man I love the niki lol

[SkevJ]

there's nothing more fun than chasing a target, pulling our nose for a lead shot rip away and fly by as you watch the parts of the plane you just shot down scatter all over the place in the sky. Man I love those cannons

[Klum25th]

I love ripping N1Ks with my P47s 8 .50cals and flying threw the blown up Rising Sun.

LoL gatta love cannons. (Doesn't everone)

[Bodhi]

imagine if the japs really had an aircraft that flew like the niki does.... we'd all be munchin rice and fish balls.

[Angus]

Bahhh the death of Niki comes as a Hurry IIC....

[parin]

They did have N1Ks. The problem with the plane was poor maintenance, lack of fuel and quality pilots. Imagine having only 20hrs of flight time then given a N1K with 50% fuel and a engine that only generates 75% of its power. Oh and your cannons will most likely jam. Now go jump those 6 F6Fs.

[Furball]

I AM THE NIKI KING!!!!!!!!!!!

[TankBstr]

I was recently at the USAF Musem's restoration facility, where they were rebuilding (among other things) a N1K2 George.  I was obviously interested in seeing one first hand, since they're so common in the MA here.  As an A&P aircraft mechanic, I noticed something interesting about the quality of construction that the average joe might miss - the rear spar on the horizontal stabilizer had some serious damage to the lightening holes.  I asked the head restoration guy about it, and he said that the dents were from the bucking bars used while riveting the stab together.  Japan was much more interested in the speed of throwing this craft together than any sort of quality control, and something that you as an AH pilot really don't have to worry about at all.  They were going to leave the spar as is and not repair it due to the history about it.  So, if you ever go the the Air Force museum in Dayton, OH, and see the N1K2 there, that's the story behind the horizontal stab spar.

[Karnak]

Yup.  Japanese quaility control became an oxymoron as the war progressed.  It wasn't all that great at the start, but it did exist.  The idiot militarists in charge couldn't shake the samurai BS about the most important man being the fighting man.  The drafted anybody and everybody without any regards for the effect that taking skilled machinists and using them as cannon fodder (and the training they were given made them just that) would have on the big picture of the Japanese war effort.

I don't even think the Soviets were that stupid.

[hogenbor]

Originally posted by Karnak
Yup.  Japanese quaility control became an oxymoron as the war progressed.  It wasn't all that great at the start, but it did exist.  The idiot militarists in charge couldn't shake the samurai BS about the most important man being the fighting man.  The drafted anybody and everybody without any regards for the effect that taking skilled machinists and using them as cannon fodder (and the training they were given made them just that) would have on the big picture of the Japanese war effort.

I don't even think the Soviets were that stupid.

The Soviets had the resources and raw manpower to keep on throwing cannon fodder into the mincer that was the war on the Eastern front. The Japanese couldn't. When their superbly trained pilots were dead and their equipment became scare and obsolete they could never hope to recover. And as you said, you cannot subsitute training and equipment by honour and valour.

Soviet equipment and trainig greatly improveved over the course of the war but still the losses they suffered are beyond all comprehension. Not that they had much choice, but still... Stalin once commented: 'Once death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic'. Sums it up pretty well.

[bagrat]

well atleast u can outrun a nik.........but can you run fast enough to escape N1k's THOUSAND YARD (10 FOOTBALL FIELDS) spray of DOOOOOM!

[Pooh21]

Originally posted by TankBstr
I was recently at the USAF Musem's restoration facility, where they were rebuilding (among other things) a N1K2 George.  I was obviously interested in seeing one first hand, since they're so common in the MA here.  As an A&P aircraft mechanic, I noticed something interesting about the quality of construction that the average joe might miss - the rear spar on the horizontal stabilizer had some serious damage to the lightening holes.  I asked the head restoration guy about it, and he said that the dents were from the bucking bars used while riveting the stab together.  Japan was much more interested in the speed of throwing this craft together than any sort of quality control, and something that you as an AH pilot really don't have to worry about at all.  They were going to leave the spar as is and not repair it due to the history about it.  So, if you ever go the the Air Force museum in Dayton, OH, and see the N1K2 there, that's the story behind the horizontal stab spar.

did you get to see the anti grav, or the million shot cannons?

[jaxxo]

ill just look at my wing spar i built in AP school for bad riveting techniques  sheet metal is teh suk

[Streety]

Originally posted by TankBstr
I was recently at the USAF Musem's restoration facility, where they were rebuilding (among other things) a N1K2 George.  I was obviously interested in seeing one first hand, since they're so common in the MA here.  As an A&P aircraft mechanic, I noticed something interesting about the quality of construction that the average joe might miss - the rear spar on the horizontal stabilizer had some serious damage to the lightening holes.  I asked the head restoration guy about it, and he said that the dents were from the bucking bars used while riveting the stab together.  Japan was much more interested in the speed of throwing this craft together than any sort of quality control, and something that you as an AH pilot really don't have to worry about at all.  They were going to leave the spar as is and not repair it due to the history about it.  So, if you ever go the the Air Force museum in Dayton, OH, and see the N1K2 there, that's the story behind the horizontal stab spar.

I've been there, and asked the same question. Do they still have the Pony hanging in the big room? Man it's so beautiful.

[TankBstr]

Originally posted by jaxxo
ill just look at my wing spar i built in AP school for bad riveting techniques  sheet metal is teh suk

Man, that's too bad - I love me some sheet metal.  I'm not a big fan of overhauling engines (especially IO-470s sitting in water for two years).

Originally posted by Pooh21
did you get to see the anti grav, or the million shot cannons?

Unfortunately, they had all the weapons locked up in a huge safe - he wouldn't let us take a look at them.  He said some fruitcake tried to steal an M2 out of an a/c in the museum one time.  Used a hacksaw to cut off the mount, slung it over his shoulder, and was jacked up by AF Security Forces on his way out the door.

Originally posted by Streety
I've been there, and asked the same question. Do they still have the Pony hanging in the big room? Man it's so beautiful.

I was just in the rebuild shop; I didn't take a look around the museum this time.  I'm sure it's still there.  They did have a beautiful Beaufighter they're restoring (one of only 3 in existance) as well as a seriously taken apart Memphis Belle, which they're restoring to full flying condition.

[Karnak]

Originally posted by TankBstr
Unfortunately, they had all the weapons locked up in a huge safe - he wouldn't let us take a look at them.  He said some fruitcake tried to steal an M2 out of an a/c in the museum one time.  Used a hacksaw to cut off the mount, slung it over his shoulder, and was jacked up by AF Security Forces on his way out the door.

Bah!  Idiots ruin it for all of us.