Originally posted by Hobbie
I don't know whether to take that as an agreement or a question SonntagBut, I think it is obvious the technological advances the U.S. had over Japan. Those German-derived Japanese fighters were taken from old German designs anyways, not state of the art.
[Edited by Hobbie on 03-29-2001 at 16:25]
Didn't the Japanese have a fighter, later on, based on the Me262? Also, when you talk about the US being more technologically advanced, you should keep in mind that the Hellcat was superior to the Zero only because some Japanese pilot successfully crash-landed a Zero in American territory...Originally posted by Hobbie
I don't know whether to take that as an agreement or a question Sonntag
. That was one of the most interesting stories of the war. The Hellcat was very important until the Mustang and T-bolt came along. A plane that is one of my favorites that everyone disregards is the P-38 Lightning. A very tough plane, it helped fill a need for a fighter-bomber early on in the war. You could compare it to the Vindicator in WCIV. One advantage (IMO) that the U.S. had over Japan was the strength of its bombers. There were so many Flying Fortresses and later Super Fortresses that attacked Japan. Not to mention Mauraders, Mitchells, and Liberators. The Japanese did have a better torpedo plane early on though, because the Devastator totally sucked, while the Kate fared pretty well.Originally posted by Hobbie
I don't know whether to take that as an agreement or a question Sonntag
[Edited by Hobbie on 03-29-2001 at 16:25]
The German Experten certainly ammassed much higher combat scores than the Allied pilots, but the Allies had some true characters amoung the their Aces. Take Douglas Bader, for example. He lost not one but *both* of his legs in an accident before the war, but then flew Spirfires into combat, became an Ace and rose to the rank of Wing Commander. Another pilot I admired while I was growing up was an Ace by the name of Alan Deere (who just happend to be a Kiwi 
) who survived a remarkable number of mid-air collisons, crash landings and other mishaps, including the time a German bomb exploded near his Spirfire just as it was on the point of take-off, flipping the fighter on its back and sending it careening down the runway in a shower of sparks. His book "Nine Lives" is truly hair-raising reading even 50 years later. From what I remember, the fighter was recovered intact, but the pilot broke his neck when the fighter hit marshy ground on landing and flipped over. Though it's certainly true that the weakness discovered in that captured Zero (the fragile construction and the lack of engine power) did allow the Allies to design planes and tactics that would end the Zero's superiority forever.
)- Good point about kill scores- I agree that kill scores don't determine a pilot's success. Adolf Galland's kill score was relatively low when compared to other German aces. But, he was one of the most feared Axis pilots because he had great flying ability. I consider him to be one of the true warriors in the war. He loved flying, not the killing. He survived the war and I believe did some important post-war things in Germany. Hartmann is probably overrated, but you can't deny that you must be good to have 150+ kills.
. The way the U.S. treated Japanese-Americans was horrible. Didn't defy war rules, but it was still really bad. I don't think I need to even start about the A-bomb and how many civilian lives it took. The Japanese treated American soldiers horribly though. The Russians treated German P.O.W.s horribly also.
Originally posted by Hobbie
But, we weren't perfect either
