The Mitsubishi Zero: Imperial Japan’s Kamikaze Weapon

[@FreeThePorgs]

Japan's mistake was also not "rotating" there pilots out. The WW2 US navy after a pilot did something like 50(or close, don't remember) missions they were sent back to the USA to train new pilots, putting them as instructors to teach their real-world combat experience to newbie pilots with just more than a paper explanation on what to do. Japan kept their experienced pilots in the front till they died and not passing on their experience to new rookie pilots.

[@MrTexasDan]

Well, that was "a" mistake. There were others. They did not follow up the Zero with a more powerful or more survivable design. They went to war with a country that had over 5x the GDP. They did not acquire or stabilize the necessary resources. Etc.

[@nomercynodragonforyou9688]

@@MrTexasDan Only better design were from rival aircraft, lol

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

Another huge problem was the fact that during 1941 and early 1943 the IJN only trained around 5,000 new pilots while the USN trained around four times as much in the same time, this was in part due to the US's greater resources, but also because of they very long and intense pre-war drafting system in the IJN.

[@NewtypeCommander]

​@@MrTexasDanDon't forget about the interservice rivalry. Both the IJA and the IJN had a mutual distrust and hatred for each other, and would undermine the other if it meant their own service would get better funding. Both even had different doctrines on prosecuting the war, with the Army wanting to continue invading China and the Navy all in on seizing the South Pacific.

[@MrTexasDan]

@@Amlaeuxrai They had to attack the us fleet in Hawaii, as they needed freedom to neutralize the Philippines, which is directly on the supply lines to the Dutch East Indies and the oil.

[@williamashbless7904]

An intact Zero was captured in the Aleutian campaign and operated by US fighter evaluators. Lessons learned from this were instrumental in understanding how to defeat Zero.

[@thehandoftheking3314]

Kind of bought the performance evaluation for the aluetenn zero was nothing like what Actual zero could do

[@Shar-Tel]

Zero, the TIE fighter of WWII

[@tomriddle5564]

Actually not. 3-4 .50 cal incendiary rounds in its wing root tanks and it was instantly on fire. It also sacrificed armor for weight. A Japanese pilot in a Zero had no more than thin aviation aluminum and flight control equipment to stop bullets. I can go on and on but I hope you understand the Zero or a6m is more myth than fact. The F 6 F Hell Cat tho is more fact than myth.

[@Shar-Tel]

@@tomriddle5564 That's exactly why I said it's like a TIE fighter, it's fast and nimble but it has zero protection for the pilot or itselft. The X-Wing has shields, TIE fighter pilots were expendable like Zero pilots.

[@tomriddle5564]

@@Shar-Tel well my deluded friend I’m talking REALITY you’re talking Fantasy. Seek Professional help and please don’t Breed.

[@norbertocarlosagustinkushi1916]

A6M2 'Zero' vs F4F 'Wildcat' - An Unfair Fight in the Pacific? Military Aviation History

[@norbertocarlosagustinkushi1916]

A6M Zero - Legend vs. Reality Military Aviation History

[@martinstallard2742]

0:59 design and development 6:03 dominance in the skies 9:20 war of attrition 12:12 kamikaze

[@sandybarnes887]

Thank you very much

[@jeffreyhyder2429]

There is only one operational Zero in the world. It’s located at Chino Municipal Airport in Chino, CA. It’s an incredibly beautiful and smooth flying plane. I feel lucky to have seen it fly multiple times.

[@johnsledge3942]

Same here, I’ve seen it more times than I can count. It’s really a beautiful aircraft to see in person, and the history around that particular a6m5 is interesting. Next on my list is to see the last Ki-84 Hayate in Japan!

[@tigerman445]

Interesting. Just read the book Samurai about the Zero pilot. They got rid of so many good pilots before finishing their training for the most petty disciplinary reasons. It cost them in the end.

[@syitiger9072]

I think it came to Alaska to for an air show

[@johnhoney5089]

The only one with the original Sakae engine, that is. A while back another Zero was found wrecked in Papa New Guinea and restored, though I'd imagine it uses a postwar engine now.

[@zonzillamagnus5902]

Why no “Imperial West?”

[@SoloRenegade]

Even during the Solomons in 1943, the P-40, P-39, Spitfire, and F4F had a positive kill ratio against the Zero, meaning it already took more than 1 Zero to down a single Allied plane. The majority of the destruction of the Zeros and their top pilots early in the war was done by the F4F, P-40, and P-39.

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

Spitfires in the Solomons? Are you sure that happened? Having read Claringbould's work on the air war in the Solomons and New Guinea, allow me to introduce a healthy dose of skepticism to this claim, in the first phase of the Guadalcanal air campaign, the USN and USMC lost 115 F4F's to the IJN's 106 A6M Zero's and that is not counting USAAF losses, later in 1943 proper even the brand new P-38's and F-4U's units didn't seem to had been able to take a noticeble lead against Zero's stationed at Rabaul and Bouganville, with the deffinitive neutralization of Wewak and later Rabaul being actually mostly performed by the massed bombing raids rather than by attrition through air combat.

