Subdeacon Joe Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 World War Aviation Suggested for you · · Mitsubishi Zero \ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michigan Slim Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 Well, that was an hour gone! Lol. Cool stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailrider #896 Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 Before (in China) and in the early part of WWII, the Zero had the advantage over most allied fighters. It had a powerful engine, was very light and maneuverable. The light weight came at the expense of no self-sealing gas tanks and no armor protection for the pilot. In addition, the skill level of the pilots was very high. Only the best Japanese graduated from pilot training, particularly the Navy pilots. The Zero or Zeke as it was later called, could out-climb and out-turn our fighters. To dogfight with a Zero was inviting death! Fortunately, we learned quickly to utilize the best features of our fighters to counter the Zero's advantages. You didn't dogfight, if you could avoid it. You picked a target, got above it if possible, made one diving pass and got the hell out of there! As thing progressed, and the F4U Corsair and F6F Bearcat came out, and the Japanese Navy lost a lot of their best pilots, even some of the improved Zeros were no match for the Marine and U.S. Navy planes and pilots. After the Mariannas Turkey Shoot, the major threat posed by the Japanese air forces were in the form of kamikaze attacks on our ships. Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year, Pards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Ron Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Howdy, A friend of mine is doing some slow research on the original DRONE weapon. It was developed to counter the kamikaze plane bombs. Whenever he finally gets his info on a website I will post it here. When the drone was finally ready WWII ended and most of the drones were pushed into the Pacific. They werent needed but still top secret. My friend is still trying to find enough pieces to make one. He got an engine last summer. Best CR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocWard Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 On 12/30/2023 at 1:30 PM, Trailrider #896 said: Before (in China) and in the early part of WWII, the Zero had the advantage over most allied fighters. It had a powerful engine, was very light and maneuverable. The light weight came at the expense of no self-sealing gas tanks and no armor protection for the pilot. In addition, the skill level of the pilots was very high. Only the best Japanese graduated from pilot training, particularly the Navy pilots. The Zero or Zeke as it was later called, could out-climb and out-turn our fighters. To dogfight with a Zero was inviting death! Fortunately, we learned quickly to utilize the best features of our fighters to counter the Zero's advantages. You didn't dogfight, if you could avoid it. You picked a target, got above it if possible, made one diving pass and got the hell out of there! As thing progressed, and the F4U Corsair and F6F Bearcat came out, and the Japanese Navy lost a lot of their best pilots, even some of the improved Zeros were no match for the Marine and U.S. Navy planes and pilots. After the Mariannas Turkey Shoot, the major threat posed by the Japanese air forces were in the form of kamikaze attacks on our ships. Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year, Pards! Psssttt.... F6F Hellcat. Sure you knew that, accidents happen. Coincidentally, I have one on my model table I'm building at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailrider #896 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 13 hours ago, DocWard said: Psssttt.... F6F Hellcat. Sure you knew that, accidents happen. Coincidentally, I have one on my model table I'm building at the moment. Oops! Typist error. The F6F Hellcat was another great product of the "Long Island Boiler Works", aka Grumman. Used to see a bunch of them and other WWII Navy aircraft sitting inside a fence at Chicago Vocational School on the South Side, where they were used to train aircraft mechanics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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