Best Naval Fighter

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Common guys. The issue was "naval" fighter - i.e. carrier plane. For that the Japanese only had one - the Zero. It had the advantage for about 6 months, then it was equal to US fighters for about 6 months, after that, it was lunch meat.

=S=

Lunatic
 
I agree RG.... The Zero was tough in the initial stages of the War, but when some decent tactics were brought into play, and the strengths and weaknesses were figured out, the Zero's command of the sky was definatly reduced...

BUT...... Thats not to say that there were some Japanese pilots that flew that plane like the wind, as their kills show quite plainly.....
 
Plus until the Hellcat and Corsair, it was tactics that stumped the Zero not the enemy aircrafts ability.
 
I think that could be said about alot of airplanes. Having the greatest plane doesn't mean squat if your pilots are poorly trained or lack good skills. The group that replaced the Flying Tigers did fairly well against the Zero with the P-40, which was inferior to the Zero in most ways.
 
True about the pilot skill but I wasn't touching on that. I was saying that the tactics, which spread throughout all units fighting the Japs, were what stumped it.
 
The Zero was always dangerous, especially when properly handled. It should be noted that, in terms of pure performance, there wasn't a whole lot to choose between the Hellcat and the A6M5.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it you that was digging that the Hellcat was better than the Zero all those weeks ago?
 
I was saying that the tactics, which spread throughout all units fighting the Japs, were what stumped it.
Click to expand...
I agree... After the initial domination, once pilots learned how the Japanese fought the Zero, and that they didnt have self-sealing tanks or armor, the tide started to turn....

America didnt try to make a more superior plane to combat the Zero, it made planes, the Hellcat and Corsair, that with tactics and cooperation, could make the most out of the Zeros weaknesses...
 
I believe the Hellcat was the better aircraft, but the A6M5 was a fairly close match in terms of speed and firepower. Mainly, I've been arguing for the F4U-4 as the best naval aircraft of the war.
 
You would have to go back a while but Plan_D was arguing for the N1K2-J (which IMO wasn't even a true naval fighter).
 
I've agreed with a lot of things...but if we agreed all the time it'd be boring...
 
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