That Corsair shown at 33:10 is the one at the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm museum at Yeovilton, England. It still carries the original paint work. It is a Brewster produced Corsair, as most if not all Royal Navy Corsairs were. The American Navy and Marine corps not liking the unreliable and sometimes dangerous Brewster Corsairs. Relegating them to training flights. Some U.S pilots refused to fly Brewster serial numbered Corsairs on training missions, insisting on a non Brewster Corsair. The British Navy flew Brewster Corsairs into combat. Being glad to receive any carrier fighter that was better than their Seafires, which Captain Eric Brown described as 'trash'.
Best wishes for your recovery, Greg. You've got one of the most original and best aviation RUclips channels. The level of rich detail is tremendous. In a world of copy-paste "documentaries," you bring comprehensive research and the ability to increase comprehension of that material. I've happily recommended your channel to a number of others.
Yes I agree....after reading alot of plane documentaries...the talking points are usually the same common ones, for any plane. Greg really digs out the nuances and forgotten tales of each plane.
The mention of the water methanol mixture in the p47, allowing less fuel consumption at WEP than at military power, brings this full circle to the original thought of using it to extend range in bombers instead of using it for additional power.
You must calculate the mass of the many hundreds of gallons of water and subtract it from either the bomb load or fuel fraction. Then, determine if that tradeoff for water which is 1.25-1.38x heavier than Avgas/Jet fuel, and having exactly zero BTUs of energy per gallon, would indeed extend the range. If you are spraying 50/50 methanol into an engine and it makes more power with lower gasoline consumption, are you ignoring the many gallons of dragster fuel you are pumping in from another tank? Not hardly. And if you consider that Methanol has a much lower energy than gasoline, and water has zero energy, you will find that the engineers knew what they were doing specifying a certain amount of Avgas instead of methanol.
@@Triple_J.1 US Army Air Force were developing exhaust cooling to recapture the water vapor in the exhaust. This would then be injected into the engines.
I’m wondering whether that was part of the motivation here; Japan was always reliant on imported petroleum, but alcohol derivatives are probably something they could produce within the home islands, allowing them to stretch the fuel supply without sacrificing performance? Also, additional head cooling could help compensate for less capable metallurgy.
@@greendoodily Yes, and mostly everybody else was also figuring out that water/alcohol would boost power easily. Raising octane was really hard, so being able to make big power with lower octane fuel was very compelling. I don't know how much alcohol production happened during the war. Great subject for research.
putting in my two cents here might be relevant: The last time I had met Mr. Sakai Saburo at his home in Sugamo Tokyo in 1999, we talked about the Ki-84 AND IT WAS HIS OPINION TOO THAT THE Ki-84 WAS THE OVERALL BEST JAPANESE FIGHTER MASS PRODUCED during the war!
@@Ray-lf1eo I still had the honor and rare privilege to thank him in person for motivating me through a very difficult part of my life by his book Samurai. I will forever treasure my experience with him and the signed books and pieces of calligraphy he presented me with...
This is very cool. Did Sakai san actually fly the Hayate? I would think it is unlikely, given that it was an army fighter, but I am sure he talked to people that did fly it. In his book, Sakai did not seem to like too much the Kawanishi equivalent Shiden Kai.
I have an IQ of maybe like 92 on a good day going downhill With the Wind behind my back. I can barely keep up to this but I do appreciate all the effort that goes into them and the smart guy producing them. and even if I learn a little it's okay.
I just found your channel, just awesome. Dad served on a convoy escort carrier in the Royal Navy at the end of WW2 and later worked for A.V. Roe in Canada. It's in the genes I think. I have been a motorcyclist most of my life and your reference to Kawasaki's m/cycle line really struck a key. I used to club race a Kawasaki S2 1972 350cc triple at Mosport Ontario and Sanair Quebec in the late 70s and setting the ignition timing on 3 cylinders points style was an artform as I remember. Great stuff, thanks and greetings from the south Caribbean.
