rexus31
Senior Member
Far from it...
WWII birds
- Thread starter C Body Bob
- Start date
Far from it...
Man the Mitsubishi Zero although over taken in performance later in the war was THE hotrod of fighters at the beginning to the middle of WW2. Hotrod meaning simply extremely light weight to HP and increased performance, of course at the sacrifice of protection of the pilot. Like an early Hot Rod.
rexus31
Senior Member
The advent of Kamikaze missions later in the war is evidence Japan didn't put much stock in the safety of their pilots.
I would say yes and no to that one. Yes they sacrificed pilot safety but in return had an aircraft that could run circles around most anything the Americans had at the beginning of the war. Later of course the USA made better and better aircraft. When American aircraft became competitive it then exploited the lack of safety in the design of the Zero. There were also Nazi airplane suicide missions at the end of the war too.
Desperate times.
Yes it was, but by its designation, A1, it was not a "fighter." It was an Attack Plane.
Interestingly, after the A1s were withdrawn from service in Nam, the A26, which was used heavily in that war, was re-designated B26. Why? We did not want to give the world the impressing we were "attacking" anyone. Sheesh!
tbm3fan
Old Man with a Hat
That was true if you were flying against a Zero one on one in a Wildcat but not a Hellcat nor Corsair. However, once Wildcats employed the Thach Weave at Midway it became difficult for Zero pilots from then on. The biggest problem for the Zero was not the fact that there was no protection behind the pilot but that the fuel tanks were not self sealing as in the Wildcat. Another weakness was the stiffness of the flight control surfaces at high speeds combined with the fact that structural issues prevented the Zero from diving at high speeds. Ergo, if not flying the Thach Weave then a lone Wildcat should never try to out maneuver at low speeds but to keep speeds as high as possible and when needed to dive at high speed to escape. Thach Weave was used in Vietnam.
A Hellcat always had a speed advantage over a Zero at all altitudes. The Zero was superior in slow speed turns at low and medium altitudes. Maneuverability of the Zero at speeds below 200 mph was remarkable but diminished as speeds went up due to the forces on it's control surfaces. From 230 mph and up the Hellcat had the advantage. The Admiralty Staff recommendations were never dog fight with a Zero, do not follow through a loop or half roll with pull through, use your superior power and high speed to engage at the most favorable time, to evade one on your tail roll and dive away into a high speed turn
"For the first time Lt. Commander Tadashi Nakajima encountered what was to become a famous double-team maneuver on the part of the enemy. Two Wildcats jumped on the commander's plane. He had no trouble in getting on the tail of an enemy fighter, but never had a chance to fire before the Grumman's team-mate roared at him from the side. Nakajima was raging when he got back to Rabaul; he had been forced to dive and run for safety."
Last edited:
Also I believe the engine through the war for the Zero did not improve at the rate of American designs. They were very good at the beginning but the rapid improvements of the US out classed the Zero design in other areas the Zero couldn't compete in.
Still it was a great airplane that downed many American aircraft.
Still it was a great airplane that downed many American aircraft.
tbm3fan
Old Man with a Hat
Click on the pdf file and scroll down to page 6 for the start of the story. I've known Willie for almost a decade as he has been on the Hornet as a Docent showing the F-8 cockpit. I haven't seen him in the last year due to health issues so I hope for the best as he is about 76 years old.
https://pacificcoastairmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2015-December-Straight-Scoop.pdf
Last edited:
A B 17 bomber owned by the Collings foundation crashed last week at Bradley international airport, pilot had reported a problem with the #4 engine and was trying to make an emergency landing. 13 people on board 7 killed, I did a walk through on this plane when it was at the Worcester airport a few weeks before.
Very sad news. One engine out but there are 4 . You would think it could have made it back. I believe the report was the engine nearest to the copilot went out.
That in itself I wouldn't think would bring the plane down. I think there must have been more mechanical problems as a result of the engine going out, like damaged control surface linkage etc. And or pilot error.
I doubt it had anything near a full bomb load of weight and this aircrafts wing loading was very low. These things were box kites compared to the wing loading/power ratio now. I remember reading the a F15? I think had the wing loading equivalent to throwing a sewer cap's surface area and weight flown like a frisbie and flying fully loaded.
A 17 can land on one engine; my Great Uncle did it in 1944. BUT!!! He was trained to fly them; he wasn't an enthusiast in his favorite aircraft.
Similar threads
