Microsoft Flight Simulator | A6M5 Zero

The A6M Zero was one of the most renowned fighter aircraft of the Second World War, symbolizing both the early air dominance of Imperial Japan and the dramatic shift in air superiority as the war progressed. Introduced in 1940, the Zero embodied the Japanese military doctrine of speed, agility, and range—qualities that initially gave it a tremendous advantage over Allied aircraft in the Pacific Theater.

Our recreation is based on the A6M5 Model 52 Zero. We’ve spent countless hours of research to try and mimic the most authentic known characteristics of the aircraft, as well as to capture the feel of the aircraft as described by historical records.

We’ve aimed not to provide an ‘arcade’ version of the aircraft with fantastical performance, but one that’s rooted in factual numbers and references. Our aircraft will go ‘fast’, but it will take skill to eke out every bit of performance. It handles light and turns sharply, but the pilot must be aware of the limitations of the aircraft and the negative effect that excessive airspeed has on handling. The Zero can go really fast, or it can handle extremely well, but it can’t do both at the same time!

Control and operation of the Zero’s engine and systems are designed to be fulfilling and as authentic as possible, given that the various systems must be often interpreted from vague and incomplete historical sources.

We cannot escape the fact that our aircraft exists in a simulator grounded in the modern day. The features of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 have been leveraged to create an immersive experience, but this means that our flights are taking place in a modern environment. Your avatar is the pilot sitting in the aircraft, and any ground crew that exist is that which the simulator provides.

At the same time, we still wanted to present an aircraft that could feasibly exist in the era in which it was produced. This means that rather than to hard-mount modern radios in the cockpit, we’ve opted to include a fictional handheld transceiver for communicating with ATC.

In addition, to help preserve the historical nature of the aircraft, we’ve included operational* armaments – you can charge and fire the weapons, with the weight of the ammunition being accounted for with every round fired.