[@steveb6103]

Don't you mean the P38? The P39 was disliked by its pilots because it was underpowered and was limited to operations below 12,000 feet.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@steveb6103 No, the P-39 Airacobra. "The P39 was disliked by its pilots because it was underpowered and was limited to operations below 12,000 feet." wrong, stop spreading lies. The P-39 was faster than the Zero by 60mph and had a higher service ceiling. if you look at the combat records, the P-39 scored a positive kill ratio even in the earliest days of the war. Even despite being hamstrung. But the -39 killed more Zeros than they lost of their own aircraft, on a regular basis. in operations it was always assigned to fly low altitude ground support because of it's cannon, with the F4F providing top cover. but had the roles been reversed, with the P-39 providing top cover, it would have scored even better against the zero. US pilots from those early days are on the record admitting they judged the P-39 overly harshly and that it was not as bad as they claimed. Part of the reason for the bashing was what was happening early in the war. After Pearl Harbor, US pilots wanted revenge and were aggressively attacking the Zeros, throwing out all their training and tried maneuvering with the Zero out of anger. This was never going to work. Neither the airplane nor US fighter pilot doctrine supported maneuvering dogfights. The early US pilots were not well trained in boom and zoom, but once thy started to learn that boom and zoom is the proper way to use the P-39 and all other US fighters, things improved dramatically. One other reason for dislike was that early on they had been given some of the export variants, the P-400, that were neutered P-39s (lower performance). But once they got rid of those it wasn't as bad. By war's end, the P-39 had been lightened even more, kinks worked out, and was performing better still.

[@bonfiresgt]

That doesn't mean the Zero was an inferior fighter though. Kill ratios don't account for the number of fighters used in each engagement. The Zeros hardly had chances to fight with the number advantage on their side even at the start of the war, so if you take that into account they did pretty well.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@bonfiresgt "That doesn't mean the Zero was an inferior fighter though. " Absolutely right! The Zero was a fascinating aircraft, and I liken it to the F-22 of it's day, for a short time. It was incredibly maneuverable, the range was unheard of. It shocked the world on Dec 7, as previous reports of its existence weren't believed or just ignored. And it earned a fearsome reputation early on, so much so that we still talk about it today. If used properly, it's range in shorter distance attacks could have even be used to wear down the opponents, until they ran out of gas and had to go back to base before attacking. It's range enabled it to strike far, in unexpected places. Coincidentally, this is also how the US killed Yamamoto, by sending P-38s where Japan never expected them to reach. The incredible range demonstrated by the Kido Butai attacking from Formosa, is what enabled the Japanese to send all of their carriers to attack Pearl Harbor, instead of reserving 2 for the attack on the Philippines. Without the Zero, the Pearl Harbor strike force would have been much smaller. If you read the books "Zero" and "Eagles of Mitsubishi" together, it paints one hell of a story. and an unbiased one at that. the Japanese who wrote the books (the designer of the Zero, and Zero pilots), are very fair in their assessment of the Zero and its performance in WW2. They are very proud of its early successes and impact it had, but are very honest about its failures and shortcomings later in the war.

[@TheApplecyder]

The Wind Rises is a cool Ghibli film based around Jiro and the Zero's development. Would highly recommend, one of my favourite movies of all time!

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

Captain Eric Brown, the Chief Naval Test Pilot of the Royal Navy, recalled being impressed by the Zero during tests of captured aircraft. "I don't think I have ever flown a fighter that could match the rate of turn of the Zero. The Zero had ruled the roost totally and was the finest fighter in the world until mid-1943."

[@fractalign]

It was the most over rated fighter in the world more like it.

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

@@fractalign Dude... Don't embarass yourself, do you even know who Eric Brown was?

[@tomhenry897]

Ask brown if he would fly a plane into combat with out armor

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

@@tomhenry897 Tough shit for RAF fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain, since the Hurricanes and Spitifres weren't getting retroffited with it until the last few weeks of the campaign.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:05 - Chapter 1 - Design & development 6:10 - Chapter 2 - Dominance in the skies 9:25 - Chapter 3 - War of attrition 12:20 - Chapter 4 - Kamikaze

[@sandybarnes887]

Thanks

[@UnbelievableEricthegiraffe]

My grandfather met a Japanese POW in Singapore in 1946. The fellow had just had an operation on his eyes ,He was short sighted in one eye and longsighted in the other, He'd been awarded a Medal by his squadron leader in the Japanese Airforce for surviving 11 kamikaze missions

[@skyking6989]

Then he was terrible at his job..😂

[@joecary3586]

I heard once that if a kamikaze returned from five missions, he was declared a coward and executed.

[@comacollosasa6282]

I hate how the zero is always known as the kamikaze fighter, like it was only good enough to ram itself into a boat. While an unorthodox approach to fighter design, it did kick our ass for a year and a half

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

Not only that but Japan basically used almost any available planes as Kamikaze's, not just Zero's (the only exceptions being the latest IJN, IJAAF fighters and interceptors such as the Ki-84 Ki-61, N1K2-J, J2M, though those were still sometimes used in ramming attacks against B-29's).

[@ElicBehexan]

When I was in college, I had a prof who had fought in WWII. After the war, he was stationed in Japan. He met and befriended a Japanese businessman. After the businessman became comfortable with my prof he was invited over for a meal. Not knowing really any Japanese, my prof lifted a glass of saki and said "Banzai." His new friend dropped his glass and hurried from the room. Knowing he had offended his friend, he apologized. After a few minutes, the man returned. He filled a new glass and sat down. He explained he had been trained to be a Kamikaze pilot, but he had returned to the base alive. The meaning of the word was more than just a war cry, it was a greeting to the Japanese Emperor, who was, at that point, viewed as a God on Earth. It was a pledge to die for him, and he hadn't. It was a source of shame for this new friend of my future professor. Oh, and the class I took with him, a summer school class in 1973, was the last class he was teaching before retiring.

