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"never dogfight with a Zero" advice that held true to the end of the war. America's number 2 ace, Thomas McGuire made this mistake late in the war and paid with his life. Yes, it was an Oscar but very similar plane.
Excellent summary of the history of the Zero. In defense of its creators, at the time it was being developed and fielded the use of pilot and engine armor and fuel tank protection in fighter aircraft was just emerging-the American F4F only receiving its protection around the time of the first carrier engagements at Coral Sea and Midway. Japanese designers were well aware of the benefits of pilot and engine armor and fuel tank protection, but the excellent performance of the Zero depended upon its light weight. Tests to add such severely limited its range, which was unacceptable in light of IJN doctrine, which itself depended upon maintaining a fighting advantage by keeping the carriers out of the range of enemy attack planes. So, the Zero soldiered on to its own destruction, pretty as it had been originally created.
yeah man im not liking AI for factual videos. I love me some authentic Black and white photos from the era. AI content is OK for like....showing flags i guess? theres plenty of cool footage of the zero in action and in china they couldve pulled...
not neccisarily, the issue was a combination of japans logistics, lack of naval supremacy (which these aircraft were built for bear in mind) and a failure to plan ahead and upgrade the design as needed.
the main reason was that Japanese were not able to make more powerful engine at the time. because their engine was weak, they had to reduce the weight of the plane, so they could not put armour plates, and compromise on many equipments that could protect the pilots better. also, their electronics technology was behind that of Europe and USA.
I used to live in Hawaii and have spoken to several older people on Oahu who remember the Zeros flying so low during the Pearl Harbor attack that they could see the leather flight helmets of the pilots... I've read the book Samurai, the biography of Saburo Sakai, Zero pilot and top ace, a riveting read. There is also Winged Samurai: Saburo Sakai and the Zero Fighter Pilots by Henry Sakaida.
Aichi was acquired by Nissan postwar and left the manufacturing business completely so it's gone. Should we take a look at Kawasaki who was the plane supplier of Japanese Army later?
For its name, the "Type Zero" came from it being adopted in 1940, aka 2600 in the Japanese imperial calendar (only the last 2 numbers were used, the dive bomber adopted in 1939/2599 was the Type 99). The nickname "Reisen/零戦" was a shortening of its full designation "零式艦上戦闘機/Rei-shiki kanjou sentouki" or Type 0 Carrier-Based Fighter, where "Rei" is "Zero" and "Sen" is the first part of "Fighter".
@dogsbecute One annoying thing with their nomenclature is that sometimes they will use "X" year of the emperor's reign rather than the imperial calendar. For example, the Type 38 Rifle was adopted in Meiji 38 (1905), not imperial year 2538 (1878), while the Type 99 Rifle was adopted in imperial year 2599 (1939). Luckily, the imperial year nomenclature is much more common, but it's something to watch out for.
The Zero was like the battlecruiser concept: heavyweight firepower but the chin of a lightweight fighting heavyweights, banking on speed and maneuverability to compensate. You might score some rounds or even wins if your opponents haven't figured you out yet, but once they do, there's a reason classes exist. Zero was outclassed as a concept and even as a machine from late 1942 onward, just as Japan was, with all punching above their weight which was cute until they take a right hook called a Thatch Weave or 1000lb bomb to a flight deck defended by magazine-fed canNOTS.
This metaphor sounds all very good but it takes a fighter to be able to get on the tail of a Zero to shoot it down. In the early years, the Zero had its way over Buffaloes, Airacobras, Tomahawks and the British Hurricane. Only when faster and manoeuvrable fighters like Hellcats and Corsairs) came on board and later mark of Spitfires were the Zeroes matched. ( Not the initial Mark V) . Once hit by fire, the Zeroes exploded in flames and its vulnerability came to the fore.
@@Vierzehn014true. But it was good enough and the Zero pilots couldn't really unlock it especially as time wore on with the untrained personnel and equipment on hand, so even though it could be theoretically countered, reality was it wasn't.
