KI-43 ?

[GregP]

I worked on an A6M-5. Many places where an American plane had .040" skins, it had .032" skins. Places where we had .032" skins, the Zero had .025" skins. It IS quite light, but it also has enough structural strength to have an identical failure point (12 g). It won't tolerate as much battle damage before something fails but, when it is undamaged, it is as strong as it needs to be.

 

[MiTasol]

Same applies on Spitfire.

 

[nuuumannn]

It goes back to the war when all the allied aircrew were told that the Japanese were myopic and their aircraft flimsy etc.

That's right, a policy based on racial prejudices, but in modern times the "race" element has (thankfully) been ditched and the hangover of the rest has continued, simply though a lack of information and a desire not to see the situation any other way.

 

[nuuumannn]

It won't tolerate as much battle damage before something fails but, when it is undamaged, it is as strong as it needs to be.

Same as any aircraft, really. You go punching a hole in any stressed skin structure and it weakens it considerably regardless of the metal gauge. The Zero was built like that for a reason and it did what it was supposed to do, and then some. The Zero was designed specifically to a difficult specification and that they achieved it by adopting the measures they did is remarkable.

 

[MiTasol]

That's right, a policy based on racial prejudices, but in modern times the "race" element has (thankfully) been ditched and the hangover of the rest has continued, simply though a lack of information and a desire not to see the situation any other way.

My dad was very tolerant but he massively disliked Japanese. He said it was 100% a result of the brainwashing they got during air force training. My brother in law is Japanese and a great guy but dad was always reserved with him even tho he owed his life to Japanese soldiers in WW2.

 

[GrauGeist]

My Uncle Earl (as with the rest of my family) was not opposed to any race or culture, but he had an extreme dislike of the Japanese that started when his Destroyer was sunk during a night battle in the Solomons.
He didn't go out of his way to show his dislike, like when he met my (then) girlfriend who was half Hawaiian and half Japanese, he was pleasant and accommodating. But he and my Uncle Fred (his older brother) had an ingrained dislike of the nation, which I beleive was born through their hardships experienced during the war in the Pacific.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

The war in the Pacific was on both sides informed by racial stereotypes. Applying our modern understanding of race relations to that era is some serious hindsight.

 

[GrauGeist]

My stepdad was also impartial to race, except for anything Chinese.
He hated anything Chinese and his absolute contempt for them stemmed from his experience at Chosin during the Korean war.

So many times, it's not following a narrative, but rather a personal situation that colors a person's point of view.

 

[nuuumannn]

It was a very generational thing ingrained within society and existed everywhere. My dad was quite racist despite marrying a woman who was half native New Zealander.

When I lived in London I used to frequent a pub and this lovely girl used to go there too, so we got chatting one day and it turned out her grandfather fought in the CBI theatre. She and her mother, whom I met both held a deep seated hatred for the Japanese. When I said that I liked the Japanese people and had been to Japan, well, that immediately ended what might have been a beautiful relationship...

 

[MiTasol]

My stepdad was also impartial to race, except for anything Chinese.
He hated anything Chinese and his absolute contempt for them stemmed from his experience at Chosin during the Korean war.

So many times, it's not following a narrative, but rather a personal situation that colors a person's point of view.

I agree. I have a number of Chinese friends in PNG who are great people but who are all long term residents (one family fifth generation) or there by choice as shop owners.

When a Chinese firm took over the Ramu nickle mine they bought in over 3000 "new Chinese".

Almost without fail (totally without fail in my personal experience) these people are ignorant ill mannered a***holes who hold everyone else in contempt and treat the vast majority of the nationals worse than animals - for example they had toilets for themselves but for a long while the national staff were expected to go into the bush to relieve themselves. The politicians they bribe so they get what they want. More than once our pilots have wanted to leave them behind or throw them out a door in flight.

There was a really good Chinese restaurant we very regularly went to and the new bunch demanded many of the decorations be changed and ruined the place for everyone else by talking very loudly, chain smoking foul cigarettes and every few minutes standing up yelling (slogans? cheers? toasts?) and repeatedly banging their beer bottles on the tables. Within weeks all civilized people only got take-away food until the club next door made a deal that club members could dine in the club on food purchased from the restaurant.

If I did not know the other Chinese it would have been very easy to conclude all Chinese are like these scum.

 

[cherry blossom]

An interesting read on attitudes over 1941-5 is "War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War" by John W. Dower Amazon product ASIN 0394751728.

 

[GregP]

Same as any aircraft, really. You go punching a hole in any stressed skin structure and it weakens it considerably regardless of the metal gauge. The Zero was built like that for a reason and it did what it was supposed to do, and then some. The Zero was designed specifically to a difficult specification and that they achieved it by adopting the measures they did is remarkable.

Hi Nuuumannn. People tend to forget the reason it was built as it was built. The real reason was simple.

