The ownership of
private warbirds has always been a thorny issue in Canada. In this case, it
became police department policy!
An avid WWII
Japanese naval modeller and hysterical...err...HISTORICAL researcher, Officer C.
Preston was able to purchase an intact and WW II Mitsubish A6M5 Zero at a
government assets auction. Realising there was a grey area in
departmental policy of "Personal Aircraft Usage", he was able to
operate it without restrictions as long as it was on police department time and
business. His flights went unnoticed by the "brass" until one hot
February day, when a barge loaded with explosives was being towed toward the
world famous "Undersea Gardens" by a group of disgruntled pot growers.
In a display of amazing aerobatic skill, Officer Preston was able to shoot
the tow rope off the tug during an inverted outside loop passing UNDER the Bay
Street Bridge! Surface units safely removed the explosives and arrested the
malcontents, but Officer Preston was faced with weeks of paperwork for
discharging excessive amounts of ammunition inside city limits!
The Victoria Police
was forced to adopt a "Zero Tolerance" policy to avoid serious federal
legal action, and as a result, the A6M5 got the paint finish as seen here. Light
bars were installed in the leading edges of the wing (cowl guns being retained)
and a siren was placed inside the engine cowling. The Zero and the now
"Flight Officer" Preston went on to a very successful career in Armed
Aerial Law Enforcement, including the famous shoot down of an Me-262 flown by a
local pothead!
Click on
images below to see larger images
Kits used was the
older 1/48 Tamiya A6M5 Zero. The decals were from JBOT (I think) and are 1/24
Victoria Police Markings. The tail number actually matches the real Mr.
Prestons' patrol car number. The leading edge lights were made from tubes of
clear plastic found on some paintbrushes as protective covers, painted clear
red/blue and metal coloured spacings.
Alvis
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