@@richardbanker3910 you're right but even with marginally inferior equipment as far as performance goes (Wildcat, Tomahawk, etc.) the Allied still held their own with improved tactics. The steady output of adequate pilots and adequate equipment from an industrial powerhouse was inevitably going to win against a country with marginally superior equipment but industrial pauper-hood and initially vastly superior pilots whose attrition would result in inadequate numbers of inadequate pilots.
Off topic, can king and generals do a series about the 80 years independent war and golden age of the Netherlands? As a Dutch man this conflict is still massively confusing because it was so chaotic
In fairness to the British, it's hard to get excited about the A6M. It was a far away threat. The Germans were in their face and Bombing them in 1940. The ME 109 was of more concern and more dangerous because they were flying in from France to the Homeland. The A6M was a threat to the Colonials such as Australia or India.
Really good stuff...thank you for detailed historical content about technologies like the Zero fighter. I look forward to similar treatments for a whole list of planes...many of which others have already suggested. 👍💯😁 Though...you could teach your reader AI how to say Grumman a lot better. LOL
As anyone seen the movie "When the Wind Rises." Even though it doesn't mention it the movie is a little about the man who help design the Zero Fighter. It's a pretty interesting movie.
Shinden is J7W which was way a land based interceptor late introduced You probably mean the N1K2 Shiden Kai, land base variant of the N1K1 Kyoofu floatplane, which also introduced late in the war (except the Kyoofu)
@@cardiv5zuikaku944 I think you mean N1K2-J for the Shiden Kai, the "-J" is important as it is what signified that it was a land based fighter rather than a seaplane fighter. The N1K1-J was the Shiden (no Kai) and was land based, but still had a mid wing rather than the low wing of the later N1K2-J. Similarly, the seaplane fighter variant of the Zero was the A6M2-N.
@thanakonpraepanich4284 The Hayate had performance specs that were competitive in 1945, but it suffered from poor quality fuel, unreliable engines, and of course poorly trained pilots. It did quite well in post war US testing. The Shinden never got out of the prototype phase, so we may never know.
It’s shocking to see how the Allied forces underestimated Japanese aircraft. Pearl Harbor and Force Z were brutal lessons about the risks of overconfidence and underestimating opponents.
They didn't independently design it though. They were helped by the British prior to joining the axis and then were helped by a someone who defected to Japan. The reason they had carrier in the first place was also because of help from the British. They were allies during ww1 so weren't expected to join the axis
Help in the early 20s = fighter designs in the late 30s? What? You might as well say the British supplied them too because they sold an airplane to Japan in 1919 if you're going to totally ignore that any design help might be a teensy bit outdated 15 years later..
*The Zero was symbolic of Japanese war philosophy: your vulnerability is irrelevant if you deliver a first, fatal blow to the enemy. The fallback plan was to die bravely in battle.*
Hi, you uploaded a great video. I wish to raise a small but significant issue and I hope you will provide the requested action. My request is to put metric units on ALL measurement units. 95% of the world are not as familiar with US units as US-based people. And I'll hazard a guess that majority of your viewers are from metric countries as well (that is to say not USA, Liberia (?) and Myanmar (?)). Again, good job as always, but please be consistent in providing metric units. Thanks!
I think the zero sits up there with the p-51 Mustang, b1b lancer, and f14 tomcat on the "Sexiest planes to fly" list. Shout out to the early mig's in korea and vietnam
Japanese sacrificed armor and firepower for speed and range. And for a time it worked. But it can only get you so far in a war of attrition against the US with her massive war production. Add to that Japans continued loss of her best pilots some veterans since the Sino-Japanese war. It was doomed to fail
Okay, what in the world is going on at 8:00? I think you'd be better off with a table of statistics than a graphic of representations that aren't in any but the loosest possible senses representative. I'd understand simplifying, but three "cylinders" that are cubic? Where did that come from? And is that a Kate at 2:46? It's definitely not a "single-seat open cockpit fighter," with that long, entirely enclosed greenhouse-style cockpit. Seriously, I'd like to know what happened here. This is stuff I consider properly basic, that anyone who knows the subject should immediately see is profoundly flawed, and therefore dangerous to distribute as fact to anyone who doesn't know the subject.