[@djzrobzombie2813]

Banzai!!!!!!

[@prussianhill]

I think I had one of the last WW2 vets to remain in teaching. One of my profs in law school was an AA gunner with the navy during Okinawa. He taught full time until 2018.

[@Fawx521]

Awesome story, thanks for sharing.

[@nzkshatriya6298]

@@djzrobzombie2813 not cool

[@ElicBehexan]

@@prussianhill my prof was an officer so he must have been older during WWII. It has been almost 30 years since the end of the war at that time. My dad had been drafted in probably 1944. He barely dodged getting sent to the Pacific theater by the end of the war in Europe. He died in 1984 at the age of 63.

[@RaderizDorret]

Fun fact: the aluminum alloy developed to build the Zero is now commonplace as the material used in the aluminum components of the AR-15 series rifles.

[@mho...]

Beautiful pieces of WW2 Engineering!

[@actonman7291]

The Eternal Zero top japanese film i recommed it regarding this iconic plane and his pilots.

[@EAWanderer]

Always up to see planes on Megaprojects! But im still waiting on the Soviet Mig 21 Fishbed THE most mass produced jet fighter of all time!

[@MrEd-qg8td]

Yes the Mig-21 gave the Phantom a run for it;s money

[@kaltaron1284]

Mitsubishi was one of the Zaibatsu. Huge industrial conglomerates that produced lots of different stuff. And while they have been legally dismantled after WWII, there's still lots of companies with Mitsubishi in the name and often close ties with each other. 6000 m is double of 4000 m? There's a museum in the south of Kyuushu, Japan called the Chiran Peace Museum that's dedicated to these "Special Operations" pilots as this was one of the bases they started from. It's very impressive and haunting to read the farewell letters of some of those young men. Lots of pathos in them of course.

[@sindrek8]

No 6000m is double the 3000m per 10 minutes they wanted. Instead it would go to 6000m in under 10 minutes.

[@kaltaron1284]

@@sindrek8 Ah, confused the climb rate with the service ceiling. My bad.

[@ToreDL87]

Mitsubishi is practically still a conglomerate (everything from lancer evolution to A/C units), but they didn't touch war material & equipment for a good while, they picked that up again by making jet trainers for the JSDAF, etc.

[@kaltaron1284]

@@ToreDL87 IIRC the structure usually has a bank in the center and the other companies have close ties to that and each other where useful. I'm sure we can expect Japan to increase domestic military industry with the way China is going.

[@bonfiresgt]

​@@kaltaron1284Well, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries does indeed serve a lot for the JSDF in terms of defense equipment, but if they had the choice they would pull out from the defense sector.

[@thatkancolleguy]

The shells mentioned in this video that explode only upon getting close to an aircraft rather than hitting it. These were shells made for the 5 inch/38 caliber heavy AA guns present on all US warships from destroyers to carriers by the end of the war. It is stated here that they relied on radio emissions from the aircraft they were being fired at. This is incorrect. They instead used a miniaturized radar in the nose of the shell. When that small radar got a strong enough return (presumably from the aircraft it was fired at) it would detonate the shell usually within a maximum of somewhere around 30ft away from the aircraft. This difference is important because if it relied on radio emissions as mentioned these shells would be completely ineffective against aircraft with their radios turned off. These inner workings of these shells weren’t known till after the war with most US sailors not even knowing how they worked.

[@fromfareastindy8234]

This video is very rational and reliable, with verified combat records of both Japan and the U.S. There are many people, not only in the US but even in Japan, who have believed misconceptions and lies about the performance and operation of the A6M. On the other hand, the Japanese military was not unaware of the problems with the A6M, such as the removal of armor to protect the crew when reducing the weight of the A6M and the decision not to adopt bulletproof fuel tanks. In fact, these problems were corrected in later specification changes. The fundamental problem was that Japan's strategy was to end the war with the U.S. at an early stage. It is said that this was largely due to the Monroe Doctrine, which was popular in the U.S. at the time. The Japanese believed that by inflicting heavy damage temporarily, public opinion in the U.S. would be inclined toward a cease-fire. However, this thinking was based on too much wishful thinking. Key figures in Japan's military, such as the well-known Yamamoto, were concerned about a prolonged war with the U.S. and believed that the odds of victory in a prolonged war were infinitesimally small. Ultimately, however, public opinion in Japan became too heated, and as a result, the military, which had intervened in politics, decided to start the war easily, simply because they did not want to lose support. Prolonging the war was problematic for Japan's war plans on all fronts. The prolonged war was a problem for Japan's war plan in every aspect: resources such as metals and fuel, human resources, basic industrial technology, and supply capabilities. According to Yamamoto, the maximum time limit was six months after the outbreak of the war, which was the guaranteed range for the war to be conducted with maximum efficiency. After that, it was believed that as time went on, the war would break down here and there. Furthermore, the expansion of problems due to America's industrial and production capacity, population, financial strength, and abundance of resources was obvious. The A6M remained a very good fighter for as long as it was originally envisioned and was accompanied by a proven track record. But the war turned out to be much longer and more severe than anticipated. This was the most significant factor in the A6M's demise and, arguably, the cause of Japan's loss of the war. Fortunately, Japan and the U.S. were able to build a good relationship after the war. Thanks to the United States, the world's largest and most advanced aerospace industry, we are able to see the A6M in flight even today, more than 70 years after the war. Above all, we can pray together for the repose of the souls of the pilots of both Japan and the U.S., who fought and died with all their might even in adverse circumstances. I would like to express my gratitude to those who risked their lives in battle, and to the research conducted by both Japan and the United States, which overcame the confusion after the war and verified a vast number of battle records.