@user-zz5ep3cf5rNah, the best 3 are: -Vought F4U-4 -North American P-47M -Hawker Tempest Long story short: There are only subjective lists of the 3 best fighter aircraft of the war out of a long list of candidates. It's probably easier to make a best fighter list for specific theatre's and periods.
I understand that the three best Japanese production fighters to enter combat were the Ki-84, the Ki-100 and the N1K1-J. Wondering which is deemed to be the superior aircraft. Wow! it's rare for me to watch an hour long video and be left feeling I want more. Well done Greg.
I think its the n1k2 that is the good one, theres an ace interview with a guy from the 343rd squadron who flew n1k's apparently the n1k1 was a pain in the ass due to weak landing gear and something else i cant remember, he reckoned once they went to a low wing with the n1k2 it was excellent
The drastically reduced rate of fire for the cowl-mounted machine guns has to do with a combination of primer quality (and its degradation over time) and the gun's "lock time", the time it takes for the firing pin to move foreword and ignite the primer after its trigger is pulled. Variations in either or both of these reduce the window in which the trigger can be pulled and the bullet be assured to miss the propeller. The speed at which the action operates and is ready to be fired again also has a significant impact as well. Slower action speed and higher lock time can have an outsized effect at certain engine RPM's which cause a propeller blade to be in the way just as the weapon is ready to fire again. The German electric ignition of primers eliminated the lock time issue, of course.
Thanks, I have never even heard of "lock time" which is why this sort of thing requires a subject matter expert to sort out, and why I kinda stay in my lane.
Im quite surprised really that they/someone didnt invent an engine driven gun. Like a mechanically connected to the crankshaft gun that had like a side face toothed gear "clutch" where the gun is always ready to fire, but when you pull the trigger it engages a clutch which can only lock into say 3 or 4 orientations (to allow for the timing to not hit the prop) which cycles the mech untill you let go and it disengages the drive, wether by solenoid or cable and clutch fork
@@Colt45hatchback That is pretty much what some of the synchronizer setups were. They had a mechanical or hydraulic device activated by a cam connected to the crankshaft to prevent the firing pin from dropping with a blade was in the way (or move into the way in the time it took for the firing pin to fall, primer to ignite the powder and send the bullet out of the barrel). Most setups eventually went to a hydraulic system (tube filled with liquid) instead of cables or mechanical linkages to minimize the number of components that could stretch or wear. Some guns, like the later versions of the 20mm MG 151 used electrical primers, so the device would prevent electricity being sent to the primer when a propellor would be in the way.
Very informative and interesting video as always Greg. Just wanted to point out, that whilst part of Nakajima Aircraft Corporation became 'Fuji Heavy Industries' (Subaru), another large part of the company was building engines for another car making company. This company merged with the engine supplier and became Prince Motor Company. Prince are famous in Japan for being the designers of the 'Skyline' car (amongst others). The company later merged with Nissan who have continued the name 'Skyline' through to present day. So I think it fair to say that Nissan's best cars can trace their heritage back to Nakajima, as much as Subaru can... (apologies if other posters have already mentioned this).
Your videos are phenomenal with meticulous attention to detail that must take countless hours of research to put together. I really appreciate your dedication considering how easy it is for lesser content creators to slap together clickbait garbage. Your videos are the best!
And it is quite ironic how certain bigger creators come out with a lesser version of the work done by Greg a few months after, like "the insane engineering of the P-47" which just so happened to be released shortly after Greg finished his thorough P-47 Series.
@@LupusAriesGod, I was very upset when I watched that "insane engineering of the p-47" video. After watching Greg's entire p-47 series, it was like an insult.
That pic at 1:06:37 completed my thoughts on this aircraft appearing to me to be 'Japan's P-47'. Seeing the plane in bare metal with US markings sealed the deal. I'm really looking forward to part 2 of this.