Seems to me like either an editor was rushed to finish or an AI mistake. Wouldn't go as far as calling it dangerous, since i I view this more as edutainment than a historical document. Plus, anyone that wants to look more into the subject will probably just go to wikipedia and go from there.
What the IJN wanted, they got. Maneuverability and range. At the expense of pilot and aircraft survivability. But the Zero’s greatest strength was it’s superior pilots. Who were dead by 1943
Like many surviving World War II Japanese aircraft, most surviving Zeros are made up of parts from multiple airframes. As a result, some are referred to by conflicting manufacturer serial numbers. Other planes, such as those recovered after decades in a wrecked condition, have been reconstructed to the extent that the majority of their structure is made up of modern parts.
Lack of armor and self sealing tanks was not uncommon at the time. The main issue of the zero is that its tiny frame and lack of power could not incorporate those additions later on. The main culprit was that the Japanese lacked the expertise in producing powerful engines for small planes. And when did come up with a good design, they lacked the alloys and resources.
It was a good fighter for the fight it had to do. If the Zero was any heavier, it would have been unable to fly to Guadalcanal from Rabaul AND back. Imperfect fighter coverage Is better than no coverage at all.
I'm not sure that the Zero dominated the war until mid 1943. In the battles around Guadalcanal it seems to me that they were slightly outmatched by the Wildcat.
All these nerds talking about what people already know. What is lacking is the basic notion that a plane is a tangible expression of the tactics and strategy of a nation. The zero was the perfect expression of Japans war philosophy: hit hard, fly far and fast. Its demise has more to do with the inadequacy of such philosophy rather than lack of self fueling tanks. If they added those, the zero would have had far less range, which was very important for the Japanese war effort.
If you can't beat them, learn from them. Since the planes of the US weren't fast enough to catch up to the Zero. You have to develop tactics against it, such as taking advantage of its weak armor.
That happened all the Time... Even experienced Japanese Pilots knew how to counter the Tatch wave... The problem Is that there wer few of those later on!
We had the better aircraft fairly early on in the war, just only the marines used it which limited it's effectiveness because the Navy felt it too risky for carrier use. The F4U Corsair could out climb, out dive, out gun(at least the cannon equipped F4U-1C), and out run the Zero in level flight, and while it couldn't equal the Zero in a turn fight, it was better in a rate fight than basically every american plane used in the war save the P-39, except the Corsair could take the fight vertical where the Zero was weakest. All this while being about as rugged, tough, and survivable as the Grumman barrel fighters and the Jug.
Speaking about designing and constructing airplanes, why has Japan not developed a passenger plane industry, like Airbus and Boeing? I am sure the Japanese are more than capable to do so.
Japan had bigger problems during the formative years of the jet age, and by the time they were industrially roaring back, market entry was already cost prohibitive for the aircraft they needed. The government could have pumped in 50 billion (in todays money), and gotten a domestic manufacturer, but decided to spend that elsewhere, plus buying aircraft from the US had various benefits, like good PR and offshoring risk.
@@adambane1719 You keep repeating the same thing like it's really deep or something. Why don't you elaborate on your profound statement so we can humiliate you.
@@soulknife20doesnt take away the fact that however bad the Japanese were, the western Powers were blinded by their arrogance AND racial prejudice at the start.
Yamamoto Isoroku would have ordered Japaneses to collect any Hellcat so that he could learn American technique to make deals with it, if he hadn’t been killed in 1943. But it barely change anything
Old Filipino's said that Japanese Fighter Planes or what they called as Tora Tora. Can actually fly very low that even in a stiff terrain and jungle they would fly lower just to scared the locals. The only thing you are lucky is when the Japanese planes are in group, you'll survived but if its only one Japanese Fighter. Better hide cause the Japanese pilots will literally use you as their genie pigs
@@adambane1719there’s no such this as a fair fight in war: you play to your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, and strike at enemies weaknesses. There’s only winners and losers.