[@wattpwn]

Just for the record, I'm not positive the A5M or the A6M were fighter jets. Pretty sure they were prop-driven, piston-engined aircraft. 3:12

[@thegeneral123]

This channel makes loads of mistakes. Idiot called a Corsair a 'crosshair' for example.

[@bobfg3130]

They're not. It's just a habit. He misspoke.

[@juanmanuelpenaloza9264]

Someone tell that to Jiro Horikoshi. He'd appreciate that.

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

He also called it the F4U Crosshair...

[@jeffronimo7122]

Japanese instructor to kamikaze students: "Now pay close attention! I'm only going to show you how to do this, ONCE!"

[@McAttack21574]

Simon, you need to do something on the London & North Eastern Railway A1/A3 Pacific’s for Flying Scotsman’s 100th birthday. And something about Australian trains too, prehaps the NSWGR C38s?

[@JakeOrion]

3:11 "Prior fighter JET" Nice little slip there. lol

[@Otokichi786]

Simon just won a "Dark Skies" Order of the Dodo medal of shame.;)

[@homiewitagun]

To be completely fair, the vast majority of pre and early war fighters also lacked pilot armor and self-sealing fuel tanks

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

Pilot protection and self-sealing tanks didn't become widespread in German and Allied fighter until around 1941.

[@BrockvsTV]

Yep, the Zero was one of the best war planes of it's 1939 era. But Japan had problems with keeping up with times. Drachinifel has a few great videos on it

[@EpicRenegade777]

the zero was amazing in 1940, outdated by 1942, practically obsolete by 1944, they just didnt innovate the design enough, but to be fair japan basically just had their innovation and some from germany, the US and UK were working together along with their colonies and some european knowledge, including alot of german and italian refugee jeweish and anti-facist scientists on their side. The UK basically gave the US all their innovative ideas, including portable radar that could be installed on ships and eventually planes, the magnatron 2, knowing your enemy is incoming and where, can make a huge difference.

[@tomhenry897]

We had them at start of the war

[@garybrown4449]

Say that sounds like a kama AC . Just saying

[@dulio12385]

The Zero is essentially Danmaku (bullet hell) incarnate. All that speed and agility, just don't get clipped by a stiff breeze.

[@PerfectInterview]

It was determined that the Zeros ailerons became ineffective in a steep dive, meaning the plane couldn’t turn until it slowed down. So Allied pilots led the Zeros into steep dives, waited until they couldn’t turn, then circled behind them and finished them with one burst of cannon fire.

[@iWhiteout]

Yeah one of the History Channel’s Dogfight episodes confirmed this

[@dannylopez5976]

This was actually a big problem for tye Kamikaze pilots. Many would end up crashing into the ocean, not aware or used to the quirks the Zero had.

[@wrathofatlantis2316]

That is a fine summary of real life tactics, but going into a steep dive means losing altitude, and following means you accept fighting on the enemy's terms. They should have followed while staying higher. It also means your armament is ineffective if the diving created enough distance. An aircraft like the Zero should attack from below and always use turns (which easily breaks diving attacks from above), but the problem with the Japanese Navy was that its doctrine was to use dives, not turns, so even though the Zero could turn it usually did NOT, as per Navy doctrine, a recent discovery by intelligence historian Justin Pyke.

[@jamesdouglas6977]

Japanese kamikaze = The world’s first combat effective guided missile.

[@preacher4539]

When he calls the A5M a fighter jet 😵‍💫

[@jamesrussell1979]

Very interesting and very informative 👍

[@Doiteify]

If you want to see a good respresentaion of the types of fights the Zero fought in the Movie Tora tora tora is a great example

[@rjohnson5615]

I love listening to you while I am organizing my house. Thank you for being a nice voice in the background.

[@dennisud]

I would have loved seeing a Well piloted Zero Vs. A well piloted BF-109E!

[@sgkonfetti]

Topic suggestion: Comparisom between the Fairey Firefly, Fairey Battle, Fairey Barracuda, Fairey Fulmar and Fairey Swordfish

[@grapeshot]

My great-uncle Johnny B served in the US Navy and he took part in the battle of Okinawa and he most definitely had something to say about the kamikaze.

[@penguiyebass]

like what?

[@CelticSlayer93]

Kamikaze pilots were cowards and deserve to be forgotten.

[@grapeshot]

@@penguiyebass like how somebody can crash a plane deliberately into a ship.

[@djzrobzombie2813]

I knew him

[@user-pn3im5sm7k]

​@@CelticSlayer93 And what about you? Full offense to you but you are sitting in the comfort of your home, typing on your computer screen that people who died for their country 75+ years ago they should be forgotten. I'm a former USAF pilot and we have nothing but respect for the Axis fliers, some of the best pilots the world has ever seen had diligently fought for their country's existence under the Japanese or German banner. A coward isn't someone who willfully ignores natural human instinct of bailing last second. These guys committed to the very end, while holding that stick full forward and engine full throttle into death. That is the opposite of a coward. They were selfless and full of mighty courage...I do not know what you have done in life but I am willing to wager the Japanese aviator in WW2 earned his respect and is the reason why they are still talked about to this very day. They are talked about in US Air Force UPT... Their tactics are still used to this day, by us.

