@ Salinas, CA
September 2018
While the venerable Texan was originally built for World War II pilot training, this specific aircraft gained a new identity as a “Kate” replica. In 1968, this aircraft was one of the nine aircraft heavily modified to resemble Nakajima B5N “Kate” Japanese torpedo bombers for the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora! These were the most complex replicas because they required grafting the front of a T-6 to the tail of a BT-13 and adding a 3-foot fuselage extension to achieve the correct elongated look.
With no airworthy Japanese combat aircraft available at the time, 20th Century Fox spent approximately $1 million (1968) to build a fleet of “Kates,” “Vals,” and “Zeros” from American trainers. One Kate and one Val were lost in crashes during filming in Hawaii. In 1972, six of these replicas (4 Zeros, one Val, and one Kate) were donated to the Commemorative Air Force. This example can be found at the Rowland Freedom Center in Vacaville, CA.
