Best Naval Fighter

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There have been some records for the Shiden posted earlier in this thread.

I am aware that class status and rank played a clear part in the advancement of Japanese pilots. Nevertheless, the key unit operating the Shiden was the 343rd Kokutai and it was not without reason that they were called the "Squadron of Experts." They were the very best pilots left to the IJN, including men like Sakai and Nishizawa.
 
You are right, that was the best of what they had left. But really, after Midway and the Marianas there was not much left in terms of quality IJN pilots. Asside from a handful of real "experts" the rest of the pilots in that squadron were really just those who'd been lucky enough to survive. Remember, at this point Sakai only had one eye and other injuries, and if it were not for the severe shortage of qualified pilots, would not even have been considered for such a unit.

=S=

Lunatic
 
GermansRGeniuses said:
I heard that kamikazes had a toll on qualified pilots, too...

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Even Sabaru Sakai was sent on a Kamakazi mission. He failed to locate a target in the fog and had to ditch (or maybe he was just smart and imagined the fog 8) )

=S=

Lunatic
 
Nonskimmer said:
I thought the Kamikazi were sealed in their cockpits. Not always the case?
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I don't think it was even usually the case. As far as I know, only the Baka bombs (jet powered, dropped from a Betty) had sealed cockpits and that was to keep them cheap. The pilot got into it and the canopy was then put on and screwed down, it had no hinge mechanism.

Kamakazi's were volunteers. Their was a lot of pressure to volunteer, but their were pleanty of volunteers for such missions. It was often one of those "can't say no without loosing face when your comrades are volunteering" situations for the experianced pilots, but the inexperianced ones were pure volunteers, usually just kids.

=S=

Lunatic
 
Even if it is, the transport is a pointless piece of crap. Hovercraft do the job much better.
 
plan_D said:
Even if it is, the transport is a pointless piece of crap. Hovercraft do the job much better.
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Say what? Me thinks you maybe had one to many beers this X-mas eve!



Lunatic
 
Nonskimmer said:
Or the wrong thread.
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That's what I meant... drink beer, confuse threads!

Hmmm... I think I'll go down two shots of tequila and go flying in Fighter Ace. Interesting to see how quickly my piloting skills go down as the alcohol kicks in!



Lunatic
 
Don't blame alcohol, that's just not nice. My computer threw a fit when putting it on another thread and I pressed back on to this thread without realising, then copy and pasted - thinking I was still on the other thread - and BAM...wrong thread.
 
plan_D said:
Don't blame alcohol, that's just not nice. My computer threw a fit when putting it on another thread and I pressed back on to this thread without realising, then copy and pasted - thinking I was still on the other thread - and BAM...wrong thread.
Click to expand...

LOL - I was just kiddin ya because of your signature m8!
 
I know Sakai considered a suicide attack on the mission he was wounded. He initially believed he was as good as dead and did not want his death to be meaningless. As I understand it, a lot of the Kamikaze pilots felt that way. They were certain they would die eventually. If you die slamming into a carrier you are just as dead as if a Hellcat had flamed you but your death hurt the enemy a lot more.
 

Once the VT proximity fuse came into service in late 1943, the massive increase in the number of 40mm Bofors installed on US warships, along with better US fighters and their numerical superiority, any dive bomber or torpedo plane attacking a major US Fleet was a suicide attack.

I cannot stress how much of an advance the VT fuse really was. It alone suprasses all the German "super weapons" in terms of impact on the war. It made air attacks against any significantly defended target virtual suicide missions - especially naval targets using large numbers of radar aimed 5" guns.

From The World's Best Battleship: The Sequel! of the Nihon Kaigun (Combinedfleet.com) website (an excellent site for IJN info):


Virtually all US warships in 1943 carried significant numbers of both 5" and 40mm Bofors AA guns, and most above the DD level had radar aiming systems. The Japanese knew this and basically felt "if you were going to die anyway you might as well make sure you inflict damage on the enemy".

=S=

Lunatic
 
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