[@RunTheNumbers]

Request for video Asml’s EUV machines

[@PsychicalTraumaPL]

10:28 it's Corsair, not Crosshair 😅

[@phantomechelon3628]

Coarse Hair? 😆

[@PsychicalTraumaPL]

@@phantomechelon3628 🤣🤣🤣

[@aldavis705]

@3:14. ...prior fighter jet? With props and fixed gear?

[@lucmcdowell1167]

I would love to see a video for the P-51 Mustang

[@aragos32727]

Did he just call the Corsair the Crosshair? That and I'm pretty sure fighter jets weren't available prior to Pearl Harbor

[@rockstarJDP]

He did indeed 😂

[@stevelee5724]

Yeah man he did. Lol Bloody Simon the word man !...

[@Black-Sun_Kaiser]

He still mispronounces kiev on warographics after 50 videos about the war. He says it the Russian way , not the Ukrainian way. The Ukrainians say the distinction is very important to their identity.

[@Black-Sun_Kaiser]

@Otokichi786 if you're referring to the chassis thing he's intentionally doing that as a troll.

[@lordalexandermalcolmguy6971]

The first turbojet aircraft to fly was the Heinkel He 178, on August 27, 1939 in Rostock (Germany)

[@TylerC5-1]

This plane never gets enough love

[@voivod6871]

Don't really agree i think its one of the most legendery fighters of WW2 right up there with the Mustang Spitfire Hurricane and ME109.

[@meepmeep3018]

Are you kidding bruh it’s one of the most widely known warplanes of WW2 even people who don’t care about history have heard of it

[@TylerC5-1]

@@meepmeep3018 I didn’t say nobody knows about it, I said it doesn’t get enough love. There are plenty of documentaries about mustangs spits and schmits but very few about the zero of fw190

[@kaltaron1284]

Have you watched the Ghibli movie "Kaze tachinu" aka "The Wind Rises"?

[@SoloRenegade]

not true at all

[@WasabiSniffer]

ahead of it's time when it was built, but time has a nasty habit of moving on

[@nerdistry]

6:30 "Saburo Shineedoo" 😮 (It's "Shin-doh")

[@natepotter1709]

Modern Mitsubishi car commercial slogan: Mitsubishi, make an impact. WW2: *BOOM*

[@anthonyabberley3009]

Any chance you could you make a MP about the Britanic? The T

[@samharvey6194]

There's a good studio Ghibli film based on Jiro Horikoshi and the the Zero Fighter plane

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

Surely the best aspect to remember about the plane in that title 🙄 4:10 no! No! and *NO!* No fighter plane designed in the Late 1930's had armor or self sealing tanks integrated in their design, those were retrofitted *after* the planes had entered service as a result of war expirence. It is true that IJN's took way longer than most air services in the world to add/retrofitt these features to the air crews survivibility detriments (should REALLY have known better by the time of the B6N and D4Y), but the addition of self sealing tanks would had knee-capped the planes range, which at that point the IJN relied a lot on. 6:42 This was the claimed figure, actual ROCAF losses were 20'ish planes and almost all the others had slight damage. 8:45 IJN pilots also used energy fighting techniques, which they had developed while fighting in China. Keep in mind that for all its maneuverability a zero nor even a claude would be able to cut inside the turn of a biplane like Gladiator, Hawk III or I-15, pilots also realized that getting into manuevering chase tails lead to target fixation and that it was much more effective to do high speed passes that will allow you to control your surroundings and use your speed to scape unfavorable fights. That said the A6M Zero did have a worse maximum dive speed and high speed controlability (mostly the ailerons and rudder, the elevator had a system that somewhat decreased this issue), which meant that USAAF and USN planes were usually better in this kind off fight. 9:42 While the attrition in this battles for IJN carrier air crews were horrific, it should be noted most of the IJN expirienced pilots and crews went down through the long campaigns in New Guinea and Guadalcanal/Solomon Islands. 10:30 Although it is true that the new allied fighters were superior to the Zero, their arrival didn't prove as much of an inmediate edge as one could thing, a few researchers such as Michael Claringbould had shown that the new fighter types only really started to get a serious edge in exchange ratios against the Zero's towards the end of 1943/ start of 1944, mostly by the loss of expirienced pilots as you have correctly alluded in the video. 13:55 No direct replacements, but the Navy had the land based J2M and N1K-1J/2-J, which unfortunatelly for them, had a lot of operational faults and couldn't be produced in large numbers. 14:50 You can narrow that to slightly less than one year (from October 1944 to Japan's surrender). 16:55 One final "actually", the Hellcat, Corsair and P-38 were already projected before the start of the war in the Pacific. In spite of this issues and a few others, overall, a pretty good and balanced video on the plane. Hoping to see more WWII aircraft in the future!

[@AthAthanasius]

Did I miss the mention of one design issue: "It lacked hydraulic boosting for its ailerons and rudder, rendering it extremely difficult to maneuver at high speeds" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A6M_Zero ? I've seen related elsewhere that due to this one response from enemy planes that had the speed was to just keep that speed up, knowing the zero couldn't follow *and* maneuver.

[@bonfiresgt]

The thing is though, hydraulic boosters for ailerons wasn't even introduced until late P-38 models. F4F and F6F didn't have them as well. The difficulty of control at high speed for the Zero was more to do with the aileron being optimised for lower speed ranges, whereas the American fighters had them optimised for hjgher speed ranges. Hydraulic boosting could have solved the issue, but that's something the Zero's successor should have addressed.

[@markvicferrer]

With post war scarcity, I thought they would have been scavenged/scrapped for material instead of just being left to rot.