I've been waiting for this one for a LONG time! I thank you so very much!!! There is nowhere else where one can go to find so much honest data on WWII Japanese fighters!!!
Greg’s does a badass job at researching his warbirds I have learned so much from this channel about airplanes it’s crazy books and other sources just look at planes at the surface level.he digs deep and finds things others can’t or won’t .I especially value his educated guess when there isn’t very much sources cause they are of sound logic
That's good to hear, because to make videos about Japanese airplanes I need to take educated guesses about a lot of things. Information on some things just isn't out there, however all planes have some things in common. I appreciate you kind words about my efforts.
Well done, Greg, as usual. I'm looking forward to the performance segment. Re: "water injection," the following is from my Dad's squadron's (VF-19) combat history of their tour in the western Pacific in the summer and fall of 1944: “After having transferred twenty planes to ComAirPac the squadron received thirty seven new F6F-3’s. Twenty of these new planes had water-injection engines, the first water injection planes in the Hawaiian Islands… About this time, the squadron was notified that thirty seven F6F-5’s had been assigned to VF-19, and Ralph Clarke, another experienced Grumman representative, lectured on the similarities and differences of the F6F-3 and F6F-5. However, before delivery of the new planes could be effected; orders came through for the squadron to depart. Within two days, all the non-water injection planes were exchanged with VF-18 for water-injection planes.” They flew aboard the USS Lexington in early July, 1944. Dad was the squadron engineering officer, and squadron pilots likely well-understood the combat advantages of the system. While he did face (and shoot down) two Ki-44 Tojos, to my knowledge, Dad never faced a Frank, though I've seen a painting of one of the squadron's final missions in the Philippines in early November, 1944, during which a couple of VF-19 pilots combined to down a Frank in a low-level fight near Clark Field. If it helps any, after my own lumbar surgery (decades ago) I was able to resume normal activity a couple months later, with the exception of lifting dead weights of 50 lbs. or more, and I stayed away from golf for a couple decades (no loss, I wasn't very good at it). In fact, I coached fast-pitch softball (including swinging a bat for fielding drills many, many times) for 15 seasons, until I retired from teaching, beginning a few years after the surgery.
Thanks Vlad. I seem to be recovering well. Not being able to fly airplanes or work on cars is quite a downer, but otherwise I'm doing well. I seem to be healing quickly and I enjoy making these videos and the extra time with my grandkids.
Ki-84 is one of favorite WW2 aircraft. Have waited a long time for someone to do a well researched video like this as so little is written on most Japanese planes. Thanks for all your work Greg. You’re a national treasure!
Good video. I had heard that one of the reasons P-38s had problems in europe was that high altitude temperatures could actually disable the pilots. Good to hear they fixed that.
Great to have some technical insight into the homare. After stalking Callum Douglas and Snapping up a first edition of his awesome book, I'd always wondered how the Japanese engines developed into the late war period. You're the first person to add some useful detail beyond the basic specs. Hopefully one day you'll do a Collab video with Callum.
What? No, Greg, don't leave us hanging. We finally get to see a competent, well made video of one of Japan's best WWII fighters nd we have to wait for a part 2? Still though, I got to say that this is well done and VERY interesting. I can't wait for part 2.
"David Lednicer is a pretty big deal in the world of aerodynamics - even if he does drive a Subaru." Love it! Said as just a throwaway comment with no emphasis.
Well deserved recognition for this plane, it has been in oblivion all this time and as you say Greg, it may well have been the best japanese fighter of the war. I love japanese warplanes of wwii, the Ki-61 and F1M Pete are another favorites!
More prototypes also allows for testing in different environments and extremes. I'm not sure this was a common practice in WW2, by any nation, but it is an advantage. You can test one prototype in arctic conditions and another in desert or tropical conditions. The Germans seemed to have had a multi-tiered prototype system as well. They produced "V-n" (where n is a number) variants and then they produced "A-0" aircraft which were pre-production prototypes.