Make a video on why young and handsome ussr boi (country )refused to annex naughty Mongol sundere girl (country) how did she felt make a video about it.
What Amaze me the most is Japan literally Fighting the Soviet's, Chinese, Americans, Local Allies of America such as the Philippines, Australians, Britain, France. Meanwhile Italy can't even defeat Greece. 😰🤣
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"never dogfight with a Zero" advice that held true to the end of the war. America's number 2 ace, Thomas McGuire made this mistake late in the war and paid with his life. Yes, it was an Oscar but very similar plane.
Didn't know about McGuire's story and just read it. It's a shame that his engine stalled.
FINALLY, the Zero gang has long awaited this day.
Banzai🇯🇵
Zero gang rise up!
But don’t rise up too much or those Hellcats will mess you up 💀💀💀
FOR REAL. It's such a incredible plane
@@RoughRouser Or Corsairs for that matter
Great episode as always! I would absolutely love to see an episode on the Corsair. One of my favorites growing up yet I don’t see much about it
Excellent summary of the history of the Zero. In defense of its creators, at the time it was being developed and fielded the use of pilot and engine armor and fuel tank protection in fighter aircraft was just emerging-the American F4F only receiving its protection around the time of the first carrier engagements at Coral Sea and Midway. Japanese designers were well aware of the benefits of pilot and engine armor and fuel tank protection, but the excellent performance of the Zero depended upon its light weight. Tests to add such severely limited its range, which was unacceptable in light of IJN doctrine, which itself depended upon maintaining a fighting advantage by keeping the carriers out of the range of enemy attack planes. So, the Zero soldiered on to its own destruction, pretty as it had been originally created.
This Is the best comment, understanding the plane not as a collection of performance stats, but as a result of war doctrine. Very good!
Your AI video creation software doesn't seem up to the task. Pictures of Vals? standing in for open cockpit fighters? Ridiculous 3 cylinder radials?
yeah man im not liking AI for factual videos. I love me some authentic Black and white photos from the era. AI content is OK for like....showing flags i guess? theres plenty of cool footage of the zero in action and in china they couldve pulled...
So happy for this upload!!
What doomed the Zero was the emphasis on speed and maneuverability at the expense of survivability and firepower.
You don’t say?
Well said. The lack of self sealing fuel takes added to these issues as well.
not neccisarily, the issue was a combination of japans logistics, lack of naval supremacy (which these aircraft were built for bear in mind) and a failure to plan ahead and upgrade the design as needed.
@@onebritishboi9892 And the huge improvement of the US pilots combined with better tactics.
the main reason was that Japanese were not able to make more powerful engine at the time.
because their engine was weak, they had to reduce the weight of the plane, so they could not put armour plates,
and compromise on many equipments that could protect the pilots better.
also, their electronics technology was behind that of Europe and USA.
The long promised video. Looking forward to this.
I used to live in Hawaii and have spoken to several older people on Oahu who remember the Zeros flying so low during the Pearl Harbor attack that they could see the leather flight helmets of the pilots...
I've read the book Samurai, the biography of Saburo Sakai, Zero pilot and top ace, a riveting read. There is also Winged Samurai: Saburo Sakai and the Zero Fighter Pilots by Henry Sakaida.
The aircraft which appears early in the video at about 3 minutes looks like an Aichi D3A Val, complete with bomb.
Can't wait for you to do that video on the Hellcat and the Corsair. Great video.
I’ve been wanting this one for a minute ❤
Sidenote: Nakajima Aircraft (Engine maker of Zero) is a predecessor to Subaru today. Like BMW, they survived as car manufacturer.
Yep, and Kawanishi survives as ShinMeiwa, still making flying boats to this day, not to mention Mitsubishi.
Aichi was acquired by Nissan postwar and left the manufacturing business completely so it's gone.
Should we take a look at Kawasaki who was the plane supplier of Japanese Army later?