[@PetrSojnek]

I suppose the material you make planes of are not really suitable for anything else. It's not like proper steel which ships are made of, which you can use pretty much anywhere.

[@tomhenry897]

It’s aluminum

[@12jazion]

3:12 A5M and A6M were fighter jets? They sure look like propeller driven aircraft to me and aviation history would have to be completely rewritten to make Japan the first nation to adopt jet engines in military aircraft.

[@Crimethoughtfull]

The fuel issue he brings up near the 12min mark reminds me of a similar issue that Germany had (that I've read about). While the US/UK was coming in with thousands of tons of high-quality aviation fuel, the fewer planes the Gerries could put up, with poorer quality pilots, ALSO had bad quality fuel, so that even good planes just couldn't perform, and required 3x as much work to keep in the air b/c the fuel messed up the engines. In the end...LOGISTICS and SUPPLY are king. Yes, quality of equipment and troops, but if the best equipped troops can't get their stuff, they're stuffed.

[@markymark3075]

Thanks, I didn't appreciate how good the zero was at the start of the war....

[@joeltmo]

Exactly how does one become a kamikaze ace?

[@WarblesOnALot]

G'day, Simple, Shoot down George Herbert Walker Bush, and 4 more out of his Squadron, then, when Out of Ammunition...; Screaming "Sayonara SUCKERS !" Crash-dive into the Lexington...; Which then made many Expensive "glug Glug Gurgley GLUG...!" Noises, as it Sank to where all Warships Belong...(!). How's that, There, Then... 5 Air to Air Kills Followed by Parting an AmeriKan Admiral's Hair...? Look out, Or Hollywood will make a Movie of the Yarn...(!). Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !

[@MrTexasDan]

Bounce your plane 4 times on the deck before the final crash?

[@chrisbusenkell]

Yeah, i know at some point in the war, everything was scarce and the pilots weren't taught to land. Despite massive shortages in everything, constant bombing raids and a grim forecast they were not interested in surrendering after the 2nd A-bomb was dropped. However, the prospect of a 3rd A-bomb, some beach landings and the idea that the Russian Army would be invading also was too much.

[@Nomad111.]

The Zero was never Obsolete my incorrect friend. It was the Japanese tactics that were Obsolete.

[@joecary3586]

The zero had no armor and can't turn at speed. It was obsolete as soon as those deficiencies were discovered. Late war US aircraft were faster, more agile, better armored, and had more firepower. There is no tactical training that can overcome all 4 of those.

[@imtheonevanhalen1557]

Japan had awakened the giant....the emperor truly had no clothes...

[@PetrSojnek]

I think it's understood the giant was poking this little country so much it basically had to lash out. And got crushed for it. From what I understand, Japan didn't really had a choice in the matter...

[@markland_swe]

Great video - however the background music that suddenly comes on while Simon talks is much too loud, it's very, very distracting.

[@Beatles__]

Where is the jet on the A5M at 3:11

[@backinblack03]

I think you might be a bit off on how the proximity fuse worked

[@sschmidtevalue]

I haven't counted them all; I wonder how many comments are virtual duplicates relating to the slip-up at 3:12 with the word "jet."

[@jmanj3917]

13:35 It takes time to build that level of fanaticism, as it did with the kamikaze pilots. They were raised in a society that was based upon obedience to, and the worship of, their emperor. By the time 1945 rolled around, it often didn't take much more than the promise of the pilots being greatly honored by their respective families. The occasional few pilots needed more coaxing than that. And yes, methamphetamine, among other drugs, was available to those who agreed to sacrifice themselves for their emperor. The basic idea was to be so high on drugs that the planned end of their respective flights wouldn't seem to be so daunting.

[@PetrSojnek]

But if you are that high... would you be actually able to pilot a plane and hit your target? Most people that were high I've ever seen had problems walking and I'm very sure I haven't seen people that were that much high anyways.

[@robbytheremin2443]

Semi on topic: As a kid, I built several plastic models including a Zero that claimed to have "authentic Japanese markings". Once when my uncle and his Japanese wife visited, I showed her my Zero and asked what the writing said. After much squinting and even looking at it with a mirror, she told me they didn't say anything. Authentic imitation Japanese markings. 😂

[@bassett_green]

Very confusing to show the Boom-and-Zoom diagram while describing the Thach Weave

[@Lanka0Kera]

Whistler boy's writers who sometimes scour the comments for ideas: The many phases of Bradley IFVs. As I understand it had quite a few.. hiccups.

[@acefreak95]

Prior fighter jet?

[@patrickbo2045]

Only three metric tons? That's frikking impressive. "Modern" cars weigh more than that! :D

[@brothergrimaldus3836]

Look up who Nakajima became!!!!😊😊😊

[@shaneintheuk2026]

3:15 fighter jet??? Wow the A5M was advanced for the times. 😂

[@anumeon]

Did simon call the Corsair "Crosshair"?

[@Otokichi786]

Simon just won another "Dark Skies" Order of the Dodo medal of shame.;)

[@RobertRory]

If history had taken a walk on the wild side? Zero versus Messerschmitt? Yamato versus Bismarck?

[@theBlankScroll]

Tonight on Discovery Channel...

[@scottinWV]

Hard to believe such a small country caused so much trouble.

[@timsheehan6954]

The Zero was NOT a "Kamikaze" plane. That was the MXY-7 OHKA, aka, a 2k lb flying bomb with a pilot.

