Holtzauge
Airman 1st Class
Attached below are some figures from a paper that can be downloaded from my website, and which compares the flight performance of the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero and the Curtiss P-40E Warhawk.
The paper mostly confirms what is today regarded as common knowledge, i.e. that the Zero was the more agile fighter that climbed and turned better, while the Warhawk was faster and dived better.
However, what the paper adds to the table is that it puts actual numbers on these differences, and provides an idea about just how large or small these were at various heights and flight conditions.
In addition, while the P-40E had its official maximum performance numbers constrained by an officially sanctioned War Emergency Power limit, pilots soon discovered that this limit could be exceeded by a substantial margin with no apparent ill effects, and which meant that the Warhawk could actually climb and fly much faster than what was stated in the official flight manual, something that is also discussed in the paper.
In putting this paper together, I have of course had to make assumptions about both aircraft's basic data and also leaned on some historical sources for reference. Inevitably, there may therefore be things that could benefit by being worked over some more, and any constructive feedback is therefore most welcome.
But with all of that having been said and done, hopefully this paper will anyway bring some new insights into how these two aircraft compared in terms of flight performance.
The paper mostly confirms what is today regarded as common knowledge, i.e. that the Zero was the more agile fighter that climbed and turned better, while the Warhawk was faster and dived better.
However, what the paper adds to the table is that it puts actual numbers on these differences, and provides an idea about just how large or small these were at various heights and flight conditions.
In addition, while the P-40E had its official maximum performance numbers constrained by an officially sanctioned War Emergency Power limit, pilots soon discovered that this limit could be exceeded by a substantial margin with no apparent ill effects, and which meant that the Warhawk could actually climb and fly much faster than what was stated in the official flight manual, something that is also discussed in the paper.
In putting this paper together, I have of course had to make assumptions about both aircraft's basic data and also leaned on some historical sources for reference. Inevitably, there may therefore be things that could benefit by being worked over some more, and any constructive feedback is therefore most welcome.
But with all of that having been said and done, hopefully this paper will anyway bring some new insights into how these two aircraft compared in terms of flight performance.
