The A6M2-7 "Zero" !

The one story I have heard which sounds reasonable is a Japanese ace in a Zero who had a dogfight with 6 Hellcats, and survived. No mention of his 'kills', so I assume none. If the guy had been able to get the Hellcats to fight on his terms, I reckon that this is at least plausable...

 

Ditto !! The first such tall tale l came across was in a book by Saburo Sakai Martin Caidin and Fred Saito known as "SAMURAI!"( Ballantine Books, New York, 1957)-pp. 198-208 on 24 June 1944 the by-now-one-eyed Sakai takes off as part of a fprmation of 40 Zeros, which along with forty other of teh type had been sent to protect Iwo-Jima. The contigent of Zeros in which Sakai is flying is intercepted by a smaller formation of F6Fs, which dive towards them. In the resulting confusion, as both sides try to regain formation, Sakai mistakes the F6Fs for Zeros, and finds himself surrounded by no less than 15 Hellcats .By his own account, Sakai skids, rolls,snaps the stick violently and not only manages to outmaneuver them all but returns to his base covered in sweat by the effort and strain but... without so much as a scratch or a bullet hole on his aircraft. Hey Saburo! Give me a break, will you..??? :roll: :roll:

 

That story is true though

Confirmed by U.S. pilots They all complained they couldnt nomatter what they did, "nail the sucker" !!

Remember no WW2 fighter could turn inside a A6M5, wich had a strengthened body, better engine, and clipped wings for better maneuverability at high speeds ! The A6M5 could outturn any WW2 fighter at any speed, and almost always only lost a fight when the Thach weave tactic was used against it ! (Wich it mostly was ! )

Best regards, KBO.

 

The A6M5 was the best and most numerous model of the Zero, and with a strengthened body and shortnened wings, it could roll faster at high speeds than the A6M2. The strengthening of the body and wings also ment a high G resistance and dive speed, so now the Zero could turn tighter at high speed and nothing could touch it in a close dogfight !

The A6M5 also featured a new engine with 1130hp, instead of the old 950hp of the A6M2. The new engine was also an improvement because of a new fuel injection system, that allowed it to dive with its prey.(This was usually the only way to get rid of a Zero on your tail !)

Had this fighter been used in BOB, it would have with its superior range and maneuverability swept away all resistance. Partly because the European style of Dogfighting, the Zero would be the most effective dogfighter in the sky ! Even the Spitfire would be inferior !

The A6M5's faults was its relatively weak body wich would give in after very little gun-fire !. And the early models couldnt dive veru effectively without the engine cutting out, wich allied pilots made good use of early in the pacific war !

It was the Shoot and scoot tactics (Thach weave) later in the pacific war, that effectively beat the Zero. With this tactic even the P-38 could effective make mince meat of a Zero !. The Zero had become obsolete !

Best regards, KBO.

 

KBO , l know you well enough by now to appreciate the seriouness in your research, but can you give me a reference on that confirmation, so l can add it to my own library?
Thanks!

 

Well I should hope so, since it didn't enter service until August 1943, three years after the BoB. This was only a few months before the Spitfire XIV, generally regarded as one of the finest fighters of the war.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and Discussion forum

 

"even the P-38 could effective make mince meat of a Zero !. "

The P-38 didn't use the Thach Weave to make mince meat of the Zeros. The P-38s were most successful with zoom and boom tactics and used speed, altitude and better trained pilots to win.

 

Thats why i said "If" it had been there Hey even the A6M2 would have beat the Spitfire MK.I in a European style dogfight !

 

They also used the "Thach weave" tactic ! They relied very much on their superior dive-speed, and would surprise the Zero by coming Sky-high with guns blazing ! this proved very succesful also !

 

Man ive ordered alot of books lately, and just recieved some of them ! I also read alot of "Joe foss's"' accounts. He actually says that the Jap. ace 'Saburo Sakai' was one of his best friends !

This story with the F6F Hellcats chasing a lonely Zero is a old story though, wich i once doubted myself while dicussing a P-51D vs Zero topic long ago. (I am a P-51 Mustang fan, and always have been !)

The reference is on the way !

 

I'll look forward to it. It isn't so much that l distrust Sakai's account, but rather the guy that actually eddited the book. who is responsible for a lot of so-called WW2 history..... :smok:
Best Regards!

 

Well i can tell you that this part wasnt edited, and that Sakai revealed it himself in an interview. I'll get that for you as well, just as a bonus ! .

Btw why do you distrust the Editor ? I see no reason.

 

Well i can tell you that this part wasnt edited, and that Sakai revealed it himself in an interview. I'll get that for you as well, just as a bonus ! .

Btw why do you distrust the Editor ? I see no reason.
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Good! l'd like to see it..The editor in the case of "SAMURAI" was Martin Caidin-who had made a long life career of distorting truths-and having worked with ( or rather against!) editors and editor/publishers over the years, l'd say that most have an unwelcome habit of cutting up one's work without any rhyme or reason (one cretinous swine that enjoyed doing that was eventually fired, for in his haste to mutilate one of my articles, he even left the darn "headers" off!! andk kept on doing this until he was unceremoniously fired....The one lve come into contact (save one homorable exception..) tend to think of themselves as Gods..
BEst Regards!

 

Ok ! I've never heard that !

Btw here's what Joe Foss said in a recent interview:

Saburo Sakai, the top surviving Japanese ace, with whom I often share platforms at university symposiums, recently told me that I am his best friend in America.

This was From Foss' autobiography, A Proud American: Joe Foss.

 

This is the only fault in the book "Samurai !" that Saburo Sakai could find after reading it several times.

Said by Sakai himself: Case in point: Some days after the Surrender of Japan, Me and some of my fellow Pilots took off and intercepted a U.S. Dominator. In the daytime. We did not bring it down, but exchanged fire with it. According to the book we took off with a fictional Pilot "Jiro Kawachi" and shot down a B-29 at night! That is a mistake !

Best regards, KBO.

 

Thanks for the info KBO! l'll try to add Foss' book to my library!
Best Regards!

 

The English explanation on encountering the 'Zero':

In the war with Japan land-based Spitfires gave their main service on the Burma front supporting the British Fourteenth Army, and in the south-west Pacific operating as part of General Macarthur's forces. Spitfires of the Australian Air Force were in action from early 1942 onwards - primarily in defensive operations against Japanese air raids, and most notably in the defense of the northern Australian port of Darwin. In 1942-3 the majority of the Spitfires in front-line service in the Far East were Mk Vs. Later in the war these were largely replaced by the superb Mk VIII, generally acknowledged to be the best production Spitfire variant as regards its handling qualities when airborne.

It was in operations in defence of Darwin that Spitfire pilots first became aware of the exceptional maneuverability of the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. In their many European actions with the Luftwaffe's fighters Spitfire pilots had always enjoyed superior maneuverability - at least as regards their aircraft's rate-of-turn in level flight.
It was a shock to the Allied air forces to discover that the Zero could easily out-turn their own fighters, and combat tactics had to be revised.
In defensive operations based on Australia in 1942-43 the Spitfire generally suffered from a higher loss rate than the other Allied fighters involved.

Source: "British Warplanes of World War II" by Daniel J. March (Grange Books 2000).


Later when it was obvious new tactics were needed, Joe foss was sent over to the Spitfire squadrons, to teach them how to fight the Zero. (The main rule was, never to turn with a Zero !!)


Best regards, KBO.

 

I agree with what your saying, maybe this can be turned into a separate topic? in the meantime, here's a photo of a Jap Zero taking off to attack Pearh Harbor

 

And here we have him, 'Saboru Sakai' !

 

The Zero's nemesis..