Best Pacific Fighter?

[R Leonard]

Just as an aside, the funny decimal amounts are easy to explain and the P-26 scores
from the 6th FS PAF give us a prime example. Six pilots gang up on one plane and shoot
it down. They each get equal credit.

One divided by six is 0.166666666666 all the way to the horizon and over.

You could make it come out even if four of the six were awarded 0.167 and two awarded
0.166, but that would not be equal credit. If all were awarded 0.167, then the result is six
pilots shooting something more than one airplane (1.002), thus getting credit for
something they did not really do. In the eyes of the bean counters, less is better. Credits
are then spread equally, no one gets more than anyone else. 0.996 of an airplane is a little
more believable than .002 as a credit.

Regards,

Rich

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

that's kinda strange??

 

[wmaxt]

Rich,
Thanks for the breakdown. There are some minor variations (you cant shoot down .994 of an aircraft), but this seems a very detailed accounting. I will concede the point about the P-38 in lack of any verifiable numbers to contradict the ones posted.

I accepted the fact that the number cannot be becked up at this point in time, long ago However Do you cease to exist if your birth certificate gets burned? Rich I accept the numbers DON'T jive however you as a student of history should know there are times where the records and the facts don't add up! I'm just not willing to keep arguring about it, youve done a great job with what's available but available is the operative word.

 

[Mosin]

I know its probably me but I am loyal to the P-40 WARHAWK. I guess the fact that it served early and late and good at all times( although the mitsubishi had better maneuverability).
Good armor,speed,and range(later)and gunnery.

 

[MP-Willow]

Mosen, yes the P-40 was very good and could hold its own in the air, as long as the pilot could understand how to fly it to it's better points.

Envenglider, I was thinking of the P-26 and also the P-40 as I was watching Tora Tora Tora in the rain this Monday. That is just a good film I cringed as the P-40s were shot up on the runway as the brave pilots tried to get in the air. Then cheared when a few were able to make it up. I know it is not a lot of victories but the kills they got must have been really hard. Also there are some great shots of PBYs sadly also being shot up.

Any one elts coment on this film?

 

[evangilder]

Definitely a better Pearl Harbor film than the move "Pearl Harbor"! There are a few errors in Tora though. The scene where the Japanese are flying over the island and you see the big cross on the hill. That cross was erected in the 1950s! Oops. There is also a quick pan shot of people running where you can see the Arizona memorial in the background. But I shouldn't deflect the fact that the movie is very good. I own a copy on DVD myself.

 

[Anonymous]

Definitely a better Pearl Harbor film than the move "Pearl Harbor"! There are a few errors in Tora though. The scene where the Japanese are flying over the island and you see the big cross on the hill. That cross was erected in the 1950s! Oops. There is also a quick pan shot of people running where you can see the Arizona memorial in the background. But I shouldn't deflect the fact that the movie is very good. I own a copy on DVD myself.

Um.. in those days there were no digital effects. There was no way to remove that cross or the Arizona memorial. And no way to dumy up a decent fake PH either!

=S=

Lunatic

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

but peal harbour (the film of that name) absolutely sucked..........

 

[evangilder]

I agree, RG, but the angle of the shot could have kept out the AZ memorial. Most people don't know the cross was put up after the war, so it's not a big deal, just something that I noticed.

 

[MP-Willow]

Evenglider, thanks for the thoughts. As for the Dreamworks film "Pearl Harbor" being bad, it was a disapointment, but it got people to remember the battle and that is ipmortant.

With the Cross in Tora, that I did not know was a post war, and for the Memorial, I think I missed it or the shot went past to fast for me. But that film I think shows the conflict in the Japonease navy better and Yamamoto's fear that he will lose the war.

 

[Anonymous]

Yamamoto had been educated in the USA, and therefore had spent a considerable time here. Unlike the other Japanese leadership, he had a very good idea of the way American's think and also its size and industrial power.

=S=

Lunatic

 

[evangilder]

I agree, Willow, it is important for people to remember but I expected better out of Dreamworks for historical accuracy. I think Yamamoto was very apprehensive at starting a war with the US. He was the only one who had actually been to the US, as you said RG and knew that if we needed to, we could crank up our industrial output.

 

[Anonymous]

Just off memory, IIRC, the US economy was seven times the size of the Japanese economy in the 1938-39 fiscal year. And the Japanese economy was on a war footing, the US economy was just barely comming out of the depression.

=S=

Lunatic

 

[MP-Willow]

Evenglider, true Dreamworks dose normaly do a betterjob of histroy, but then they also had to make some exceptions for being hollywood as well. I did realy like the way that the navey nurses were shown. That job must have been hell to take care or or try the, all the burn kids and covvered in oil.

 

[DAVIDICUS]

Too bad the poll left out the P-47N Thunderbolt.

 

[cheddar cheese]

That was my bad. Want me to add it?

 

[Glider]

If the P47N is to be included then it seems to me that the Ki100 should also be given a chance. Most people will also agree that the Ki84 was a very good fighter capable of giving any American fighter a hard time and should also be included.
Out of the 2 my vote would be for the Ki100. I know that on paper it doesn't look as good but the Pilots always say that the 100 was the best Army fighter and who am I to disagree with the people who's lives were on the line.
I don't know how the Ki43 got put on the list. It was very slow. very poorly armed, very weak and couldn't dive for anything. All it had was agility. A CR42 would have had a fighting chance against one.
A great fighter needs to have a balance and this isn't it.

 

[lesofprimus]

Hmmm.... I think one of the criteria is that the plane has some operational usage in theatre.. The 100 and the 47N did not really have the "Time on Station" to be included in this poll.......

I also agree the -43 and the -40 should not have been included, but it was CC's poll, so he's the man.... I also think that the Zero getting more votes than the Shiden Kai is a joke, but agree with the rest of the poll voting.......

 

[MP-Willow]

The P-47N did have "tiime on station" from Sipain or earlier to theend of the war. it was created for the Pacific. But maybe I am a little jadded for it.
The ki-100 was not in the numbers. I think part of the poll was for operations.

 

[HealzDevo]

I say P-38 Lightning which was a good fighter with long range and ability. It was even captured in small numbers by the Germans, who evaluated it. If WW2 had gone on longer I think the fighters and bombers in both theatres would have standardised a bit more than they were at 1945.