- Thread starter
- #301
Lightning Guy
Master Sergeant
- 2,511
- Apr 29, 2004
You have to consider somethings about theses incidents.
Fact: the quality of the Japanese pilots had dropped incredibly by 1945. Thus, Allied pilots were often caught off guard when they did encounter good Japanese pilots.
Fact: the quality of the average American pilot had probably degraded some as the average American pilot was getting fewer chances to hone his skills.
There are several possible reasons why the Americans might not have avoided combat. They probably (as noted) underestimated the quality of the Japanese pilots. The circumstances of their missions may have prevented it. Note that several of these incidents involved VBF or VMF squadrons which were most likely flying stikre missions. The Corsairs may have been bounced. And the numerical superiority of the Shidens may have limited their ability to avoid combat (properly deployed they had the numbers to literally surround the Corsairs).
My point about the damaged Corsairs was this: it has been said that the 4 20mm cannons of the Shiden would totally rip a Corsair apart. Clearly this is not true. As far as single-engined fighters go, only the P-47 challenged the durability of the Corsair. It seems to me that the Corsair was less vulnerable to the 4 20mm of the Shiden than the Shiden was to the 6 .50cals of the Corsair.
Fact: the quality of the Japanese pilots had dropped incredibly by 1945. Thus, Allied pilots were often caught off guard when they did encounter good Japanese pilots.
Fact: the quality of the average American pilot had probably degraded some as the average American pilot was getting fewer chances to hone his skills.
There are several possible reasons why the Americans might not have avoided combat. They probably (as noted) underestimated the quality of the Japanese pilots. The circumstances of their missions may have prevented it. Note that several of these incidents involved VBF or VMF squadrons which were most likely flying stikre missions. The Corsairs may have been bounced. And the numerical superiority of the Shidens may have limited their ability to avoid combat (properly deployed they had the numbers to literally surround the Corsairs).
My point about the damaged Corsairs was this: it has been said that the 4 20mm cannons of the Shiden would totally rip a Corsair apart. Clearly this is not true. As far as single-engined fighters go, only the P-47 challenged the durability of the Corsair. It seems to me that the Corsair was less vulnerable to the 4 20mm of the Shiden than the Shiden was to the 6 .50cals of the Corsair.