The Other Japanese Fighters

[GTX]

Getting back to the start, what if the Japanese developed the Kawanishi N1K-J (see pic in first post) into a torpedo fighter in the same mold as the FW-190A-5/U-14 or Fiat G.55 Silurante?

Fw-190A-5/U-14:




Fiat G.55 Silurante:




Regards,

Greg

[jcf]

Maybe, not sure why though as the IJN had a pair of very good single engine torpedo bombers, the B6A and B7A, unlike the Italians and Germans who had bupkus and thus were forced into  the torpedo-fighter concept.

However, working kind of along those lines, how about turning the B7A into a single-seater ala the Firebrand, Skyraider or Mauler? - I know, not a fighter.



The N1K2-J could be good in a ground-attack role, say as an IJN analog of the Corsair.

The Ki 45 and Ki 84 as torpedo-fighters for the IJA in the beach defense role is a possiblity.

Jon

[Matt Wiser]

There's also the Zero's successor, the A7M Sam. Saburo Sakai test flew one and he loved it, but there were three main problems in getting the plane into service, and it never did get into squadron service before the end of the war: 1) The JNAF's bureaucracy-they didn't want to interfere with Zero production even though against the F6F, F4U, P-38, P-47, and P-51 the Zero was hopelessly outclassed. 2) Problems with the engine-overheating resulting in engine fires-a test pilot got killed in one as a result. 3) Once B-29 raids began, the production plant was moved-and then it got trashed by an earthquake. Only a dozen production examples finished by 15 Aug 45 as a result...

[dragon]

Mine! B)  

[r16]

http://www.geocities.jp/sawatoshi201/WWII.html

digitally coloured pictures and I was thinking the Japanese canard was something small . Can't attach the relevant picture , but I think the site is worth checking for those that didn't see it .

as for torpedo FW - 190s , how about them sinking USS Princeton as I get the impression that one group of Japanese fliers surprised the Americans with their flight formation on that particular date as I remember from an old book I have . And didn't Germans sink Repulse and Prince of Wales with Tirpitz or one thousand Japanese carrier aircraft attack the Force Z ?

2 out 3 are hearsay from a John Toland book ; the third I was planning to Jpeg with my torpedo 190.

[GTX]

digitally coloured pictures

Interesting find there R16 - this one especially stood out to me (bright yellow kikka):


Regards,

Greg

[GTX]

There's also the Zero's successor, the A7M Sam.

Ah yes, the Mitsubishi A7M Reppu (Hurricane), Allied code-named "Sam" :




Regards,

Greg

[GTX]

Here's another idea:

During WWi Japan was on the Allied side (there was even an Anglo-Japanese Alliance).  What if this continued to be the case in WWII (a big what-if I know)?  Maybe Japanese aircraft could be supplied to the allies in much the same way as American aircraft were?

Regards,

Greg

[B777LR]

And didn't Germans sink Repulse and Prince of Wales with Tirpitz or one thousand Japanese carrier aircraft attack the Force Z ?

Repulse + Prince of Wales = Force Z = Sunk by japanese G4M betty medium bomber carrying torpedoes. The british admiral didnt even beleive that any long range torpedobombers excisted. Only one or two enemy aircraft were shot down during the action.

Tirpitz = sat in a norwegian fjord for the whole of its career :zzz:  

[GTX]

Here's another one - what if instead of replacing the Ki-61's Kawasaki Ha-40 (licence-built DB 601) with a Mitsubishi Ha 112-II radial engine to produce the Ki-100, Kawasaki instead kept 'Germanic' and used a license-built DB 605?



Regards,

Greg

[jcf]

Here's another one - what if instead of replacing the Ki-61's Kawasaki Ha-40 (licence-built DB 601) with a Mitsubishi Ha 112-II radial engine to produce the Ki-100, Kawasaki instead kept 'Germanic' and used a license-built DB 605?

Seeing as they switched from the license built 601 because of major quality issues/low maintainability, low production rates and, finally, the destruction by B-29s of the engine plant, you'd need a miracle to pull off mass production of a good quality 605.

Even if that was accomplished a DB 605 would, most probably, have looked like a late model Ki 61-11 Kai.



Jon

[r16]

at times it becomes necessary to underline outrageousness of what one is about to write.

as for Tirpitz .By simply being in existence it occupied up to 4 British battleships , the mere fact that it could not be found where it was supposed to be found caused the British Admiralty to disperse the PQ 17, and the the fact that the majority of the sunken ships were American would be a huge problem but for the fact that Washington was fully committed to fight Germans .

Tirpitz might have a glorious place in naval history as the ship  that defeated the entire RN , as the forces in Scapa might have been much more active against the Japanese , even Singapore might have been kept.

these are personal ideas and have no negative slant against B777LR.

[GTX]

Well here's another twist - apparently before the outbreak of war, many countries had expressed interest in building the Spitfire, under licence, in particular Japan!  

Regards,

Greg

[r16]

from a site mentioned back in 2004,which was probably first found by JoeP.
I had thought this would be Dora Oberlicht but the picture is actually named Hanna.

http://www.warbirds.jp/kakuki/kakjitu/ouka63.htm


once again , I really like it here .I had never had heard of the Me-109 .If you are wondering what I am doing with those old posts from 2004 , from about 40 MB of what I took home I keep 3MB of pictures and some 32KB of text. I really learn things here.

[GTX]

Another thought here - what if the radial engine of the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa was replaced with an inline Kawasaki Ha-40 (licence-built DB 601):



Regards,

Greg