buffnut453
Captain
Joe,
Thanks for the additional info on the F4F -vs- Zero engagements at Midway and Guadalcanal. What I'm unclear on is what early warning capability was present on Guadalcanal and other, as you put it, intangible factors. Guess I'll have to do some reading!
As for the Malayan campaign, the origin of this whole discussion started with Parsifal's contention that Japanese air superiority during the Malayan campaign was obtained by 25 Zeros plus a roughly equal number of Ki-43s. My contention is that there were far more Japanese fighters available, and in this sense the Type 97 question is far from irrelevant.
I remain concerned about the lack of detail on IJAAF fighter operations in December 1941 and discrepancies between the documented actions. For example, during the combat over Kuala Lumpur on 22nd December, the 64th Sentai reportedly lost just one Ki-43 when the wings failed as it was pulling out of a dive. However, 453 Sqn pilots reported the loss of one of their mates, Sgt Mac Read, when his Buffalo collided with an enemy fighter. These 2 events are difficult to reconcile as being the same incident so were 2 Ki-43s lost or just one? Again, the gap in documentation of Type 97 and 59th Sentai activities is of importance here.
Kind regards,
Mark
Thanks for the additional info on the F4F -vs- Zero engagements at Midway and Guadalcanal. What I'm unclear on is what early warning capability was present on Guadalcanal and other, as you put it, intangible factors. Guess I'll have to do some reading!
As for the Malayan campaign, the origin of this whole discussion started with Parsifal's contention that Japanese air superiority during the Malayan campaign was obtained by 25 Zeros plus a roughly equal number of Ki-43s. My contention is that there were far more Japanese fighters available, and in this sense the Type 97 question is far from irrelevant.
I remain concerned about the lack of detail on IJAAF fighter operations in December 1941 and discrepancies between the documented actions. For example, during the combat over Kuala Lumpur on 22nd December, the 64th Sentai reportedly lost just one Ki-43 when the wings failed as it was pulling out of a dive. However, 453 Sqn pilots reported the loss of one of their mates, Sgt Mac Read, when his Buffalo collided with an enemy fighter. These 2 events are difficult to reconcile as being the same incident so were 2 Ki-43s lost or just one? Again, the gap in documentation of Type 97 and 59th Sentai activities is of importance here.
Kind regards,
Mark