Best Pacific Fighter?

[germanace]

hell i like all of them

[lesofprimus]

Dont we all, but unfortunatly, for the purpose of this poll, u have to pick what u feel is the best.....

[kiwimac]

I voted for the A6M2 Zero, which has to be the best dog-fighter in any theatre. But I consider the best Japanese plane to be the Nakajima Ki-84 Frank.



Source: http://images.google.co.nz/images?q=...=Google+Search




http://www.cnc-modell.de/cnc/jpeg/ki-84/ki-84_01.jpg

Specifications

Model Nakajima Ki-84 1C

Engine 1 x Nakajima Homare Ha-45 II
1,900hp 18 cylinder radial

Max. Speed 427 mph 687.18 Km/h
Max. Range 1,815 Mls 2,920 Km
Empty Weight 5,684 lbs 2,680 Kg
Loaded Weight 8,267 lbs 3,750 Kg

Span 36 / 10.5 Ft/in 11.24 m
Length 32 / 6.5 Ft/in 9.92 m
Height 11 / 1.25 Ft/in 3.38 m

Armament 2 x 20mm cannon.
2 x 30mm cannon
2 x 550lb (250kg) bombs

Notes The Ki-84 entered combat over China in the summer of 1944.

[GermansRGeniuses]

Ya know, the Ic actually had four 30mm's, especially for countering the B-29s...


The Ib was the model armed with four 20mm's, and the Ia had two 7.92mm and two 20mm...

[cheddar cheese]

I love the Ki-84...Id put it up there with the 190D and P-38 for one of the best looking planes of the war.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I would have to go with the Corsair. It is was a great plane. Great performance, great fire power and looked great. It was so good it was used for quite some time after the war including the Korean War. Just a great plane.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Also a Japanese plane that I always was facinated with and my might be confusing its name with another but I think it was called the Raiden. I dont know much about either, if anyone has some info on it, it would be a big help.

[MP-Willow]

The Raiden was a late commer. If you have a chance while online a quick surch will give you some good stuff. I wil look a little and let you know.

As for the poll, i think that people are voting for what they like the best, but also the Pacific aircraft are on the whole not as wellknown as the one in Europe. The A6M5 was the last great Zero model. The Zero would have been even better if the IJN would have worked on it sooner. They had the Aircraft to really take the fight to the USAAC, but all that B-29 bombing and fighter straffing took its toll. Having near rould the clock bomb raids breaks people down, that is unless you are the English, who just soe how kept on going.

The Ki-100 was an offshute when the new inline engine was not ready intime. So add the radial; and the proformance was crazy great! But I think that the US designers wou;ld have been able to combat them, or just bomb them silly!!

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I think that the zero was by far the pacific aircraft that for me stands out the most. Not that I think it was the best, I by far dont think it was but when I think of the pacific that is the aircraft I think of. It and the Hellcat.

[cheddar cheese]

I just think of P-38's and zeros.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The Hellcat I think made more of an impact though than the P-38 and the Dauntless was definatly the workhorse of the Pacific sinking so many ships for the allies.

[cheddar cheese]

But what if the P-38 wasnt there? I cant think of any other plane that could replace it with an equal or better effect

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The P-51 was also used in the Pacific and I beleive that it would it have been more extensivly used in place of the P-38

Why is the Ki-84 not included in this poll? And where is the P-47N?

----

F4U-4 and P-47N were by far the best fighters of the PTO! What else could compete with these 460 mph class fighters?

=S=

Lunatic

Originally Posted by MP-Willow

The Raiden was a late commer. If you have a chance while online a quick surch will give you some good stuff. I wil look a little and let you know.

As for the poll, i think that people are voting for what they like the best, but also the Pacific aircraft are on the whole not as wellknown as the one in Europe. The A6M5 was the last great Zero model. The Zero would have been even better if the IJN would have worked on it sooner. They had the Aircraft to really take the fight to the USAAC, but all that B-29 bombing and fighter straffing took its toll. Having near rould the clock bomb raids breaks people down, that is unless you are the English, who just soe how kept on going.

The Ki-100 was an offshute when the new inline engine was not ready intime. So add the radial; and the proformance was crazy great! But I think that the US designers would have been able to combat them, or just bomb them silly!!

The J2M Raiden (Jack) was a good design, but suffered from flawed production. It was initially designed by the same man who designed the Zero, but he suffered a nervous breakdown and was retired and the project went to hell. I personally think that when the landing gear started collapsing on take off from airspeeds of about 100 mph he made some disparaging comments that got him put away. Quality issues killed this plane, though a few pilots did manage to do well in it.

The Ki-84 Hayate (Frank) is the Japanese plane that is missing from this poll. It started entering combat in mid-late '44, and something like 2500 were delivered, making it one of the more numorous Japanese fighter designs, so it's a legitimate contender. The were seen in a variety of major battles, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and over the Philapines and Korea. In many ways the Frank was a great airplane, however it suffered from poor engines - the Japanese just could not build a 2000 HP class engine. None-the-less with a top speed somewhere in the 405-430 range it was a formidable enemy.

The Zero was flawed. While it was fast, it handled poorly at high speeds. Much above 250 indicated speed and almost all aileron control was lost, and stick forces became excessive. Once the Zero was found in the alutians, restored, and tested, the future of the zero was cooked. US pilots knew it could not turn or roll to the right at speed, and so they were able to sit on this turn during an attack, or use a right turn to evade when on defense. Furthermore, the Zero was a difficult plane to manufacture, requiring many hours of skilled labor due to its counter stressed frame design. This also made it very vulnerable, as damage to this structure easily destroyed its integrity and caused it to fold up. Poor guns and gunsights also hampered its effectiveness. Use of bottled O2 rather than an O2 generator also made all IJN planes extremely vulnerable (IJA planes used O2 generators). The Zero's biggest asset was its tremendous range, and in the first year of the war it was a dangerous foe, but by the battle of the Coral Sea, US pilots knew its flaws and it's day was done.

The KI-100 was not fast enough to contend with the P-38, P-51, P-47, or the Corsair. It would however have been a very good matchup against a Hellcat!

=S=

Lunatic