CAF Centex Wing's TORA TORA TORA movie star still flying.

CAF Centex Wing's own movie star, the plane that played a torpedo bomber "B5M Kate" in epic "TORA TORA TORA" is still flying. Come see it!

Our replica as it appeared in the Film. See movie trailer below.

From an AT-6 to a Mitsubishi "Kate."

The KATE replica was originally build for the movie Tora, Tora, Tora. The plane was built from a Harvard airframe (AT-6) but was highly modified to make it a three place cockpit, extended the nose cowl but most significantly the tail was removed and a BT-13 tail was put on the aircraft to make it more resemble the B5M KATE.  This aircraft was purchased by the CAF after the movie was made and the aircraft was used in Tora, Tora, Tora  performances around the US.  The plane was also used in the movie Pearl Harbor.

Japanese fleet from the movie.

The "Zeros," were AT-6's, the dive bombers, "Vals," were BT-13's, and the torpedo- and level bombers, "Kates," consisted of AT-6 fronts and wings and BT-13 tails. 

Many of replica Japanese aircraft are today owned by members of the Commemorative Air Force, an organization that specializes in aircraft and history preservation along with flying re-enactments and air shows.

Tora! Tora! Tora! (Japanese: トラ・トラ・トラ) is a 1970 American-Japanese war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and stars an ensemble cast, including Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, Sō Yamamura, E.G. Marshall, James Whitmore and Jason Robards. The film uses Isoroku Yamamoto's famous quote, saying the attacks would only serve to "... awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve", although it may have been apocryphal. The title is the Japanese code-word used to indicate that complete surprise was achieved. These words (Tora! Tora! Tora! ) literally mean "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger". But in this case were used as a short coded message in Japanese stating togeki-raigeki　闘 撃　雷撃　(Attack-torpedo attack), thus to-ra, to-ra, to-ra.

The flying scenes were complex to shoot, and can be compared to the 1969 film Battle of Britain. The 2001 film Pearl Harbor would contain cut scenes from both films.

The carrier entering Pearl Harbor towards the end of the film was in fact the Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LPH-10), returning to port. The "Japanese" aircraft carrier was the anti-submarine carrier USS Yorktown (CVS-10). The Japanese A6M Zero fighters, and somewhat longer "Kate" torpedo bombers or "Val" dive bombers were heavily modified RCAF Harvard (T-6 Texan) and BT-13 Valiant pilot training aircraft. The large fleet of Japanese aircraft was created by Lynn Garrison, a well-known aerial action coordinator, who produced a number of conversions. Garrison and Jack Canary coordinated the actual engineering work at facilities in the Los Angeles area. These aircraft still make appearances at air shows.

A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress’s actual crash landing during filming, a result of a jammed landing gear, was filmed and used in the final cut. A total of five Boeing B-17s were obtained for filming. Other U.S. aircraft used are the Consolidated PBY Catalina and, especially, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (two flyable examples were used). Predominately, P-40 fighters are used to depict the U.S. defenders with a full-scale P-40 used as a template for fiberglass replicas (some with working engines and props) that were strafed and blown up during filming.[16] Fleischer also said a scene involving a P-40 model crashing into the middle of a line of P-40s was unintended, as it was supposed to crash at the end of the line. The stuntmen involved in the scene were actually running for their lives.
Trailer from the 1970 movie:

Tora Tora Tora of the Commemorative Air Force at EAA Airventure

The North American Aviation T-6 Texan

Original aircraft were AT-6 Texans.

The North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s. Designed by North American Aviation, the T-6 is known by a variety of designations depending on the model and operating air force. The USAAC and USAAF designated it as the AT-6, the United States Navy the SNJ, and British Commonwealth air forces, the Harvard, the name it is best known by outside of the US. After 1962, US forces designated it the T-6. It remains a popular warbird aircraft used for airshow demonstrations and static displays.

Comparisons between the two planes.

AT-6 Texan General characteristics

• Crew: two (student and instructor)
• Length: 29 ft (8.84 m)
• Wingspan: 42 ft (12.81 m)
• Height: 11 ft 8 in (3.57 m)
• Wing area: 253.7 ft² (23.6 m²)
• Empty weight: 4,158 lb (1,886 kg)
• Loaded weight: 5,617 lb (2,548 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 Wasp radial engine, 600 hp (450 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 208 mph at 5,000 ft (335 km/h at 1,500 m)
• Cruise speed: 145 mph (233 km/h)
• Range: 730 miles (1,175 km)
• Service ceiling: 24,200 ft (7,400 m)
• Rate of climb: 1200ft/min (6.1 m/s)
• Wing loading: 22.2 lb/ft² (108 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb (kW/kg)

Armament

• Provision for up to 3× 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun

Mitsubishi B5M "Kate", General characteristics.

• Crew: 3
• Length: 10.23 m (33 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: 15.3 m (50 ft 2 in)
• Height: 4.32 m (14 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 37.95 m² ()
• Max. takeoff weight: 4,000 kg (8,819 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × 1 × Mitsubishi Kinsei 43, 746 kW (1,000 hp)

For More in formation on The Central Texas Wing of The Commemorative Air Force 

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