Jiro Horikoshi was asked to design a Naval fighter with the performance of a western 1,500 hp fighter using an engine with only about 900 hp (880, actually, in early form). To do that, he had to eliminate weight on a rather extreme basis, shaving out ounces and pounds wherever he could do it. He succeeded admirably, and it DID have good performance, but it rather necessarily had some nice-to-have items missing.

The Sakae engine was a good one and was dead reliable, but it never DID get more than about 1,180 hp in production form. A bigger airframe, or at minimum a bigger fuselage, was required for a bigger radial when they built both the A7M Reppu and the J2M Raiden.

 

[nuuumannn]

Jiro Horikoshi was asked to design a Naval fighter with the performance of a western 1,500 hp fighter using an engine with only about 900 hp (880, actually, in early form). To do that, he had to eliminate weight on a rather extreme basis, shaving out ounces and pounds wherever he could do it. He succeeded admirably, and it DID have good performance, but it rather necessarily had some nice-to-have items missing.

The Sakae engine was a good one and was dead reliable, but it never DID get more than about 1,180 hp in production form. A bigger airframe, or at minimum a bigger fuselage, was required for a bigger radial when they built both the A7M Reppu and the J2M Raiden.

That was of course all done, as I mentioned, to fulfil the requirements of the official specification, which Nakajima withdrew from doing so because the firm thought it impossible. some stats from the Wiki page on the Zero:

"the IJN sent out updated requirements in October calling for a speed of 270 kn (310 mph; 500 km/h) at 4,000 m (13,000 ft) and a climb to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 9.5 minutes. With drop tanks, it wanted an endurance of two hours at normal power, or six to eight hours at economical cruising speed. Armament was to consist of two 20 mm cannons, two 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine guns and two 60 kg (130 lb) bombs. A complete radio set was to be mounted in all aircraft, along with a radio direction finder for long-range navigation.[9]​ The maneuverability was to be at least equal to that of the A5M, while the wingspan had to be less than 12 m (39 ft) to allow for use on aircraft carriers."

Linked within the wiki page, this info comes from Rene Francillion's Putnam book on Japanese Aircraft of WW2.

It's worth noting that Horikoshi did not want to use the Sakae to start with as it was a competitor's engine and preferred the smaller and less powerful Zuisei. It was subsequent to various issues that the Sakae was fitted, as was a three-bladed Sumitomo prop replacing the two bladed counter weight prop owing to vibration issues.

 

[GrauGeist]

However, in a twist of irony, Hideo Itokawa managed to create a fighter for Nakajima that was very close to the IJN's specs!

 

[slaterat]

Nakajima's Fragile Falcon

After overcoming some teething troubles, the Japanese army’s nimble Ki-43 Hayabusa went on to claim more Allied aircraft than the navy’s vaunted Zero. By

www.historynet.com

 

[Escuadrilla Azul]

Nakajima's Fragile Falcon

After overcoming some teething troubles, the Japanese army’s nimble Ki-43 Hayabusa went on to claim more Allied aircraft than the navy’s vaunted Zero. By

www.historynet.com

The early Ki-43 problems with the airframe weren't unique. The earlier Bf 109F and Hawker Typhoon had structural problems in the tail units, leading to several losses and the need to reinforce that area.

 

[Cripss_Sidmeyer]

A Japanese book which contains manual about Ki-43-I,II,IIIa. But the Ki-43-IIIb data is vague, it's hard to find accurate data about Ki-43-IIIb.

 

[Cripss_Sidmeyer]

In many history documents, authors usually call Ki-43-Ia/b/c(一式戦闘機一型甲/乙丙); Ki-43-IIa/b(一式戦闘機二型甲/乙), Ki-43-II-kai(一式戦闘機二型改)
While I read some books about the classification. the Ki-43-II may have two overall category: Ki-43-II early stage(一式戦闘機前期) or Ki-43-II late stage(一式戦闘機後期).

#Ki-43-II early stage also have two types:
Ki-43-II early-phase I(一式戦闘機前期前型). Phase I use a small oil radiator under cowling and an annular oil radiator on the engine. Ki-43-I also use the annular radiator.
Ki-43-II early-phase II(一式戦闘機前期後型). Phase II cancel the annular radiator, while the oil radiator under cowling is enlarged. The muzzle fairing is changed.

#Ki-43-II late stage still have two types:
Ki-43-II late-phase I(一式戦闘機後期前型). Phase I change the cowling appearance, while the muzzle fairing is changed again. Structure behind the exhaust pipe is changed.
Ki-43-II late-phase II(一式戦闘機後期後型). Phase II change the exhaust pipe of late-phase I, and the muzzle fairing is changed and again.

 

[Cripss_Sidmeyer]

There are some pictures of different types about Ki-43-II