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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:45 am 
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The Aichi Val ultra-rare dive bomber arrives at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.

October 3, 2022

The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum recently took delivery of a carrier-borne Aichi D3A Type 99 ultra-rare dive bomber, better known by its Allied code name "Val." The fragile and incomplete fuselage of this once formidable weapon now joins representative examples of two other Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft types that made up the bulk of the Japanese air force that attacked Pearl Harbor and other targets around Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The museum will soon be the only facility in the world where visitors will be able to see a Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke", a Nakajima B5N "Kate" and a "Val". We reported on the arrival of the Kate in April 2016. It has since undergone conservation and is now on display in the museum's main hangar; the Val will now undergo a similar process.

Photo via Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
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As can be seen in the images shown here, the "Val" has clearly taken a lot of abuse over the decades, bearing the scars of its wartime experiences, not to mention vandalism and prolonged exposure to the elements. The museum has yet to provide any details about the identity of the cell or its wartime history, or even when and where it was recovered. However, it seems entirely possible that this fuselage was part of a convoy of Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft wreckage recovered from Balalae in the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific a few years ago. Many photographs of these airframes can be found in an article we published HERE in December 2018.

https://warbirdsnews-com.translate.goog ... r_pto=wapp

However, the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum has released the following details....
After a long-awaited arrival, the museum's latest acquisition, a rare WWII Val dive bomber aircraft, has arrived here on Ford Island, completing its long 3-month journey to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. In September, our dedicated restoration team worked to safely unload the Val from a Matson shipping container to its new home, Historic Hangar 79.


Unloading the Val's fuselage at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum in September. The museum apparently has parts from other airframes to supplement this Val during the conservation process. It will be interesting to see how complete the resulting exhibit will be. (image via PHAM)
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Surviving Aichi D3A dive bombers from World War II are rare and hard to find these days. Of the 1,495 D3As built in five variants, only a handful have survived destruction in combat or the inevitable ravages of time and nature. For these reasons, and for the significant historical value of seizing the opportunity to acquire and assemble a visually recognizable Val from the Pacific Theater era, the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is extremely pleased to announce its latest acquisition and restoration project. The aircraft will be assembled from sections recovered from at least two, and possibly more, Val's abandoned in shrapnel-ridden revetments next to a heavily bombed runway. Stay tuned for our future reports on the in-depth details of this Val's specific series of design, manufacture, powerplant, and more...


A Val in flight during World War II (image via PHAM)
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The infamous Zero, a single-seat fighter, flew combat air patrols to protect bombers and strafe ground targets. The dual-purpose Kate, with a crew of three, launched either a single torpedo or a single, high altitude, armor-piercing bomb. Both aircraft could carry lighter bombs on their wing mounts.

The Nakajima B5N2 'Kate' reconstruction on display at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum (image via Wikimedia)
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The Mitsubishi A6M Zero at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, also known by its Allied code name "Zeke". (image via Wikimedia)
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The Val, with a two-man crew of a pilot and a rear-facing gunner, was an extremely accurate dive bomber. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Zeros were assigned to a medium to high patrol mission, anticipating the resistance of the American fighters. Zeros were also tasked with protective escort during the return of the bombers to their carriers.

The Torpedo version of the Kate was to attack the battleship row first, allowing the direct assault on the slow-moving ships to begin as early as possible in the attack. The Vals were to attack a second target, the PBY aircraft array on Ford Island to eliminate the possibility of these long-range search and report aircraft discovering the retreating Japanese fleet. The Vals also targeted the long-range bombers and all other aircraft and hangars for the same reason. The third attack mission consisted of Kates, with high-altitude armor-piercing bombs, targeting the battleships on the relatively protected inner mooring of the double row of ships on Battleship Row.

A Zeke (left) and Kate (right) taking off from an Imperial Japanese Navy carrier during World War II (image via PHAM).
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Now that the Val is on site, the real work begins, our restoration team will begin to repair the Val to make it ready for display and reunite the three planes together to share the stories of Pearl Harbor. Your continued support and generous donations help us preserve items like the Val and allow us to honor those who defended our freedom to educate and inspire future generations.

Watch the video below to see the restoration team unload the Val after it arrives at the museum.

https://youtu.be/5Eu_zkdzdsQ


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeuP1Twsnl0

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 7:28 pm 
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Wow!

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PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 6:28 am 
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WOW!


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