Japanese Zero

[Karnak]

Originally posted by bkbandit
I have seen to much real footage, when they lite up they pretty much lose controll not conitue to fight for 10 mins.

What does it matter what they use in movies, if movies were acurate i could jump a mustang 100 yards over tarrfic and race away(gone in six seconds)

So in your very far from infinete wisdom, you conclude that they were made of crap?

They were better made than US aircraft at the start of the war, and of a better alloy.  They just lacked armor, which was standard at the time they were built.  The Bf109E and Spitfire Mk I were just having armor added as the Battle of Britain got underway.

The B-17 was rejected for combat duty by the RAF due to it's complete lack of protection.


Oh, no WWII fight could sustain direct hits from the main battery of most other WWII fighters for long at all.  How long do you think a P-51D would remain flyable while being hit by the guns from an A6M2?


You may have noticed that the Ki-61, Ki-84, N1K2-J and Ki-67 all have protection.  The G4M3 version of the "Honorable one shot lighter", aka "Betty", had greatly reduced range in order to have a fully protected fuel system and some armor.


The reasons for the lack of armor on early Japanese aircraft are rational given the ranges they had to operate at (very long compared to Europe) and the lack of power in the engines they had available at that time.  I think it was a flawed reason, but it was thought out.

Try doing research before reaching conclusions.

[Mace2004]

Gotta agree with the general trend of this thread.  The Zeke is an outstanding fighter but it has it's limits and, as in all aircraft design, tradeoffs were made between performance and protection.  Generally speaking I'd prefer a fighter that is hard to hit to one that is tough.

The problem I have with the AH Zeke is it's performance after being torched.  I was in a Zeke last night fighting 6v1 (I was the one) in the EWA.  I torched another Zeke who managed to re-engage me three or four times before he finally "went away" in a big puff.  Being in a Zeke myself, I survived the fight and landed 3 kills but the way this flaming Zeke hung around was pretty ridiculous.  I've said this several times before but HT needs to re-look at the fire damage model being used.  The fact that a Zeke will burn so easily is accurate but what's unique is that it seems to burn much longer than just about any other AH aircraft.  Maybe it's just the fact that the Zeke can get around for another attack so quickly but it just seems too long.  A bigger issue though is that HT should drastically increase the drag on all burning aircraft.  Aside from the physical destruction, the disruption of airflow from a fuel fire has severe effects on an aircraft's flight characteristics and no burning plane can continue to fly as though it's not damaged as they do in AH.

Mace

[Karnak]

I agree with that Mace.  The effect of fire on buring aircraft isn't as severe as it should be.

[Stoney74]

Not to mention that in real life, you would unass the plane as quickly as possible...

[bkbandit]

karnak its on fire for a half hour thats the complaint. i dont need research to know when the watermelon is on fire it shouldnt be hanging around for so long. These planes are know for liting up(this is a fact) but when they catch fire there longer able to keep fighting. Theres alot of other reasons i dont like the zero, its retarded slow it cant dive and at higher speed ur controlls into mush another thing the kills it is high g turns, i have came in behind some to see them break hard left or hard right and break to pieces. BUt if u read what i posted before i wouldnt be writeing this right now. look at the 10th post.

[Debonair]

RAF used the B-17c in combat in the summer of 1941

[Warspawn]

About the loss of control...

Remember what a raging fire does to the airflow over a wing surface providing lift.

That much heat, that quickly, covering a significant part of the airfoil, and you lose all control over an aircraft almost immediately.

[bkbandit]

guys like i said before i dont like the zero, BUT this doesnt mean i dont respect the guys that fly it, i respect them 100 times more then the dweeb pilot(u know which planes im talkin about). Slowest plane in the game litely armoured, they have to stick and rubber themselves out of trouble. Another factor that adds to me not likeing it is that i 75% of the time im i a hellcat, its natural for me to not like it, yea i know raf used them against the germans but cmon, hellcat is famous in the pacific.

[icemaw]

Originally posted by Warspawn
About the loss of control...

Remember what a raging fire does to the airflow over a wing surface providing lift.

That much heat, that quickly, covering a significant part of the airfoil, and you lose all control over an aircraft almost immediately.

not to mention what it does to the pilot. a burning plane may fly on for a while but a burning pilot is not long for the world.

[Debonair]

maybe,
maybe not
http://www.battle-of-britain.com/BoB2/Battle_personnel/VC/victoria_cross.htm

[Schutt]

A6M2 actually does extremly well in early war and if the pilot builds up some alt eaven more so. BTW Zero has verry good acceleration if you try to dive away with an F4F from one that is right behind you he gets you. In a long dive the zero has to break of because of bad high speed handling though.

[Angus]

Originally posted by icemaw
not to mention what it does to the pilot. a burning plane may fly on for a while but a burning pilot is not long for the world.

Read up about Nicholson, and then try and google Geoffrey Page.

Some guts around there man....

[WTC]

Is there any way to extinguish a burning plane?

[Mace2004]

None at all in AH.  In RL there are a few, very limited, options.  Small general aviation aircraft typically have hand-held cockpit fire extinguishers.  For engine fires they are usually limited to cutting off the fuel. Some high end general aviation planes and all military fighters have both fuel cutoff and engine compartment extinguishers.  If you have the altitude, you could possibly dive fast enough to extinguish an engine fire but that would be a last ditch effort.  There's no way to extinguish a wing fire due to battle damage except possibily a high-speed dive but since the wings burning and has battle damage it would probably just rip off.  The best options are to ditch if you're low and slow (with a prop plane) and if you're high (or in a jet) bailout or eject.

Mace

[Yoshimbo]

a6m2 = stunt plane wit gunz