Ki-100... a japanese spitfire?

[tikky]

I heard/saw quotes from jap pilots that ki-100 is so easy to fly that even inexperienced pilots can kill 14 hellcats with ease.

[BUG_EAF322]

As long there was no pilot in it  guess.

[oboe]

I just don't believe that quote--  I doubt inexperienced pilots kill anything with ease.

I can believe, however, that the Ki.100 had docile handling characteristics, good reliability and durability, performance at altitude, pilot protection, great armament, and was easily a match for the F6F.

I think it'd be a great addition to AH.

[Sikboy]

Originally posted by oboe
I just don't believe that quote--  I doubt inexperienced pilots kill anything with ease.
 

And not to mention that nobody (or plane available at the time) could kill 14 Hellcats with anything approaching Ease.

I would love to see the Ki-100, and think that the casual player will expect it to be a lot better than it was. I'm not sure if it does anything better than the Ki-84. May be packs more ammo

-Sik

[Aubrey]

14 hellcats I think is a little much.  WWII hidtory is not my strongest,  I am more napoleonic. heh Anyway I think I read that the Japenses suffered by the late war sucha dearth of experienced pilots that they were basically being sent to sink or swim, with little or no training. So while the plane may have been a match ( I would not know if it was or not) I beleive the pilots were not.

As an aside I heard a story about WWII fighters in relation to systems theory and how to use it.

They were having problems with losses on a fighter plane ( I do not remember which one) So they call in an expert to look at the planes. This cat goes wround measuring,looking talking to pilots and taking pictures of the planes. He does this for a day or 2 and leaves. Does not say a word just leaves. 3-4 days later he shows up wlaks up to some commander guy takes him to a plane and says weld amour here here and here. the officer says why our planes never get hit in those spots. The guy looks at him and says the ones that come back don't.  I guess after they did the welding  there survival rate skyroketed.

I do not know what that has to to do with exact systems theory but, I thought I would share. basically this post kinda hijacks the thread so I am sorry and will go away now.

[oboe]

Actuallu Aubrey that was pretty interesting.

[slimm50]

I found the following quote:

from here: http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/baugher_other/ki100.html

"The Ki-100 was simple to fly and maintain. Even the most inexperienced pilots were able to get the hang of the Ki-100 relatively quickly. The Ha-112 engine proved to be quite reliable and simple to maintain. In combat, the Ki-100-Ia proved to be an excellent fighter, especially at low altitudes. It possessed a definite ascendancy over the Grumman F6F Hellcat. In one encounter over Okinawa, a Ki-100-equipped unit destroyed 14 F6F Hellcat fighters without loss to themselves. When the Ki-100 encountered the P-51D Mustang at low or medium altitudes over Japan, it was able to meet the American fighter on more or less equal terms. The outcome of P- 51D vs Ki-100 battles was usually determined by piloting skill or by numerical advantage rather than by the relative merits of the two fighter types. However, at altitudes above 26,000 feet, the maneuverability of the Ki-100 began to fall off rather severely and the fighter was at a relative disadvantage in intercepting the high-flying B-29."

[StarOfAfrica2]

Originally posted by tikky
I heard/saw quotes from jap pilots that ki-100 is so easy to fly that even inexperienced pilots can kill 14 hellcats with ease.

You ever play that game as a kid where you whisper something to the person next to you, they pass it along the same way, and so on until it makes a circle and you see how much the message has mutated by the time it comes back around to the start?  

Someone else posted a similar reference once.  The original is the Saburo Sakai story where he fought off all the hellcats in his Zero.  Someone somewhere changed the facts a bit and made it a Ki-100.  Then someone took out Sakai's name so the story couldnt be ripped apart like the BS it was.  Then it went to not only surviving a fight with that many, the pilot actually shot them down.  

I actually emailed a guy who had one of these stories posted on his website, and tried to pass it off as genuine.  We emailed back and forth for about a month until it was verified that his sources were all bogus and he took it down.  I have no idea how the Ki-100 ever got into the story.

[Grendel]

Originally posted by Aubrey

As an aside I heard a story about WWII fighters in relation to systems theory and how to use it.
 

That's about as incorrect as it can be. What really happened was a large scale professional study by USAAF on bomber losses. The study, however, did really suggest to add armor plates to locations as your mentioned, but of course to bombers, not fighters. There was no skyrocketing survival rates, but an improvement neverthless on the long run.

[Aubrey]

I make no claims as to the veracity of any story I may tell at anytime.

Or

Swim at your own risk

besides that is what I heard as I said I would not know if or if not true about any wwII plane. I am learning as we go here. I find the subject interesting so I am doing research. As of right now though you could tell me  a Ki 100 was made out of jello and I would believe you.

[hammer]

The Ki-100 was so effective because it was made of jello.

[slimm50]

Originally posted by hammer
The Ki-100 was so effective because it was made of jello.

It's true, it's true. I read that somewhere on the intardnet, too!!

[Sikboy]

Originally posted by slimm50
It's true, it's true. I read that somewhere on the intardnet, too!!

I have 500 hours in a Ki-100, and I assure you, it's not made of Jello.

it's pudding

-Sik

[dedalos]

Originally posted by Sikboy
I have 500 hours in a Ki-100, and I assure you, it's not made of Jello.

it's pudding

-Sik

Jello pudding???

[Aubrey]

O.K. I just got off the phone with a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy that was talking to a guy that worked on a KI100
He knows for a fact it is not made out of Jello (TM) but made out of popsicle sticks  some bailing wire and one or two squirrel pelts