Grummans versus Zeroes

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saltlakespitfire said:
AS u said those grumman cats were tough little birds indeed. But I wonder why the Japanese did not upgrade the Zero. Even after Combat lessons they should have realised it needed self-sealing tanks.
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If I recall correctly there were certain factors influencing the decision to not give the A6M2 a major upgrade or replace it outright. It would have caused delays in the production cycle, which the Japanese were not eager to suffer - considering the tremendous capability of American industry. A major overhaul would have required a much more powerful engine than the 925-940hp Sakae 12... even much more than the more powerful 1130hp Sakae 21/31. All the weight packed on the the bird marginalized its strongest advantages, maneuverability and range.
 
Me, too, Matt - spend more time being an aviator and less time monitoring systems!
Short checklist turning base like "Prop forward, boost on, hook down, gear down, flaps down, canopy open"...
I would like the 'canopy open' part best, even in winter...
 
saltlakespitfire said:
Well then why not develope higher powered engines?
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The Japanese suffered from a lack of technical and engineering personell.

They were always 2-3 years behind the US, UK and Germans in radial engine technology.

You could sum up their capabilities like this..."build what you have, and suffer new engine development, or develope new engines and suffer in production."
 

There's something more primordial about that era... something that current aviation has seemed to let slip away. I just want some Class G airspace and a nice recip prop A/C - then I can at least pretend it's 1936!
 
While certainly acknowledging the superiority of the F6F, my father always maintained that the F4F was the more fun to fly of the two . . . once you cranked up the wheels.

Rich
 
mkloby said:
There's something more primordial about that era... something that current aviation has seemed to let slip away. I just want some Class G airspace and a nice recip prop A/C - then I can at least pretend it's 1936!
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Yeah but when a unpredicted fog moves in, it would certainly be nice to have a GPS and an ILS. The Navy lost an entire flight of trainers at Cory Field long time ago when a fog move in.
 
davparlr said:
Yeah but when a unpredicted fog moves in, it would certainly be nice to have a GPS and an ILS. The Navy lost an entire flight of trainers at Cory Field long time ago when a fog move in.
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I haven't got to play w/ ILS yet... we'll be shooting plenty though in the TC-12...
 
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