Zero over Camberley

[ph1l5]

I am pretty sure I just spotted what looks like a Jap Zero tonking it over Camberley at 15.30 this afternoon. It sounded a bit like a spitfire. But was smaller and had Japanese markings.

[FourWheelDrift]

Or a Harvard?

[ph1l5]

if it was a harvard it sounded AMAZING !!
I thought it sounded like a spitfire at first as you could hear it coming well before it passed over although it wasn't as fat as a havard.

[wolfracesonic]

Was it heading in the direction of Poole harbour?

[FourWheelDrift]

wolfracesonic said:

Was it heading in the direction of Poole harbour?

There was a bit of an odd storm earlier.

[Turn7]

wolfracesonic said:

Was it heading in the direction of Poole harbour?

ISWYDTH.....

[CountZero23]

Turn7 said:

wolfracesonic said:

Was it heading in the direction of Poole harbour?

ISWYDTH.....

Nice.

[Simpo Two]

FourWheelDrift said:

There was a bit of an odd storm earlier.

I thought that too! 'Splash the Zeros'


I'm sure it was a Harvard in drag, though it sounds nothing like a Spitfire.

[Eric Mc]

Wasn't a Yak 50 or 52?

[ecsrobin]

Eric Mc said:

Wasn't a Yak 50 or 52?

Sounds like one of the aerostars yaks.

[eharding]

Eric Mc said:

Wasn't a Yak 50 or 52?

Not guilty here - ours is still being fettled oop North.

Is the OP sure the markings weren't Chinese rather than Japanese? Or even Sri Lankan?

If the former, it could have been one of the local Nanchangs. If the latter, it could have been the local Frankenchang - 'chang with a Yak engine bolted on the front - but I don't think that is flying yet. Total hooliganism when it does though!

[Eric Mc]

There are no genuine Mitsubishi Zeros flying in the UK. Indeed, there are only a very small number flying anywhere.

I don't think any of the Harvard to Zero conversions (as built for the film "Tora, Tora, Tora") were ever based in the UK.

As far as I know, in the UK, only one Harvard ever masqueraded as a Zero. This was the one owned and flown by Gary Numan. It was a standard Harvard painted in Japanese markings.

[Trevatanus]

This YAK-52 is Blackbushe based.
Or at least spends a lot of time there, used by Aerobility

_MG_3578 by Jim Pritchard, on Flickr

Edited by Trevatanus on Wednesday 24th August 13:05

Edited by Trevatanus on Wednesday 24th August 13:06

[aeropilot]

Eric Mc said:

Wasn't a Yak 50 or 52?

I'm thinking more Yak 3M, G-OLEG.....its Allison V-1710 will sound more like a Merlin. Been based in the UK since last year.

[Martin4356111]

eharding said:

If the latter, it could have been the local Frankenchang - 'chang with a Yak engine bolted on the front - but I don't think that is flying yet. Total hooliganism when it does though!

Excuse my ignorance but doesn't that make it just like any other YAK if they add a YAK engine (given that the Nanchang is a YAK copy) or are there differences between the airframes?

Like the sound of it being a hooligan though!

TIA.

EDITED TO ADD - Just read that the Nanchang is an original design and not a copy. Very similar though.

Edited by Martin4356111 on Saturday 27th August 15:39

[eharding]

Martin4356111 said:

eharding said:

If the latter, it could have been the local Frankenchang - 'chang with a Yak engine bolted on the front - but I don't think that is flying yet. Total hooliganism when it does though!

Excuse my ignorance but doesn't that make it just like any other YAK if they add a YAK engine (given that the Nanchang is a YAK copy) or are there differences between the airframes?

Like the sound of it being a hooligan though!

TIA.

EDITED TO ADD - Just read that the Nanchang is an original design and not a copy. Very similar though.

Edited by Martin4356111 on Saturday 27th August 15:39

Stock Yak 52 is 360hp, 'chang is 280hp. Hence considerable power upgrade.