Especially with that Messerschmitt 109 coming up from below!
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No, the Zero was quite original. The North American AT-6 trainer had a resemblance to the Zero but that was a coincidence. It was easy for the filmmakers to take AT-6’s and modify them to look even more like Zeros.
And here’s some “Tora, Tora, Tora” trivia. The Japanese Aichi “Val” dive bombers in the film were modified American BT-13’s and the Kate torpedo bombers were part AT-6, part BT-13. Some VERY clever mod work there and here’s the amazing thing, the airplanes actually flew better with the Japanese mod work!
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“Ach du lieber Gott! Vass iss diss, der Twilight Zone?”
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Wayne, I’m surprised you missed Penny’s sarcasm regarding all those trainers in the movie… you gave her a straight answer.
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Well, I CAN be a little slow on the uptake at times! But that’s me with the straight answers, Mister Helpful! 
Mind you, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the in-depth article in “Air Classics” magazine when the film came out in 1970 telling the whole story of the acquisition and modification of the air fleet used in making “Tora…” both Japanese AND American aircraft. It was quite an achievement.
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