The Versuch numbers continued after the A-0 versions - Versuch were test articles for modifications too. The Hawker Tornado was another example of a mutated prototype being the direct ancestor for three different production aircraft.
Your work just keeps getting better and better, Greg. You're the first person on youtube, out of over a decade of using it, that I genuinely think I'm going to subscribe to the patreon of.
Considering the lack of data out there regarding this model, an excellent well researched and totally engrossing video on Japan's arguably premier WW2 Fighter!
absolutely fantastic work. love your content. since the History Channel stopped publishing history I've been looking for something to fill the void. You have done that. Excellent work sir.
I've been anticipating this one Greg and you don't disappoint. Complete information on Japanese planes is so scarce that having someone of your ability to weave into a fuller picture with real data and some educated guesses is very valuable. And entertaining, at least for me. I'm even happier that there will be a part 2 with performance data. P.S. glad to hear your recovering ok. Don't try to push the recovery to much. One of my friends did and got a massive infection that could have paralyzed him.
regarding the gun trigger on throttle. having the trigger on stick affects the finer inputs needed to aim steady when pilots squeeze too hard which affects accuracy. trigger on throttle solves that issue and it also helps to compartmentalize tasks. "right hand for aiming" "left hand shooting"
Wasn't particularly rare. They built about 3500 of them, which by Imperial Japanese was a very large number. It still holds the Japanese record for highest production number of airframes in a year. There is just, so far as I know, a single surviving airframe.
Fantastic presentation!! I really enjoy listening to someone go over a subject that they have actually done the research and even pre-addressed some questions that might arise. Thank you. Had to sub!!
I'm a big fan of restoring warbirds into flying conditions, mainly because as a musician I love hearing the unique sounds of these birds. There was a video of a restored ki84 flying around, it must have been incredible. No sound on the footage, sadly. I doubt an authentic engine like that will ever get restored to flying condition in my lifetime, the authentic Nakajima Sakae in the A6m was a massive hurdle enough- im sure if some collector did manage to restore and fly a ki-84, they would stick anr2800 in it.
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 just something of similar size is what many collectors do now. The a6m replicas without original engines use r1830s. Fw190s without the original bmw801 use an r2800. Hawker sea furies without their centaurus have r3350s. Same goes for inline engines- most rare engines (looking at the Il-2 and mig 3 that are restored) have been replaced with Allison v1710. Engine restoration is a whole different beast from airplane restoration and after a certain point it just makes more sense to retrofit a similar engine unfortunately
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 perhaps not an r2800 but a similar common engine- I was just presuming that if they did somehow restore a 84, it probably would have a different American engine, because despite the sake of authenticity, the original engines of rare warbirds are even harder to restore and maintain. It seems like if someone somehow did get a ki84 in the air, it wouldn't be with a homare but with a modified cowling and fuselage and a 2800. But I'm not saying I'd want them to do that lol, I'd rather a restoration company to dump millions of dollars into finding these insanely rare documents and parts and restore or create an actual homare engine
@@elliottsmith8268 I had an earlier comment but I think it disappeared. The only surviving Ki-84 had been kept at the Planes of Fame Museum until it was sold to a Japanese businessman. It was flown during a 1973 air expo in Japan and filmed. Sometime after, the Ki-84 ended up on outdoor display and the elements took a toll on the aircraft. It is no longer flyable, but is on display at the Chiran Kamikaze Memorial Museum in Japan.
Wow amazing detail as always. I was a little worried that there wouldn’t be enough surviving information on this plane. Loving your work as always Greg!
Well researched, accurate, factual and very watchable. Anyone wanting to expand their knowledge of Aircraft design, history and performance needs only to watch these video's. Thankyou
The likely explanation for why armor was "worth it" is that it is quite unlikely to get a perfect 90 degree hit on the armor. We know that a hit at any oblique angle will increase the effective thickness of the armor and reduce the likelihood of penetration.