[@joeg5414]

Man, flying over the ocean and your aircraft carrier is sunk is a pretty 💩predicament

[@TheDarthSoldier]

Vought F4U cross hair 😂 10:28

[@chrisguillen1495]

Lol Lockheed had to spread some breadcrumbs of alien tech to get an aviation advantage. Classic

[@bobfg3130]

The Zero was an incredible plane!

[@tomhenry897]

Not really

[@ApophisTw0Thousand6309]

@@tomhenry897yes… really.

[@ianrichards909]

@@ApophisTw0Thousand6309 - Yes really… the Zero was literally crap… it was flimsy, lack of armor, easy to set on fire, lack of firepower, very underpowered, chocked at high altitudes, and poor maneuverability at high speeds… so yeah, it was a piece of crap…

[@ApophisTw0Thousand6309]

@@ianrichards909 Um, no. The Zero was in fact 'literally' aluminum/zinc alloy in construction. It was certainly not flimsy. The Zero was a well built, sturdy aircraft that could handle G-forces within the tolerance of the pilot. In short, the man flying the aircraft would pass out before the plane failed. While the Zero's lack of protection and self-sealing fuel tanks is true, these features were not standard when it was being designed. It's firepower was never poor. At it's introduction, it was heavily armed in comparison to other aircraft at the time. Even late in the war, it was never worse than middle of the pack. Furthermore, you've completely overlooked it's exceptional range, about 1900 km. The fact that the could contest the airspace over Guadalcanal from as far away as they did is a testament to the nature of the aircraft that did it. It's low speed maneuverability was also exceptional. So yes, a fine aircraft.

[@ianrichards909]

@@ApophisTw0Thousand6309- All that blabbering ant still doesn’t change the fact that the Zero was crap… still flimsy, lack of armor, easy to set on fire, lack of firepower, very underpowered, chocked at high altitudes, and poor maneuverability at high speeds… so yeah, a piece of crap… that’s why the Japanese lost the war…

[@PeanutsDadForever]

Through video. Thanks 👴🏻🇦🇺

[@tsbrownie]

Kamikaze pilots could return home up to 9 times IF they a) could not find the target or b) had mechanical issues. If not those, they could be punished for cowardice.

[@graeme0]

Shame you didn't mention the kamakaze attack on HMS Indefatigable.

[@wiktorjachyra1869]

I rember reading how the skin of this plane was so thin to save weight that the metal would tear if stepped in the wrong place

[@rts718]

It's true I saw one at the museum in Tokyo where they pointed out the exact places on the body/wing where you had to step to enter/exit the cockpit.

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

@@rts718 Yesn't it was thin, but in line with other late 30's fighter aircraft's, even the tankie P-40's alluminum skin was similar.

[@ToreDL87]

The Zero was only ever a interim until they could develop and produce a more powerful engine, the Zero's successor was already commissioned when the Zero reached combat trial status (A7M Reppu), but due to many different factors it would take another 3 years before they had the engine, by that time they didn't have carriers (at least not enough to matter) that there was no point. Add to that, the level of innovations to the Zero was limited as well, couldn't very well put a 2000hp engine into a plane initially designed & balanced for 800hp, that's like slapping a Hellcat engine into a 1970's KE20 Corolla without beefing it up. Main issue was.. well, going to war in the first place, but let's dispense with that for now, the main issue was Japan was so recently modernized by the 1930's, and even then just barely, that the Zero, a very unforgiving aircraft when receiving enemy fire (as with most early planes, and most WW2 Japanese planes), only "dominated" for as long as they had the skilled pilots to fly it. The second they started taking losses they couldn't replace, it was downhill from there. Those losses were caused by a mixture of aggressive opponents that were willing to learn through failure, pilot fatigue, not enough pilots to go around (because after they hit Pearl Harbor they were marathon'ing across the entire Pacific, they saw constant action) Zero's great range meant long range missions (meaning more fatigue and loss of focus). The recent modernization meant the average Japanese hadn't yet had the time to acclimatize to machinery & modern industry in daily life. This required years of training pilots & the needed technical personnel (to keep the Zero airborne), basically weeding out the "farmer mentality" (which in the West is a good thing, farmers stay abreast with technical innovations given their occupation). Add to this, the Japanese, as well as the Germans, didn't rotate their pilots, it was fight until you die, training new pilots was an assignment more less akin to death of their warrior spirit. So after Midway, Solomons, Marshall's, Guadalcanal & Raids out of Rabaul, there weren't even enough skilled pilots left to rotate back home & train new ones. Add to that, ground crews weren't trained to think outside the box/innovate, abandoned Zero's were found in droves, they could have been kept in the air by swapping worn engines with less worn ones etc. In the end it was all they could do making slight improvements and keep churning them out while hoping that newer designs (N1K, KI-84, KI-61, J2M, etc) could stem the tide and bring the Allies to the table and discuss an honorable defeat (and we all know why that couldn't happen, and what happened next).

[@ApophisTw0Thousand6309]

That first statement isn’t really true. The Zero was itself commissioned right as the A5M was entering service. Japan was alway looking for the next plane.

[@gaetanovindigni8824]

The Imperial Japanese Navy, its officers, flight crews, enlisted ranks and ships and aircraft were underestimated and inferior which leads to the disaster (AND CONSPIRACY) at Pearl Harbor and the 6 months of victories in the following months for the IJN.

[@johnforsyth7987]

Thank you for a great video about the Zero fighter. I think your channel is wonderful. I have to disagree with you on one point. The P-38 Lighting and the F4U Corsair were already being developed before the US entered WWII against Japan.

