N7757 is probably best described as a “Movie Star“.  She owes her existence to the 20th Century Fox movie company who in 1968 needed Japanese airplanes for the filming of their epic film, Tora! Tora! Tora!, which portrays events leading to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941.

 

One of the most significant aircraft in the Japanese Navy was the A6M2 “Zero“, also known as a “Zeke”, a fighter aircraft whose performance was so superior to anything in the United States inventory, and perhaps the world, that the Japanese Empire was confident they could control the entire Pacific with their air superiority.  While over 10,000 Zeros were produced, their losses during the war, and the requirement included in the Japanese Surrender Agreement signed in August 1945 that all of Japan’s offensive weapons be destroyed, made unavailable any authentic Japanese war planes for documentary and film production.

 

20th Century Fox commissioned to have readily available American warbirds converted to closely resemble those of the Japanese Navy.  N7757 started life as a Harvard Mark IV, a Canadian version of the venerable North American T-6 advanced trainer.  The attention to detail in the conversion to an A6M2-21 Zero included the addition of 7.7mm machine guns over the engine cowl, a 20mm canon on each wing, and a cockpit canopy modified to the specifications of the original Zero.  Even the detail of adding the three bladed prop, a tail arresting hook and converting the formerly fixed tail wheel to a fully functional retractable tail wheel were accomplished.  The final product so closely resembles the Japanese Zero of WWII, in both size and form, only a trained eye can tell the difference.

 

In addition to the film Tora! Tora! Tora!, N7757 also appears in the films Midway  and War and Remembrance, and all episodes of the TV series, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.  Television and video documentary appearances include Yesterday’s Warbirds Today, and the Japanese feature production, "Zero".  Until 2004, N7757 remained in California performing her “movie/TV star” duties, appearing at air shows and as part of a flying WWII museum.  The Zero also appeared in the 2006 History Channel presentation of the documentary "Days that Shook the World".  It was also the cover photo on the 2nd July Issue of Trade-A-Plane.  Purchased in 2004 by retired air line Captain, S. J. “Jack” Van Ness, and equipped with a new engine, N7757 is now on display at the Commemorative Air Force Dixie Wing Hangar/Museum at Falcon Field in Peachtree City, Georgia, and is available for air shows and film production. 

Capt. S. J. “Jack” Van Ness, Jr.’s aviation background includes having been a flight instructor, corporate pilot and airline pilot, whose experience includes flying the Lockheed PV1 Super Ventura, Howard 500, Lockheed Constellation, Douglas DC7, Lockheed L188 Electra, Douglas DC8, Douglas DC9, Boeing 727, Boeing 757, Lockheed L1011, Airbus A300, as well as many light aircraft.

 

Jack and his wife, Barbara, reside near Atlanta, GA and are active Colonels in the Dixie Wing of the Commemorative Air Force.  He is a flying sponsor of the Dixie Wing P-51 Mustang and Korean War LT-6 aircraft.  While his formal education is in Aerospace Technology and Business, he enjoys flying in air shows and discussing some of the history of the events of Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, and the war in the Pacific to the younger generations he meets at air shows.