Picture of the Day - Miscellaneous (5 Viewers)

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The two aircraft were similarly made of aluminum.
 
Okay, so tell me this P-66 (top photo) does not look a lot like a Zero.

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By the looks of things and based on performance, I think it was the other way round, the Vought copied the A6M but failed to replicate its performance!

It's a tired trope based on a complete lack of appreciation for how capable the Japanese designers actually were. As Mitasol pointed out, structurally, the two aircraft were vastly different. The A6M was totally original in structural design. No Western fighter was like it. There were elements that resembled in appearance existing designs, but structurally, the combination of basic design, structural detail, how the fuselage was constructed in sections and so forth were entirely original. Can we please give Jiro Horikoshi and his team credit for the aircraft instead of holding on to old fashioned preconceptions?

The two aircraft were similarly made of aluminum.

Ah, but which type of aluminum?
 

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