Stole this from another board, I found this interesting. (to give such credit as I can the original poster was a Japanese player named "Kiwi") In your experience, do these tactics translate well into AH? (especially the right turn aspect)
These were the planes this top American ace (second ranked ace in WWII) was most concerned with. I didn't know what all the names meant so looked them up:
KI61 =TONY
N1K = GEORGE ("In NAVAL service?")
Zero = ZEEK
KI84 = FRANK (we don't have)
JM2 = JACK (we don't have)
KI43 = OSCAR (we don't have)
OT: JM2 was a new one on me
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Ah here it is..Maj. McGuire's Tactics Paper to the 5th AF
Japanese fighter planes: The only Japanese fighter which can be outmaneuvered by a P-38 is the twin engine Nick. When pursuing or pursued you must keep to the shallow dive, climb or turn because there is not a trick maneuver in the book that can't be done better in a Japanese plane than in a P-38. In making passes, hold your lead in deflection as long as you can, but just as soon as you lose that lead, role out of the turn and keep going straight. Never pull up beyond 30 degrees when pursuing, because your loss of speed will permit the Japanese pilot to loop over onto your tail. Break combat when it is to your advantage to do so, don't wait unto you set yourself up in such a position that the Japanese pilot will have the advantage. Make him fight on your terms, don't fight on his.
The Japanese Air Force, now in a transitory stage both in the Army and Naval services, will soon be equipped with more modern and high-speed fighters. It is believed that stress will be placed on Frank in the Army services and in
Jack and George in the naval services. All of these planes are in the 400 plus mile per hour group. With the increase of maximum speeds, the exceptional maneuverability typical of former single engine models will be sacrificed in those small degree. Generally speaking, altitude performance will be increased. It is of interest to note that no Japanese Naval single engine fighter examined to date has been equipped with either armor plate or protected fuel tanks. Oxygen bottles of high-pressure types are used throughout in Naval fighters. Their position is usually just aft of the cockpit greenhouse. Fuel tanks are invariably located in the wing root.
Army fighters, on the other hand have always used fuel tank protection of some nature and quite often utilize oxygen generators, which are not vulnerable in an explosive or rapidly burning sense. Armor plate usually of heavy type is used in all late model Army Japanese fighters. The armor plate installations are usually located underneath and behind the pilot.
So far as armament is concerned, Army fighters have favored the 12.7 mm machine gun which is almost identical in mechanical principal and construction to that of our own Browning .50 caliber machine gun. This gun however, because of the modification in the buffer mechanism has a higher cyndrical rate of fire, but with slightly less range than our own .50 caliber machine gun. An interesting point is the fact that the Japanese 12.7 mm gun utilizes fused ammunition. The 7.7 mm guns are used by both Army and navy services and from a combat point of view, may be treated with the same ballistics data as that of the Vicker's .303 machine gun. In the heavy caliber types, the Navy has shown preference for the Oerlikon type cannon, which has been recently improved and the new implement which has considerably higher muzzle velocity than the former model. It is rapidly becoming standard equipment.
For the benefit of new pilots a description of the more prominent characteristics of Japanese fighter planes follows. These summarization’s should be supplemented by study of data available in the TEIC memorandums and the blue covered intelligence summaries. (AAF. SWPA)
Oscar- 2 synchronized 12.7’s firing through the prop constitute the armament of this Army version of the generic Zero. It is particularly vulnerable around the cockpit were there is a little armor to protect the pilot. Gas tanks are covered with the crudest sort of leak absorbent material.
Zeke- armed with 2 20 mm cannon one in each wing and 2 7.7’s is firing through the prop. This, the best-known of Japanese Naval aircraft, has a slight edge in speed and a better rate of climb than the Oscar. It is most of all vulnerable around the cockpit. Flown by a pilot of reasonable ability, it must be regarded as a package of high explosives to be approached with caution.
The unless the Zero is close, with a slight advantage in altitude and speed, the best evasive tactic against Oscar and Zeke are a high-speed shallow climb or dive and full speed ahead. Once you have out-distanced your pursuer, you can turn and come back for another go, but make sure you don't turned too soon. If the Japanese pilot has diving speed push your plane over flattening out the diving angle after you have picked up to around 375 to 400 mph. If you are a good judge of speed, and the Oscar or Zeke doesn't appear to be coming in too fast, a shallow dive will be enough to shake him, Only if you have good judgment.
TONY- The usual armament of this plane is two 12.7 mm. machine guns, synchronized through the prop with one 12.7 mm. machine gun in each wing. (Later models have one 20 mm in each wing). With heavier armor and a fair quality of self- sealing tanks this plane does not have the tendency of the OSCARS and ZEKES models to explode or burn unless a very good hit is scored. An in-ine fighter like our P-40’s the TONY is not an altitude fighter but makes up for this by being faster than the ZEKE in level flight and extremely fast in a dive. A successful evasive tactic against this plane is, if in a dive, to make a diving turn to the right. At high speeds the TONY handles very poorly to the right and the Japanese pilot has trouble turning in that direction. If you are pursued from the rear and on the level, a very high-speed, shallow climb will keep you out of the range and eventually you will draw way.
One pilot found out about this the hard way. He was returning from a strike at Wewak when he was jumped by three TONYS. He was at 20,000 feet at the time and went into a shallow dive which ended up on the dock one hundred miles farther south, with the TONYS right behind him. Forced to alter his tactics, the pilot began a high-speed, shallow climb and soon lost them. His was the original experience of this sort with the TONY and his pioneerings saved many from falling into the same error.
If you are on the deck, a very sharp turn to the right at high-speed, may do as an emergency maneuver, but it is definitely a last resort and at best will only keep the enemy pilot from holding his lead on you.
