Rod's WarBirds

WarBird Photos

Mr. Harada's Lake Kawaguchi Air Park

This is the first showing of Mr. Harada's Air Park with the completed restoration of an A6M5 Reisen "Zero" and the rear fuselage section of a G4M "Betty". The aircraft are in an old hanger/workshop that makes photography quite difficult. There are very bright spotlights and an open section of windows along one side of the building. These windows cause a lot of lighting problems as you will see from the photographs. There were many dark corners and bright spots. However, with patience and a lot of pictures, I did manage to get some pretty good pictures of the aircraft anyway. I intend to do better next time I go there. I will NOT go near noon again, but much earlier or later in the afternoon when the light from the windows will not be as much of a factor. One really nice thing about this museum is its location. It is practically in the woods - there is no evidence of civilization in the vicinity. That is quite nice for a Minnesota guy like me.

A6M5 Zero - Page 1

This Zero is in VERY good condition, and is perhaps the best restored Zero in Japan. I have not seen any that beat it, but I have not seen ALL of the Zeros in Japan yet.

Front (53K)           Front (57K)            Front (34K)          Air Scoop (20K)         Right Canopy (34K)

Right Canopy (38K)    Left Canopy (29K)    Left Canopy (34K)       Right Side (36K)            Drop Tank (27K)

Drop Tank (31K)   Engine CloseUp (31K)  Engine CloseUp (24K)   Fuselage Frame (43K)   Fuselage Frame (54K)

Front Pieces (43K)  Front Pieces (25K)  Front Pieces (42K)  Left Fuselage (22K) Left Front (39K)

Back to Home