2:18 The Wind Rises. Great movie (historical fiction, I know)
Dogfights was my favorite program in the History Channel. Remember the old 666!
Thanks for the video
excellent as always
For its name, the "Type Zero" came from it being adopted in 1940, aka 2600 in the Japanese imperial calendar (only the last 2 numbers were used, the dive bomber adopted in 1939/2599 was the Type 99). The nickname "Reisen/零戦" was a shortening of its full designation "零式艦上戦闘機/Rei-shiki kanjou sentouki" or Type 0 Carrier-Based Fighter, where "Rei" is "Zero" and "Sen" is the first part of "Fighter".
i love japanese nomenclature, and thank you for this insight. i never knew that was the reason they were called "Type-X"! fascinating
@dogsbecute One annoying thing with their nomenclature is that sometimes they will use "X" year of the emperor's reign rather than the imperial calendar. For example, the Type 38 Rifle was adopted in Meiji 38 (1905), not imperial year 2538 (1878), while the Type 99 Rifle was adopted in imperial year 2599 (1939). Luckily, the imperial year nomenclature is much more common, but it's something to watch out for.
The Zero was like the battlecruiser concept: heavyweight firepower but the chin of a lightweight fighting heavyweights, banking on speed and maneuverability to compensate.
You might score some rounds or even wins if your opponents haven't figured you out yet, but once they do, there's a reason classes exist.
Zero was outclassed as a concept and even as a machine from late 1942 onward, just as Japan was, with all punching above their weight which was cute until they take a right hook called a Thatch Weave or 1000lb bomb to a flight deck defended by magazine-fed canNOTS.
This metaphor sounds all very good but it takes a fighter to be able to get on the tail of a Zero to shoot it down. In the early years, the Zero had its way over Buffaloes, Airacobras, Tomahawks and the British Hurricane. Only when faster and manoeuvrable fighters like Hellcats and Corsairs) came on board and later mark of Spitfires were the Zeroes matched. ( Not the initial Mark V) . Once hit by fire, the Zeroes exploded in flames and its vulnerability came to the fore.
Thatch weave isnt some uncounterable manuever lol
@@Vierzehn014true. But it was good enough and the Zero pilots couldn't really unlock it especially as time wore on with the untrained personnel and equipment on hand, so even though it could be theoretically countered, reality was it wasn't.
@@richardbanker3910 you're right but even with marginally inferior equipment as far as performance goes (Wildcat, Tomahawk, etc.) the Allied still held their own with improved tactics. The steady output of adequate pilots and adequate equipment from an industrial powerhouse was inevitably going to win against a country with marginally superior equipment but industrial pauper-hood and initially vastly superior pilots whose attrition would result in inadequate numbers of inadequate pilots.
Yeah not really, the zero was kicking the Americans in the teeth and holding it's own until the Americans introduced the Hellcat
The official Japanese name for the Zero fighter is the TYPE Zero carrier-based air fight machine.
16:17
There was a very popular band in Bombay named after this plane.
The A7M Reppu was intended to be its sucessor but as with Japan, it lacked the time and resource to bring it into service
You couldn't get worse debut than having your factory collapsed on your prototypes days before the maiden flight because of the earthquake...
One of the most iconic planes of WWII
Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.
Until it's finally decided you've marinated in your arrogance long enough - then it moves swiftly and mercilessly
@@RENEGADEJon19 You can't win a fair fight against unscrupulous people
@@adambane1719 It was never a fair fight to begin with, it was a foolish huge gamble that had little chance of success.
I always loved the Zero, it's truly a beautiful plane that dominated in the early war.
@@jameshannagan4256 America hijacked Japans fair fight in Asia with their oil embargoes and false flag entry into the war for "American interests"
Off topic, can king and generals do a series about the 80 years independent war and golden age of the Netherlands? As a Dutch man this conflict is still massively confusing because it was so chaotic
Make a video on the history of lakshadweep islands please
I’ve had the fortune to see one of these planes in person! I live near Dayton where the Air Force museum is; they have two Zeros on display.
Please do more videos covering aircraft. Including Cold War jets!
