"Tough" Japanese fighters

[ralphwiggum]

Did theJapanese have ANY fighters that could take moderate or severe battle damage in dogfights and keep flying?
I was thinking about the "Jack" or "George" fighter but not just those two only
Thanks everyone!

 

[Marshall_Stack]

The "Tony" had armor and self-sealing tanks. It could also dive well.

 

[Catch22]

The Ki-84 Frank was the best fighter the Japanese used in numbers during the war (performance-wise), and it was on par or better than planes such as the Hellcat and gave the Corsair a tough time, though the Corsair was still a better plane.

I guess I should answer your question! It also had amour protection that was comparable to the Allied fighters of the time.

 

[kool kitty89]

The Ki-100 (radial engined Tony), N1K-J/N1K2-J "George" which was possibly the toughest, and the Ki-44 "Tojo" but I'm not sure how the protection on this one compares. Possibly the J2M "Jack" as well.

 

[ralphwiggum]

I ThOUGHT SO! I just couldn't believe that all Japanese fighter planes were as vulnerable as as a balsa wood glider!!
All the info I had on these planes never mentioned their toughness I think that when I was young, people had this idea that all Japanese fighters were Zeros and it's still believed ( in some places, not all today)
I'm glad to hear about the KI 84 "Frank" I knew it was a good plane! I didn't
know that it was comparable to a Hellcat! That's cool!
I totally forgot about the radial engine "Tony" and "Tojo" fighter Any info on their toughness?
Truly I Thank you all , I really do!
Ralph

 

[Marshall_Stack]

The Tony (Ki-61) had an in-line engine (licensed copy of DB601A). The Ki-100 used the Ki-61 airframe and mated it with a radial engine.

I have read that the Tony was tough but it was not reliable and overheated a lot.

 

[kool kitty89]

There were significant reliability problems with the Ki-61's engine, the Ki-100's switch eliminated this.

 

[magnocain]

I believe that "Tough Japanese fighters" is an oxymoron.

 

[fly boy]

it didn't matter the US hellcat and corsair are like tanks and they could ripe any fighter the enemy had

 

[Eurofighter]

Many people tend to believe that all Japanese fighters were as fragil as the Zero but by the last stages of the war when the Japanese realized that big mistake, the throw some really nice fighters like the Ki-84 that could compite in rugedness with their American counterparts.

 

[Watanbe]

The late war Jap fighters were well armourmed and armed! The Ki-100 and the Frank were excellent planes!

 

[thewritingwriter89]

it didn't matter the US hellcat and corsair are like tanks and they could ripe any fighter the enemy had

No doubt the Hellcat and the Corsair/F4U were excellent, but the J2M and Ki-84 series were very good in their own right. If Japanese production standards, reliablity, and pilot experience were up the US', they could probably have held their own quite sufficently.

 

[Marshall_Stack]

No doubt the Hellcat and the Corsair/F4U were excellent, but the J2M and Ki-84 series were very good in their own right. If Japanese production standards, reliablity, and pilot experience were up the US', they could probably have held their own quite sufficently.

Add quality high-octane fuel to the list. The Ki-84 had really good performance when tested with US fuel. With the fuel that the Japanese were using, it wasn't as great.

 

[thewritingwriter89]

Add quality high-octane fuel to the list. The Ki-84 had really good performance when tested with US fuel. With the fuel that the Japanese were using, it wasn't as great.

Excellent point Marshall

 

[slaterat]

I've got a table that shows the thickness of armour ued in Japanese aircraft during WWII. I'll scan it and post it later. From the table, it appears that after the decision was made to introduce armour protection , 1/2 inch plate was largely used to protect the head and seat. The quality of the armour and the size of the area protected are not mentioned.

Slaterat

 

[kool kitty89]

Use of water injection could compensate quite a bit for the lower grade fuels, in fact it probably allowed better performance than with High octane fuels alone. (though abviously combining High octane fuels with water injection would be even better)

And as bentioned a while back, there were alot more tough/high performance fighters than the J2M and Ki-84. There was also the N1K-J/N1K-2 (probably the toughest Japanese fighter, and best IJN fighter), the Ki-44, and Ki-61/100.

The Ki-43-II featured rudementary armor and self-seling tanks and a somewhat sturdier airframe. The A6M eventually got armor, the A6M-5b getting armor glass windscreens as well (though both were somethimes removed in the field) and a strengthened airframe, but rather than self seling they used many seperate fuel cells with fire supression.

 

[Haztoys]

One of the reasons the roomer of Japanese planes being ez to shot down and fragile lasted to the end of the war was that ...

When the strong planes showed up at the end of the war ... There was no good pilots left to fly the stronger plane ...

If the strong planes and good pilots had of been there at the first of the war..

Who knows what would of been the out come ....

 

[Vraciu]

Some tough Japanese fighters, hmmm...
Don't forget about Ki-45 Toryu and J1N Gekko, they were fighters as well.
I'm thinking now - has P1Y an armour?