A-7/R1 Uhu
the best night fighter of WW2
for Strike Fighters Project 1 & Wings over Vietnam
 
ver 1.0 2005-05-18
 
 
by Kesselbut-cockpit, Starfighter-FM Gramps Skins, Howling1 Radar and Pasko-the rest
 
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Installation:
 
Extract everything to ..\Strike Fighters\Objects\Aircraft folder
(New folder He 219A-7 will be created,plane files and LWPilot and LWNavigator files extracted).
 
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer, Contact & Copyright:
 
I can not take any responsibility whatsoever regarding using of this add-on.
This is freeware addon package, free to distribute non-commercially.
 
It is not supported by me or anyone, but your feedback with suggestions and
improvements is appreciated: pasko_patak@yahoo.com
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Have fun :)!
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Known Issues & Additional information:
 
Schraege Music is controlled by Fire Secondary Gun Button, (not mapped on keyboard by default)
Gunsight for Schraege Music (two guns firing 45 degrees upwards) is missing.

Foche-Wulf FW-190A-8/R2 " Wurger " Readme
 
------------
 
1. This is a mod of Wolf257's original FW-190A ( FW-190A-5 ) aircraft. The FW-190A-8/R2 was a field
modification intended to give the Luftwaffe more firepower when dealing with the heavily armored
Allied four engined bombers such as the B-17, the B-24, and the Lancaster. Primary change was to the
armament, with 13mm MG131s replacing the 7.92mm fuselage MGs, and the outboard wing cannon changed
to 30mm Mk.108s. Some FW-190A-8s also were modded to carry underwing gunpods with either a single
30mm cannon or twin 20mm MG151s. When these gunpods are released in the future, the FW-190A-8/R2
will be able to carry them, as well as Wgr 21 210mm unguided rockets on their release also.
 
2. To install, drop the FW190A-8R2 folder in your Objects/Aircraft folder. Then open the " Items You
Need To Add To... " folder and follow the instructions included in the readme there.
 
3. Special thanks goes to Wolf257 for allowing me to mod his "Baby", & Gramps for graciously allowing
me to use his JG300 skin.
 
Credits:
 
Wolf257 : FW-190A Model & tech assistance
Gramps : JG300 Wilde Sau Skin
The Wrench : FW-190 Hangarscreen
Moonjumper : tech data on cannon armament & ammo capacities
howling1 : Any mistakes in the above are mine alone...
 
Enjoy!

Messerschmitt BF109E-3 For strike fighters .....1 in a line of 3 models...E4 and 7 to follow.
This a\c is an all time fave of mine and her lines are still nice to see....I hope its enjoyed as much as i enjoyed making this model...
cheers
Russo

Ki-43IIb Hayabusa "Oscar" For SF/WoV/WoE WW2: PTO installs
 
This is a modification of Wolf257's Ki-43 into the later version, the IIb as used by the IJAAF.
 
This is a semi- complete aircraft mod, creating a new version for use in your World War 2: PTO installs ONLY!!
 
I say 'semi-complete', because pursuant to Wolf's wishes, the aircraft LOD file is NOT included (you'll have to transfer it over from the exisiting Ki-43 --make sure it's Wolf's Ki-43, NOT ArmourDaves!!. Almost everything else is included; all the inis, an new skin, hangar screen and my damage tgas as well. The cockpit itself is NOT included, as you'll be using the one from AD's A6M5 Zero.
 
The skin represents 204 Sentai, in the Home Defense role circa 1944-to the end of the war. I've redrawn all the panel lines, added my 'interperative' rivet lines (meaning no claims to accuracy are made!), simulated fabric control surfaces and dirtied it up some. As this is a natural metal skin, it has no worn-off green camo. Individual aircraft numbers are 'best guess' based on a few profiles. Therefore, no accuracy is claimed for those as well.
 
PLEASE read the enclosed readme for fully detailed, step-by-step install instructions, plus commentaries and general explanitory notes.
 
Enjoy!
Wrench
Kevin Stein

The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet was the only operational rocket fighter aircraft. It required a lengthy development process and entered the war in a very limited fashion only in 1944.