A number of Japanese fighters besides the 'Zero' has been credited as at least on par with their Allied counterparts, for example the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien and Ki-100, and the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate. Any opinions or other examples ?
Some fighter types of the late 1930s, sich as the Mitsubishi A5M an tha Nakajima Ki-27, and later on JAAF types such as the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa and KI-44 Shoki. The first two were fixed landing gear low wing monoplanes ,quite the equal of many a Western fightert (and indeed superior to many others!) when first introduced. Their appearance should have alerted the Western powers about the true capabilities of the Japanese aviation industry.The Ki-43 was considered a very dangerous opponent by Allied pilots who encountered over Malaya and Burma. As far as the Ki-44, reportedly the JAAF chose it over the BF109E after comparative trials..
This is a lesson on how one should never let one's prejudices influence one's assessment of a potential enemy's capabilities. Despite warnings from sources like Claire Lee Chennault, most American officers (and enlisted men, too) continued to believe that Japanese aircraft were inferior copies of Western types, never mind that most, if not all of them, had never even *seen* a Japanese plane, let alone evaluated one. A lot of American pilots lost their lives because of this.
I believe there was a story about the US pilots that served in a mercenary squadron in China in the late 30's early 40's and they described the zero and other planes to the US military. The US dismissed the claims as flights of fancy as to what a zero could do becuase they were described as being far superior to anything the US was putting up. The US didn't beleive the Japanese were that clever. Also did the Zero have a high magnesium content which made them vulnrable to fire when hit in combat? Also I am sure I read somewhere that this high magnesium content meant that they rotted very quickly in the jungles they fought over so no original zeros have been rescued and renivated? How many original zeros are left? FNG
There are, IIRC, two airworthy Zeroes left in the world, one each in Japan and the USA. There are also a few in museums, but I don't know how many. The Zero burned so easily because it lacked self-sealing fuel tanks; hit one with even a short burst and that was quite often all she wrote.
