Cub Driver wrote in message . ..
On Thu, 16 Sep 2004 20:53:33 -0700, "Keith Willshaw"
wrote:

While agreeing on the ineptitiude its clear that the IJN had a clear
superiority in terms of modern fighter aircraft.

Not really. Read "The First Team" by John Lundstrom for an account of
how the inexperienced USN carrier pilots fared against the
China-blooded JNAF pilots during the first six months of the war. They
came out almost exactly even. That would suggest that the Wildcat was
the better plane, or else that the American pilots were
extraordinarily fast learners.

The Wildcat didn't have the manoeverability of the zero however the
Wildcat pilots had radios. They developed something called a Thatch
weave to keep zeroes of each others tail. Also armour is worth
something.




all the best -- Dan Ford
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