Like all their equipment, they were in service for a long time. They didn’t have to industry to replace/update everything
More pacific war episode compilation
In fairness to the British, it's hard to get excited about the A6M. It was a far away threat. The Germans were in their face and Bombing them in 1940. The ME 109 was of more concern and more dangerous because they were flying in from France to the Homeland. The A6M was a threat to the Colonials such as Australia or India.
What a coincidence, yesterday I started a game of civ 5 as Japan. One of two Japanese unique units is the zero! 😁
Really good stuff...thank you for detailed historical content about technologies like the Zero fighter. I look forward to similar treatments for a whole list of planes...many of which others have already suggested. 👍💯😁
Though...you could teach your reader AI how to say Grumman a lot better. LOL
As anyone seen the movie "When the Wind Rises." Even though it doesn't mention it the movie is a little about the man who help design the Zero Fighter. It's a pretty interesting movie.
Thanks 👍
Nk2 Shinden fighter: Am i late!?
Shinden is J7W which was way a land based interceptor late introduced
You probably mean the N1K2 Shiden Kai, land base variant of the N1K1 Kyoofu floatplane, which also introduced late in the war (except the Kyoofu)
@@cardiv5zuikaku944 I think you mean N1K2-J for the Shiden Kai, the "-J" is important as it is what signified that it was a land based fighter rather than a seaplane fighter. The N1K1-J was the Shiden (no Kai) and was land based, but still had a mid wing rather than the low wing of the later N1K2-J. Similarly, the seaplane fighter variant of the Zero was the A6M2-N.
@@Quasarnova1 yes
Ki-84 came back from being mauled in the Philippines: I'd say...
Both Shinden and Hayate were launched two years late in my opinion.
@thanakonpraepanich4284 The Hayate had performance specs that were competitive in 1945, but it suffered from poor quality fuel, unreliable engines, and of course poorly trained pilots. It did quite well in post war US testing. The Shinden never got out of the prototype phase, so we may never know.
It’s shocking to see how the Allied forces underestimated Japanese aircraft. Pearl Harbor and Force Z were brutal lessons about the risks of overconfidence and underestimating opponents.
They didn't independently design it though. They were helped by the British prior to joining the axis and then were helped by a someone who defected to Japan. The reason they had carrier in the first place was also because of help from the British. They were allies during ww1 so weren't expected to join the axis
The Japanese worked with British engineers and then improved and bettered their technology.... overnight !
Help in the early 20s = fighter designs in the late 30s? What? You might as well say the British supplied them too because they sold an airplane to Japan in 1919 if you're going to totally ignore that any design help might be a teensy bit outdated 15 years later..
I've been waiting for this and I love the writing and the art is awesome!
This could be a new whole series, Rise and Fall ww2 weapon and machinery
*The Zero was symbolic of Japanese war philosophy: your vulnerability is irrelevant if you deliver a first, fatal blow to the enemy. The fallback plan was to die bravely in battle.*
Early war fighters of all nations in general usually lacked armo(u)r.
Hi, you uploaded a great video. I wish to raise a small but significant issue and I hope you will provide the requested action. My request is to put metric units on ALL measurement units. 95% of the world are not as familiar with US units as US-based people. And I'll hazard a guess that majority of your viewers are from metric countries as well (that is to say not USA, Liberia (?) and Myanmar (?)).
Again, good job as always, but please be consistent in providing metric units. Thanks!
The channel runners are Canadian.
I think the zero sits up there with the p-51 Mustang, b1b lancer, and f14 tomcat on the "Sexiest planes to fly" list. Shout out to the early mig's in korea and vietnam
Oh I've never heard about this captured zero thing. I wonder how influential it was in the development of the hellcat.
Japanese sacrificed armor and firepower for speed and range. And for a time it worked. But it can only get you so far in a war of attrition against the US with her massive war production. Add to that Japans continued loss of her best pilots some veterans since the Sino-Japanese war. It was doomed to fail
Okay, what in the world is going on at 8:00? I think you'd be better off with a table of statistics than a graphic of representations that aren't in any but the loosest possible senses representative. I'd understand simplifying, but three "cylinders" that are cubic? Where did that come from?
