Zero Pilot (1976)

aka's: Ôzora No Samurai/Samurai Of The Sky/大空のサムライ

Based on the memoir (released in the U.S. as Samurai) written by Japanese fighter pilot Lt. (jg) Saburo Sakai, the highest-scoring Japanese naval aviator ace of WWII. Hiroshi Fujioka stars as Lt. Sakai. Also with Akihiko Hirata and Takeo Chii.

The dogfight scenes in this film were shot using radio-controlled model planes, flying at an altitude of about 1000 meters, while the camera crew filmed the flying models from a Cessna aircraft.