The same situation exists to this day for the Mitsubishi A6M series.
Most people, and especially virtual pilots of the USN persuasion, continue to propagate the myth that the Zero was poorly built. They were actually well built, and had a lot of hand craftsmanship in the airframe.
Their fragility was by design, as it was the only way that the designers could meet the seemingly contradictory specifications laid down by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
That is, 1500 mile range, extreme maneuverability, high rate of climb, cannon armament, and ease of maintenance on board ship, oh, and you only have 1000bhp to work with.
IMHO, the Zero, Spitfire, Bf 109, and P51 were the four most brilliant designs for fighters that came out of WW2.
Each one exceeded the expectations of their respective militarys, and all went on to become legends.
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Personally speaking, the P-40 could contend on an equal footing with all the types of Messerschmitts, almost to the end of 1943.
~Nikolay Gerasimovitch Golodnikov
Last edited by ElAurens; 12-31-2011 at 01:11 PM.
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