And is that a Kate at 2:46? It's definitely not a "single-seat open cockpit fighter," with that long, entirely enclosed greenhouse-style cockpit.
Seriously, I'd like to know what happened here. This is stuff I consider properly basic, that anyone who knows the subject should immediately see is profoundly flawed, and therefore dangerous to distribute as fact to anyone who doesn't know the subject.
Shitty AI video making program. Sad that this channel has stooped to the level of using AI for videos.
These assets were made in blender, i have a feeling their sources are a bit off.
Seems to me like either an editor was rushed to finish or an AI mistake.
Wouldn't go as far as calling it dangerous, since i
I view this more as edutainment than a historical document. Plus, anyone that wants to look more into the subject will probably just go to wikipedia and go from there.
Show the F4U Corsair some love
What the IJN wanted, they got. Maneuverability and range. At the expense of pilot and aircraft survivability. But the Zero’s greatest strength was it’s superior pilots. Who were dead by 1943
Like many surviving World War II Japanese aircraft, most surviving Zeros are made up of parts from multiple airframes. As a result, some are referred to by conflicting manufacturer serial numbers. Other planes, such as those recovered after decades in a wrecked condition, have been reconstructed to the extent that the majority of their structure is made up of modern parts.
WWIII?! Are you from the future?
The lack of armor and self sealing gas tanks cost the Japanese pilots which were impossible for the Japanese to replace.
Lack of armor and self sealing tanks was not uncommon at the time. The main issue of the zero is that its tiny frame and lack of power could not incorporate those additions later on. The main culprit was that the Japanese lacked the expertise in producing powerful engines for small planes. And when did come up with a good design, they lacked the alloys and resources.
It was a very good fighter plane of the 1930s. Unfortunately, it was a 1930s fighter in a war of the 1940s.
Yup. Then it met the Hellcat.
They dominated the Pacific theater and decimated the Americans in the early 40's
It was a good fighter for the fight it had to do. If the Zero was any heavier, it would have been unable to fly to Guadalcanal from Rabaul AND back. Imperfect fighter coverage Is better than no coverage at all.
They dominated the Pacific theater and decimated the Americans in the early 40's
Jiro Horikoshi's life is the basis of the Studio Ghibli movie 'The Wind Rises'
The Zero is technically the world's first long range bomber.
Great job! Its like Yarnhub but better voiceover.
The ONLY Critique is the color of Navy personnel in the video. Navy was either White or Black, while Army was dull green.
Long promised, and finally delivered!
I'm not sure that the Zero dominated the war until mid 1943. In the battles around Guadalcanal it seems to me that they were slightly outmatched by the Wildcat.
Shorts having a poor engagement to actual payout ratio eh?
Samurai of the sky
All these nerds talking about what people already know. What is lacking is the basic notion that a plane is a tangible expression of the tactics and strategy of a nation. The zero was the perfect expression of Japans war philosophy: hit hard, fly far and fast. Its demise has more to do with the inadequacy of such philosophy rather than lack of self fueling tanks. If they added those, the zero would have had far less range, which was very important for the Japanese war effort.
Yay! It's here! 🎉🎉🎉
3:30 Taihoku = Taipei = Formosa Taiwan under Japanese rule during ww2
I’ve always thought of the zero as a scooter with machine guns strapped to its side lol
My favorite aircraft of the war. It's such a terrible beauty.
I am still waiting for the ottoman empire documentary
If you can't beat them, learn from them. Since the planes of the US weren't fast enough to catch up to the Zero. You have to develop tactics against it, such as taking advantage of its weak armor.
That happened all the Time... Even experienced Japanese Pilots knew how to counter the Tatch wave... The problem Is that there wer few of those later on!
