Orient's best: Ki-100 vs Ki-84

[carpenoctem1689]

Yeah id have to agree with your grandpa on that one too. The shiden was an excellent fighter. Fast, durable, robust and well armed and armoured. The range was good too. It, in the hands of a good pilot could match anything thrown at it, army or navy fighter, and it could be a good interceptor as well, and with good range and a radial engine, in a pinch an attack aircraft. It was truly a good aircraft, and its a shame that production standards were so low on the engines and airframes, because that plagued the aircraft for its existence.

[Lunatic]

The George was a good fighter, but I do not think it was a match for a Corsair. it had a 50 mph speed deficit vs. an F4U-1d, and an 90 mph speed deficit vs. a F4U-4. 50 mph is difficult to beat, but 90 mph is next to impossible.

=S=

Lunatic

[carpenoctem1689]

True the corsair holds the advantage in speed and reliability, but the N1K2-J was a fair opponent for anything the allies had, except maybe the latest model P-38, the P-47N and the P-51K. The Hellcat was outclassed by the japanese fighter, and would have had some serious trouble unless the pilots were inexperienced, or numerical superiority was on the side of the allies. The Shiden-kai was fast, manouverable, armed and armoured, and had good range. It was lethal to single engine fighters, and would be a nemisis against medium bombers. It was a great fighter with faults that could have been fixed had time and production quality been possible.

[dobravery]

All of these aircraft mentioned have enough parity that none really outclass another. You just can't compare max speed without considering altitude as well. These planes performed close enough to which it really was about pilot skill. Aside for a handful of skilled pilots, by the end of the war the typical Japanese pilot had too little experience. Then there's production. Just the Hellcat alone out numbered all the late war Franks, Georges, Jack, and Ki-100's.

My point is that the Japanese produced great planes. When you look at pilots, production, and fuel. . . well. . . it is what it was.

Sorry!!! Super old post.

[Soren]

The Ki-84 for sure. It was quicker than the US fighters at low altitudes, could turn tighter than any US fighter, featured a roll rate comparable to the Corsair and it packed a punch as-well with 4 x 20mm guns.

However by the time of its introduction there were quality control issues as-well as a huge lack of trained pilots - hence its losses & reliability issues. Speed was also too low as altitude increased.

The N1K2J was a superb a/c as-well, possessing some very ingenious features such as automatic flap deployment in tight turns.