Quote:
Originally Posted by Tk3997
The problem was that the F6F was regarded by the US as a very reliable and easy to fly, but somewhat low performance aircraft. The N1K1 was regarded by the Japanese as a high performance model for use by it's best pilots.
The lol part is that they were still using the Zero in late 1944 to start with not that they had new models. Japan knew the Zero was a dead end by about 1942, but it lacked the industrial capacity to ever fully replace it, but not for lack of trying. They certainly had prototypes and limited production models that performed much better, but these never saw the widespread use needed to matter. If we're just taking about maybe a few dozen or hundred witches at most though then it becomes the opposite and you wonder why it took so long to replace the outdated models.
The J2M or N1K are both better fighters and both began to appear in 1943 IRL, the A7M would also be better and was in prototype phases by mid 1944. It's introduction was delayed by bombing and the crippling shortages beginning to effect Japan by late 1944 though and it never made it into combat. Neither of those seem to be happening here though meaning it making into combat by late 44 early 45 would not be impossible.
While the F6F certainly had it's share of kills it was hardly alone in destroying the Japanese Air Force with P-38s, P-40s, Spitfires, P-47s, F4Us, and even P-51s all getting plenty of kills. The F4F was at best on par with early enemy aircraft and can really only claim a notably favorable kill ratio when you factor in later models flying against stuff like Kamikazes. The early models probably at best broke even in fighter combat claiming a positive kill ratio only when you factor in stuff like Torpedo and Dive bomber kills.
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True that the American variety did win the day in the Pacific, but it still seems to me that the F4F Wildcat was the crucial aircraft of the war considering it paved the way for the aircraft that finally had a more decisive advantage over Zeroes, the F6F Hellcat.
You're right about the killratio not being that much superior for the Wildcat though. It was after the superior American production + the Hellcat that was the nail in the coffin. Basically a flying tank compared to the flying kites of Zeroes (albeit, very agile. Still the agile cats of the air in that war).