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

The F6F was also in the design stages by then, though the intended powerplant and certain aspects of the airframe were revised .

[@weirdshibainu]

There has always been discussion that the Zero was based on Howard Hughes' H-1 design. A claim Hughes himself made. Who knows......

[@ApophisTw0Thousand6309]

Everyone who knows anything knows that’s bullshit.

[@patrickbo2045]

Hooooold on a second, those "fanatical pilots" just put something in their mouth and it sure as hell wasn't chocolate! xD

[@calebmcurby8580]

Simon... did your producers not give you a pronouncer on "Grumman"? If not, it's Grum like "crumb" and "m'n" with the stress on the first syllable. I know stuff like this can slip through the cracks sometimes. Not sure if y'all use a prompter, but (personal opinion) I don't like the way prompters display pronouncers. When everything is all caps you can't tell what's being stressed.

[@Wreckz_Tea]

just imagine how good the plane would be if they had actually flew it instead of rammed into stuff. Apparently the only thing that could beat it was itself according to this video. Hell I'm surprised they aren't still using it in service today. Hell it was basically 100yrs ahead of it's time from What I hear

[@Gothicgarlic]

I don’t think the thumbnail shows a true Zero, I have a feeling it’s some type of repro? Or similar situation to a Buchon/Bf109

[@kiwidiesel]

If it can turn on a dime then it can't go fast. If it can go like a bat outa hell then it can't turn. Aviation facts.

[@jacqueslee2592]

The Japanese in this era were prepared for the final sacrifice. The Imperial Japanese army was suicidal hence their bravery and willingness to die. They rather die than surrender or return without victory. Their mindset was not outright suicidal as Americans like to paint them, but rather that if the soldier or pilot knew he was about to die or was dying he should rather try to exact as much pain to their enemy before they are dead or as ghosts.

[@brianmoore1164]

A beautiful and elegant aircraft, but the efforts to develop and modernize came far to late.

[@demetridar506]

On your kamikaze comments ... Why do you call the tactics "fanatical"? What other options did they have? If you study the war situation, their decisions were very rational. No chance of survival? So what? In 1944 and 45 it appeared that their enemy wanted nothing less than total anhelation of Japan. It was this incredible resistance that gave Japan peace terms that allowed them to rebuild as an independent nation as opposed to another western colony. I have seen many videos on your channel that seem wel thought of. You seemed to have totally missed it here.

[@renevalleramos994]

From zero to hero, and back to zero...

[@mikehandteDG]

In the early war it was a plane to be feared towards the end of the war it was just a flying piece of scrap metal

[@djzrobzombie2813]

And it's a good thing 🎉

[@JiaruiChen_]

just like their country now

[@skeeterd5150]

Because all their good pilots were dead. Midway killed so many and their good mechanics

[@Alphacheesehunter]

​@@JiaruiChen_ What? Japan is one of the biggest economies in the world. I believe it's third behind China and the United States. How does that equate being scrap?

[@oliverguenther6360]

@@JiaruiChen_ Made in Japan, is better then made in the USA.

[@lewiswestfall2687]

The "music" was too loud.

[@sebastiandelacruz3849]

Bro, slap the 20mil high explosives and incendiary bombs on these bad boys and you’ll feel like an ace on iwo jima breakthrough. Literally went 100-0 on that map 😂😂 i miss bfv.

[@Improver12]

Zero International

[@jhumpich0311]

Calling the A5M a "fighter jet" is wild 😂

[@iagosevatar4865]

Rafale fighter jet please...

[@shanewhite1977]

Could it not be said that a decent amount of kamikaze pilots were forced in to it by peer pressure

[@SoloRenegade]

P-40: favorable kill ratio over the Zero, even early in the war. P-39: favorable kill ratio over the Zero, even early in the war. F4F: favorable kill ratio over the Zero, even early in the war. Spitfire: favorable kill ratio over the Zero, even early in the war. The Zero was good early on, and is a very fascinating story of engineering and aircraft design. But the Japanese wrongly prioritized maneuverability over speed, thinking idealistically like Samurai. In reality, ever since the Hawker Hart bomber came onto the scene, the game had changed and maneuverability was no longer the most important metric of a fighter plane. Speed now dominated, and would until the air to air missile came to maturity, leading to the F-18, F-35, and others that deprioritized speed due to the range and speed of missiles and BVR tactics. The faster airplane dictates the engagement by being able to run away, or to run down the opponent if they try to disengage. By combining Boom and Zoom fighting, wingman tactics, fighting with altitude advantage, fighting with superior numbers, better training, and more, the US planes like the P-39, P-40, and more were able to best the Zero. Early on the pilots were too aggressive, too impatient, and lacked proper training in Boom and Zoom and would try to dogfight the Zero. But when they stopped doing that and actually did as the US Army Air Corps had trained them, they dominated the Zeros. Aa the war went on, the F4F, P-40, and P-39 were all much improved, and the late model aircraft like the P-40N, P-39Q and various late model F4Fs were very much more than a match for the Zero in various ways.

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

Saying the same thing twice won't make it true. Again, when and where did Zero's encounter Spitfire's early in the war? You mean the raids at Darwin? If that's the case I hate to break it too you, but the Spitfire's did fairly poorly there, for a lot of reason's that had little to do with the aircraft's relative performance. Zero was also upgraded throughout the war, deffinitively not enough to confront the new generation allied fighters, but deffinitively good enough against the 330 mph FM-2, LMAO.