All of these videos are of 5-DIAMONDS quality, the most Superlative. Has one been done on the P-61 Blackwidow? One of my favorites is the XP-72 SuperBolt. Thanks a Zillion for these. The Italians had some great airplanes in WW2. The DO-335 and the TA-152 should be done. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
This is the best aviation channel on YT. This is also the best warbird content on the internet period. Greg, you’re a treasure. What you’ve done with these series is outstanding. Thank you for your content. I hope you enjoy creating as much as we enjoy consuming.
34:53 hey Gregg I might be able to explain this. The Japanese Navy licensed the MG131 to use as their back gunner machinegun. They did not use the electronic firing and used the original percussion ignition which lowered the firing to 750rpm from the original 900rpm. Japanese navy said they did this because the heat and humidity of the tropical environment would damage the electrical connections and since they would not use their Type 2 as cowling or even wing mounted machineguns only ad back gunner this increased reliability
I have bought and read a pick up truck load of aviation books and magazines in the last 50 years. I learned more solid info on planes from your vids than the whole shebang. Your engineering background and research is by far the most revelatory stuff around. Thanks a million and keep it up. 👍
great video as usual. Wow, water-methanol right out of the box. The Homare engine had the advantage it was smaller, smaller motors more HP per weight and per displacement. Really nice looking plane.
In my 45 years of working in aerospace, I have found that the one thing all prototypes have in common is that they are fabricated with little or none of the tooling that enables serial production. Lack of tooling (among other things discussed) could have contributed to a necessity to continue manufacturing prototypes.
20:30 I might be able to add something useful here. My car, 2020 Honda Civic, has a 2L I-4 and produces a maximum of around 150 hp. Meanwhile, my motorcycle, 2009 Yamaha R1, has a 1L I-4 and also produces 150 hp. Same power, but one engine is twice as big. How? The R1 has an rpm redline of 13,500. The Civic? Just 7000 rpm. The R1's engine can spin roughly twice as fast as the one in the Civic. Now, torque is another matter entirely, but in short, engine rpm is directly proportional to maximum power.
Not having Automotive Technical Training, I surely appreciate your Analysis and Technical Podcasts. I have a mechanical & technically analytical mind but never really utilized these traits. No Education. Your explanations are understandable, and I do understand. I usually enjoy your Excellent Videos when I watch them. Thank you.
Thank you for a great video on how a great design can be compromised by poor implementation. I saw this time and again in my career in software development. Looking forward to part two.
As a guy who prefers Japanese motorcycles, but grew up with British and American bikes; and has been flying since the seventies, I love the Japanese WW2 fighters, and so, I really enjoyed this video, Greg. (Honda made the piston rings for, mostly the Mitsubishi engines for the Zeros, but years after the war, when Honda was racing Grand Prix motorcycle engines, they were running much higher RPM than anyone else. Reliably.) Having only twice needed to swing a prop-a little 172 I am a big supporter of electric start! The late '70's were the epitome of GA; affordable, reliable, amenable, and familiar. It's all messed up now. Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
Once again, a video that makes me glad I'm a subscriber. Your delivery is great; you sound like you should have been in broadcasting. 59:23 As for the Frank, it looks pretty smart in US livery! Also very impressed with all of the ingenious design features the designers used to try to gain an advantage over their more advanced opponents.
@@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles Oh hopefully she get covered eventually, she's definitely one of the best "emergency/stop-gap" measure fighters in WW2. And a very gorgeous plane.
Love your presentations. Beyond Jack Webb saying "Just the facts, mam". Because of my involvement with motorcycles since the '60's when you were comparing engine parameters to HP, as you went through the differences my head was saying 'RPM'! The Japanese have been some of the best and earliest reguarding that ratio in road racing through the years since WWII. Having said that the Italians (Moto Guzzi) had a double overhead cam V-8 in the early 50's. Seems tyres were the limiting factor - go figure.
