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some changes were made to the Hellcat design after the potential of the Zero was revealed. I dont know what those changes were, or how significant they were, but my book on the Hellcat at home will probably give some further details..
If the Japanese could make light carrier aircraft then why couldnt the Americans who made a big fuss of their robustness.
Um, let me take a wild guess. Because in lieu of that we opted to make a bombing-fighting aircraft that out-slugged anything the Japanese had in the skies at the time at an unprecedented victory rate of 19:1 and that could take a licking and make it back to the carrier still ticking, and we kind of figured, how shall I say, that was good enough?If the Japanese could make light carrier aircraft then why couldnt the Americans who made a big fuss of their robustness.
Um, let me take a wild guess. Because in lieu of that we opted to make a bombing-fighting aircraft that out-slugged anything the Japanese had in the skies at the time at an unprecedented victory rate of 19:1 and that could take a licking and make it back to the carrier still ticking, and we kind of figured, how shall I say, that was good enough?
Well, now, that's a step in the right direction, a statement I can agree with. Let the record reflect this is what you were confused about:How shall I say...your missing the point. The Zero in its heyday....let me take a wild guess...was good enough too. And slugged any western fighter in the skies at the time. So I guess the Japanese kind of had it figured too.
You'll permit me to add by the time we entered the War the Hellcat was well-past the concept stage and we knew it could take anything the Japanese had. All we needed was to give Grumman the green light.If the Japanese could make light carrier aircraft then why couldnt the Americans who made a big fuss of their robustness.
Moreover, whilst piloted by a competent pilot, the Zero was very competitive
Yeah, I've heard that one, before, the "pilot inexperience." The way some of you boys make it sound the Japanese pilots by the middle of 1943 were lucky they could take off and touch down on three wheels. Sorry, not buying it. Not any of it.Even that is not quite correct. USN did not enter the war "knowing the hellcat was better than anything else". Lack of intell was a major problem for the US at that stage.
For the middle part of the war the Grumman was decisive, because it was intelligently used . Against the Zero it never achieved a 19:1 kill ratio. Against all aircraft types, maybe, but not against the Zero solely. this number is therefore very misleading in the context of this thread .
Later on, it was not aircraft quality that was the issue, it was pilot quality. Against George, or a Jack or Ki100 or Frank, its very hard to argue the superiority of the hellcat. What had happened though was a twofold effect....the US by that stage was vastly bigger in numbers, and the experience of the average pilot far exceeded that of the japanese. The US had a far better training program, that featured rotation of personnel, and this meant that long term they evolved a force structure with great depth of experience. The Japanese, with only 1300 frontline aircraft at the beginning of the war, never had the luxury of depth, and never had the ability to rotate or train crews and create depth. Once the good pilots were gone, it was all over. Moreover, whilst piloted by a competent pilot, the Zero was very competitive, as sakais accounts clearly demonstrate. Put a rookie pilot in a Zero against a Hellcat with a good pilot , and he was toast usually.
If you were to put put two pilots of equal quality one into a zero and one into a Hellcat, it would, in my estimation be a very close call. Put two pilots of equal quality, one in a George and one in a Hellcat, and the George would have the advantage.
The Hellcat was a great aircraft, but arrogantly dismissing its opposition not only disrespects the opposition, it also cheapens the achievements of this great aircraft as well.
Yeah, I've heard that one, before, the "pilot inexperience." The way some of you boys make it sound the Japanese pilots by the middle of 1943 were lucky they could take off and touch down on three wheels. Sorry, not buying it. Not any of it.
Yeah, I've heard that one, before, the "pilot inexperience." The way some of you boys make it sound the Japanese pilots by the middle of 1943 were lucky they could take off and touch down on three wheels. Sorry, not buying it. Not any of it.
That's because we kept shooting them down.Sure, the japanese had experienced pilots through to the end of the war, just fewer and fewer of them.