fuel tanks on planes do explode very easily and, come to think of i don't think any plane has ever been successfully landed in real life with a fire in the gas tank, any plane has a fire in the fuel tank your toast, no long fires anything like that, just boom, not even 2 seconds after the spark, especially jap planes, this isn't ordinarly tractor fuel, given its not rocket fuel either, but to the japs that was there 1 weakness, it wasnt that they were slow, or couldnt climb very well or dive, that didnt bother them, it was that if a bullet came close to the tanks, they exploded, and it just happened that the japs put the tanks in the most vulnerable positions to ade in mobility and turning...all jap planes were designed horribly wrong, made of the cheapest materials ( wood ) possible, had horrible trouble prone engines, and they didnt even use self sealing fuel tanks... all jap planes are modeled way to strong in this game, in real life they were hunk of junk death traps... 10 zeros couldnt match up against one wildcat in WWII