We had the better aircraft fairly early on in the war, just only the marines used it which limited it's effectiveness because the Navy felt it too risky for carrier use. The F4U Corsair could out climb, out dive, out gun(at least the cannon equipped F4U-1C), and out run the Zero in level flight, and while it couldn't equal the Zero in a turn fight, it was better in a rate fight than basically every american plane used in the war save the P-39, except the Corsair could take the fight vertical where the Zero was weakest. All this while being about as rugged, tough, and survivable as the Grumman barrel fighters and the Jug.
Next : Rise and fall of German uboat
Dumb question, just signed up today, but where do I find the discord server invite?
Please put the speed in km/h and the distance in meters. People out of the US, will appreciate.
Bumpity bump bump
Speaking about designing and constructing airplanes, why has Japan not developed a passenger plane industry, like Airbus and Boeing? I am sure the Japanese are more than capable to do so.
Japan had bigger problems during the formative years of the jet age, and by the time they were industrially roaring back, market entry was already cost prohibitive for the aircraft they needed. The government could have pumped in 50 billion (in todays money), and gotten a domestic manufacturer, but decided to spend that elsewhere, plus buying aircraft from the US had various benefits, like good PR and offshoring risk.
The West: Hah! the Japanese could never build a good plane!
Japan: *Bettu*
And then the Zero got wrecked. Due to lack of good pilots and the US having better pilots
@@soulknife20 You can't win a fair fight against unscrupulous people
@@adambane1719 You keep repeating the same thing like it's really deep or something. Why don't you elaborate on your profound statement so we can humiliate you.
@@soulknife20doesnt take away the fact that however bad the Japanese were, the western Powers were blinded by their arrogance AND racial prejudice at the start.
'Open cockpit' ?!
Yamamoto Isoroku would have ordered Japaneses to collect any Hellcat so that he could learn American technique to make deals with it, if he hadn’t been killed in 1943. But it barely change anything
I'm pretty sure the Japanese forces were constantly told that they were superior in every way to their enemies.
Old Filipino's said that Japanese Fighter Planes or what they called as Tora Tora. Can actually fly very low that even in a stiff terrain and jungle they would fly lower just to scared the locals.
The only thing you are lucky is when the Japanese planes are in group, you'll survived but if its only one Japanese Fighter. Better hide cause the Japanese pilots will literally use you as their genie pigs
The Hellcat was less maneuverable but not so much less maneuverable to where it mattered anymore.
It's crazy how Japam became so much powerful in so less time and gave tough time to western powers.
Only country on planet to do that.
And once Japan met the full might of the American Military Industrial Complex, they folded like a bad poker hand
@@soulknife20 You can't win a fair fight against unscrupulous people
@@adambane1719Yup.
@@adambane1719 It's hard to have that much sympathy for Japan considering the way they conducted themselves, especially with civilian populations.
@@adambane1719there’s no such this as a fair fight in war: you play to your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, and strike at enemies weaknesses. There’s only winners and losers.
Good video.
i doubt the zero being wrapped in tin foil helped much
When the episode of ottoman series is coming on 1453 😍😍
When ready
The F22 of its time...
Thank you Kings and General, you have Zero knowledge.
love the new WW2 planes stuff u r putting out
6:50 Mr Miyagi?
The zero was built for airshows not the rigors of warfare
designed by howard hughes
Combat legend? The Black Sheep entered the chat,,,,,,,,,
See the Miyazaki movie "The Wind Rises" for more
Kings and Generals, can you please make a video on the Srivijaya Empire and another video on the Malacca Sultanate. Please accept my request.
Very good history 👍
Loved the back ground music
Make a video on why young and handsome ussr boi (country )refused to annex naughty Mongol sundere girl (country) how did she felt make a video about it.
Very nice video 📹 👍 👌
MALAYAN AIR CAMPAIGN won by IJA Fighter Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa, not Mitsubishi A-6M2 Zero.
Why does he keep saying Grumman so weird?
What Amaze me the most is Japan literally Fighting the Soviet's, Chinese, Americans, Local Allies of America such as the Philippines, Australians, Britain, France.
Meanwhile Italy can't even defeat Greece. 😰🤣