casperwood96
ZERO 🇯🇵
It is the 1st of April, 1939 and the Mitsubishi A6M Zero takes off for the first time but the model was not introduce to the Japanese Imperial Navy until the 1st of July, 1941.The first Zeros which were 15 pre-series of the A6M2 went into operation with the 12th Rengo Kōkūtai sometime in the middle of July, 1941. On September 13th, 1941; the Zeros scored their first air-to-air kills when Lieutenant Saburo Shindo attacked and shot down 27 Soviet built Polikarpov I-15s and I-16s apart of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force without any loss to themselves! 521 were active in the Pacific while roughly 328 were in first line units. During the attack on Pearl Harbor is when U.S. pilots encountered the Zero for the first time and the exact model they encountered was the carrier-borne Model 21. It's TREMENDOUS range of over 2,600 km(1,600 mi) allowed the aircraft travel farther away from it's carrier than originally expected! During 1941, the Zero quickly gained a FEARSOME reputation in the Pacific because she could easily dispose any current aircraft the allies were sending to that region. The Zero has even proved itself to be a difficult opponent for the Supermarine Spitfire and for RAF pilots.The techniques the RAF used against the German and French equipment proved to be suicidal. Allied pilots eventually came up with a new strategy on how to engage with a Zero because the traditional turning dogfight was 9/10 fatal for the allied airmen. It was better to attack from above by committing a high-speed dive, firing a few burts while passing the Zero, committed steep climb and repeat. It usually only took a few rounds from the heavy machine guns to bring down the EXTREMELY fragile Zero. This new tactic was HEAVILY used against the Japanese Zeros during the defense of Guadalcanal by Grumman F4F pilots.This tactic was made possible during the defense because of a early warning system that consisted of Coastwatchers and radar. The Japanese Imperial Navy lost many highly experienced pilots during the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway which caused the Japanese Carrier Air Force to suffer a HUGE blow, one that would cause them to NEVER fully recover.
ZERO 🇯🇵
It is the 1st of April, 1939 and the Mitsubishi A6M Zero takes off for the first time but the model was not introduce to the Japanese Imperial Navy until the 1st of July, 1941.The first Zeros which were 15 pre-series of the A6M2 went into operation with the 12th Rengo Kōkūtai sometime in the middle of July, 1941. On September 13th, 1941; the Zeros scored their first air-to-air kills when Lieutenant Saburo Shindo attacked and shot down 27 Soviet built Polikarpov I-15s and I-16s apart of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force without any loss to themselves! 521 were active in the Pacific while roughly 328 were in first line units. During the attack on Pearl Harbor is when U.S. pilots encountered the Zero for the first time and the exact model they encountered was the carrier-borne Model 21. It's TREMENDOUS range of over 2,600 km(1,600 mi) allowed the aircraft travel farther away from it's carrier than originally expected! During 1941, the Zero quickly gained a FEARSOME reputation in the Pacific because she could easily dispose any current aircraft the allies were sending to that region. The Zero has even proved itself to be a difficult opponent for the Supermarine Spitfire and for RAF pilots.The techniques the RAF used against the German and French equipment proved to be suicidal. Allied pilots eventually came up with a new strategy on how to engage with a Zero because the traditional turning dogfight was 9/10 fatal for the allied airmen. It was better to attack from above by committing a high-speed dive, firing a few burts while passing the Zero, committed steep climb and repeat. It usually only took a few rounds from the heavy machine guns to bring down the EXTREMELY fragile Zero. This new tactic was HEAVILY used against the Japanese Zeros during the defense of Guadalcanal by Grumman F4F pilots.This tactic was made possible during the defense because of a early warning system that consisted of Coastwatchers and radar. The Japanese Imperial Navy lost many highly experienced pilots during the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway which caused the Japanese Carrier Air Force to suffer a HUGE blow, one that would cause them to NEVER fully recover.