Yeah, Spitfire flaps aren't meant for use in flight. Only when landing, when you actually want the speed brake effect as well as the added lift. They only have a full-down setting, not in notches like the P-51 or continuously adjustable like the P-47. Sorry to hear you had surgery, that's never fun. Glad you're on the mend, get well soon!
Wow.!! In the running for the best fighter of the war. From Greg that is high praise indeed. Again thanks for sharing your insight Greg. I'm looking forward to more of your videos.
Many Thx Greg , didnt have much sources/Books about Japanese Planes so this Video is a very welcome addition, the Hayate is definitive the best looking japanese Plane
Greg, you did a great job of presenting this aircraft, especially considering the dearth of information available. The "Frank" is yet another Japanese design which I believe I would have enjoyed flying. Glad, honestly, that it was not readily available for the final year of the war.
On the topic of .50 penetration of Japanese armor, Richard L Dunn wrote a book called "Exploding Fuel Tanks" in which he has reproduced a couple US tests of Japanese plates, one using M8 API against a 16-17mm plate from a Lilly, and one M2 AP against a 13mm plate from an Oscar.
43:00 Muzzle velocity would also fall over distance. I'm a humble engineer and have never touched a gun but a bullet from a 2700ft/s gun is going to slow to 0ft/s at SOME point. Secondly, as the WWII armor's love of sloped armor was based on, hitting a plate at less than 90 degrees will have to cut through more distance: at 30 degrees it's double-thick. (formula is: 1/sin(angle) ). Further, I don't know details but I think there's a cos^4 fall-off on energy transfer due to the bullet simply wanting to deflect. The result is that probably at even very close ranges, there were a wide range of angles that the bullet couldn't penetrate this armor, with a cone around 90 degrees which could penetrate. As you got further away, the cone would narrow until simple questions of velocity decrease over distance would result in the armor holding. And as you say, the bullet will deform with everything it hits, and the closer to 90 degrees you get, the more things you're likely to hit. A totally different answer is that if more armor would have been nice to have, the US surely would have used it. They didn't, so 1/2" surely sufficed for a really wide range of conditions.
Been using thumb trigger on my throttle for about 3 years now. Much preferred. So much so that I have altered the normal key mapping for planes in DCS to accommodate.
Oh, that's interesting. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks there is something to this, and your gunnery is very accurate, so it means something coming from you. Thanks.
Great video Greg. I am particularly interested in how the Allied test pilots learned how to fly or even start the engines on captured German, Italian or Japanese aircraft. I get it that they are test pilots, but even test pilots have a briefing or designer notes and information on engine performance to refer to before they strap an airplane to their butts. Did they capture manuals as well as the complete aircraft? As you can probably guess, I am not a pilot so if my question seems wonky I beg your indulgence and patience. Great videos, and thank you for putting these together.
Translating written German into English is not difficult as far as engineering is concerned. Very little is lost in translation there. Grammar, syntax, different word meanings etc. are not a concern there. The main difficulty would be conversion from metric altitude/pressure/speed to non-metric. As far as start ups etc. you need a manual even if you transit from lets say a P47 to a P51. That being said there are similarities. You wouldn't fly a captured plane though before your mechanics had had a very good look at it to see how it works. Just my two cents.
In the .50 cal pen also don't forget those are for a perfect 90deg angle. So the vast majority of those shots are not going to be at right angles. So you've got distance, hitting other objects, thickness at the angle of impact and ricochet all to factor in. I am sure there is a formula or guides to figure out how thick the pilot armor should be to save the pilot in X% of hits. I'm sure they've got a ton of info on shot angles and ballistics tests to figure this out.
I'm a bit surprised just how good this design is, looking forward to the next part. Although if the Ki-61 was already significally hindered by the lack of "Division 1" pilots then things could only be worse for this aircraft. If possible, I would like a quick assessment of the aerial situation for Japan at the time of the Frank's appearence, as I'm pretty sure most people (including myself) only know that "it was getting really bad".
