Best Japanese Fighter of WWII?

by the end of the pacific war the n1k2 george was the best the ijn had inservice (alltho saburo saki is reported to have not liked it ).
and the ki100 or ki84 were the best the army had .
if the war had lasted 6 months longer there were some fairly promising aircraft coming on line like the a7m2 reppu ,j7w1shinden ,ki83 and others that might have made problems for the allies over japan but not changed the final out come

Well, I am not a regular on the Historical Forum………….Yet, I can see I wasted my time.

Hi Scooter,
Don’t take it personally, just think a bit more about the question. ‘Best’ this that and the other, without an appropriate context, is better kept to teeny magazine pop star profiles next to ‘favourite colour’. There’s a bit more depth of thought here (most of the time…)
Cheers

Well, I am not a regular on the Historical Forum………….Yet, I can see I wasted my time.

No disrespect, but the “which is best” argument has been done to death many times, allied and axis. It generally comes down to a stalemate, because each aircraft had redeemable and adverse features. Each had it’s part to play, the Zero was probably the best the Japs had at the outset of the war. It out classed virtually everything thrown at it. However without the constant upgrading that allied aircraft went through it its self became out classed. Toward the end of the war the Ki100 could be classed as the best they had, but probably came too late.

So I would ask at which point in the Pacific War are you referring to.

Well, I am not a regular on the Historical Forum………….Yet, I can see I wasted my time.

I guess it depends what’s meant by best, whether it was best in the circumstances or best on paper. It has to be remembered that the Japanese had problems getting hold of the correct materials and skilled labour to build some of the more advanced designs of aircraft and engines, and so those that were best on paper weren’t always best in reality.
On paper it would probably be something like the Mitsubishi A7M Reppu or the Nakajima Ki84 Hayate, but considering Japan’s situation the best was probably the Ki100. It mated a relatively simple airframe with a tried, tested and mass-produced engine, and at the same time had excellent handling and armament and a performance that was good enough to enable it to contend with the late war allied fighters. In short, it was both a great fighter and a design that the industry could actually build in numbers.
That’s my tuppence-worth anyway…

Got it – J7W1 Shinden…

vid here

http://www.vit.or.jp/~tomo/gami/movie1/shinden.mpg

TT

whatabout that bonkers Japanese pusher type – a bit Dornier 335 like – someone posted a link to a video here a while back

Boy…some severe clutch slip with this one! 😀

From my limited knowledge of Japanese WWII iron (all of it coming from books/mags/internet), I’d say either the Nakajima Ki84 Hayate or the Kawasaki Ki100, the radial-engined variant of the Ki61 Hien. Both types are, sadly, represented only by single survivors, both static in museums (though the Ki84 did fly, with its original engine, with the Maloney collection in the sixties)…

Back in first gear…

Cheers

S.

Enola Gay the mother of Col Paul Tibbets was a Japanese Fighter, Sumo I assume ???? 🙂

Oh dear.

Enola Gay?

Enola Gay the mother of Col Paul Tibbets was a Japanese Fighter, Sumo I assume ???? 🙂

What was the best operational Japanese Fighter of WWII? :rolleyes:

Enola Gay?

Or the 240 K-GT Skyline, a classic

Or even the Moco ????

Nissan Primera……

I think the Cherry was a much more accomplished design.

Sigh…Here we go again…Oscar….