Late War German vs Japanese Pilot Quality

[drewwizard]

I did a little look up.
There also is confusion about the Japanese aircraft the AVG fought in Burma and China. Although most people realize that many Flying Tiger victories were against Japanese bombers, they often assume that the fighters the AVG faced were the Mitsubishi A6M Zeros of the Imperial Japanese Navy. However, all Zeros had been withdrawn from China by the time the war started. The most common fighter the Flying Tigers faced was the Japanese Army Air Force Ki-27 Nate. The Nate was a half a generation behind the P-40 and the Zero. It had non-retractable wheels. Although it was supremely maneuverable, it only had two rifle-caliber machine guns and was much slower than the P-40s of the AVG.

When the Ki-27s proved far inferior to the AVG's P-40s, the Japanese deployed their new Ki-43 Hayabusa, which Americans codenamed Oscar. The Ki-43 was very similar to the Zero. It was about as fast as the Zero (and therefore still slower than the P-40), and about as maneuverable. Like the Zero and the Nate, the Oscar had two rifle-caliber machine guns. However, the Oscar lacked the Zero's two additional cannon.
I thought the Oscar was essentially an army Zero, but as above it was a similar looking and performing airplane with very poor armament.

 

[Shinpachi]

In the early stage of the Pacific War, even Japanese navy pilots misidentified the Ki-43 as enemy plane.
This was why IJA began to introduce it as "Hayabusa" to Japanese people positively.
It is no wonder even if the allied airmen had no idea about it.

 

[DarrenW]

I think this best sums up what's been discussed here regarding the attrition of the axis air forces and how it affected the outcome of the war. While the Luftwaffe was still capable of inflicting heavy losses on the allies, they simply couldn't sustain their own losses in both aircraft and pilots.

The November 1944 battles between the Luftwaffe and the US Air Force

Out of an average German fighter pilot strength of 2283 for the period, no less than 2262 were lost in the period January through May 1944. German day fighter aircraft combat losses in the West, Home Defence and the south increased each month - 143 in January 1944, 524 in February, 583 in March, 687 in April and 758 in May. The grand total is 2425.

Indeed, the losses the German fighter pilots inflicted on their enemy still was higher than the own losses. The USAAF alone recorded 4,103 aircraft losses in Europe between January and May 1944, and 2223 of these were recorded as shot down by enemy aircraft. To these losses should be added those sustained by the RAF's Mediterranean forces, plus 421 of the British fighters which operated from the UK.

However, while the Allies could sustain such large losses and still maintain their high quality, the German losses inevitably and rapidly wore down the quality of the Luftwaffe.

 

[Dimlee]

Not about the aviation in particular, but still interesting.


View: https://youtu.be/UCpq-A5bT5Y

 

[Milosh]

This might be of interest, Luftwaffe Aircraft Losses By Theatre September 1943 - October 1944

http://don-caldwell.we.bs/jg26/thtrlosses.htm

 

[GrauGeist]

We are in the 2018 we can easily called the fighter with their right name not with fantasy name

In that day and age, the A6M's reputation preceeded it and the KI-43 was often referred to as a Zero much like virtually any German armor encountered on the western front was often called a "Tiger" because of it's reputation.

In regards to the deteriorating pilot quality and limited resources available to the German flight school system, a great example would be the fateful decision by the RLM to send twin-engined trainers and school instructors to the Eastern Front to bolster the airlift at Stalingrad that was attempting to supply the encircled 6th Army.
Aside from a great many Ju52s and He111s lost by being caught on the ground or shot down, the Luftwaffe lost many of their valuable Si204s (and similar types) and experienced Instructors as well.
This caused both an interruption of current training programs as well as having long-lasting effects in their flight schools afterwards.