I'm not sure about japanese army figures but from what I read about navy pilots I can make an educated guess. At the start of the war both army and navy had a very strict program selecting only the best pilots. Navy pilots quality was above army as the training was even more intensive and required strong navigational skills. Young pilots started frontline duties with 700 flying hours in the navy and 500 in the army. Yet most pearl harbour veterans either died or became not able to fly anymore by the end of 1942 after the carriers battle of that year and the attrition caused by the Guadalcanal campaign. In the army, the situation was similar after the air war over new guinea which lasted until 1945. New Guinea was even called the green graveyard by japanese army pilots. During 1942 new pilots were of good quality but the attrition rate forced the japanese both in the army and the navy to drastically decrease the time given to train new pilots. Flying time required was more than halved while US pilots were not qualified without at least 525 flying hours. By 1943 allied units witnessed a sharp decline in the quality of japanese pilots and the situation only worsened when 2nd generation of US fighters appeared against zeroes and oscars. The US submarine campaing started to bear fruits and hit japanese supplies of oil sharply making pilots training all the more difficult. I read somewhere japanese pilots were qualified with a whooping 40 flying hours at the start of 1945. So in essence when the Ki-84 appeared most skilled pilots were dead and they were too few Ki-84 to really make a difference and the machines were unreliable given the poor experience of the workshop building personnel and the lack of skilled mecanics and the quality of the fuel used had dropped hindering further the perfomances of japanese planes. Bear in mind the KI-84 first saw combat when the Imperial Japanese carrier based pilots were being slaughtered during the Marianna great Turkey shoot. 4 months later Japan used Kamikaze attacks because conventional aerial attack could not reach US targets anymore. So yes, it was getting really bad.
Hello Greg. I truly enjoy your in depth reviews of WWII aircraft. They are a passion of mine as well. My sincere prayers for your complete recovery. 🙏🏻. All the best to you.
That Corsair shown at 33:10 is the one at the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm museum at Yeovilton, England. It still carries the original paint work. It is a Brewster produced Corsair, as most if not all Royal Navy Corsairs were. The American Navy and Marine corps not liking the unreliable and sometimes dangerous Brewster Corsairs. Relegating them to training flights. Some U.S pilots refused to fly Brewster serial numbered Corsairs on training missions, insisting on a non Brewster Corsair. The British Navy flew Brewster Corsairs into combat. Being glad to receive any carrier fighter that was better than their Seafires, which Captain Eric Brown described as 'trash'.
Best wishes for your recovery, Greg. You've got one of the most original and best aviation RUclips channels. The level of rich detail is tremendous. In a world of copy-paste "documentaries," you bring comprehensive research and the ability to increase comprehension of that material. I've happily recommended your channel to a number of others.
Totally agree, and also wishing you a quick recovery, Greg.
Yes I agree....after reading alot of plane documentaries...the talking points are usually the same common ones, for any plane. Greg really digs out the nuances and forgotten tales of each plane.
What's going on with Greg?
Why not correct Wikipedia?
@@alan6832 because people will de-correct it.
The mention of the water methanol mixture in the p47, allowing less fuel consumption at WEP than at military power, brings this full circle to the original thought of using it to extend range in bombers instead of using it for additional power.
That's true and it comes from that research.
You must calculate the mass of the many hundreds of gallons of water and subtract it from either the bomb load or fuel fraction.
Then, determine if that tradeoff for water which is 1.25-1.38x heavier than Avgas/Jet fuel, and having exactly zero BTUs of energy per gallon, would indeed extend the range.
If you are spraying 50/50 methanol into an engine and it makes more power with lower gasoline consumption, are you ignoring the many gallons of dragster fuel you are pumping in from another tank? Not hardly. And if you consider that Methanol has a much lower energy than gasoline, and water has zero energy, you will find that the engineers knew what they were doing specifying a certain amount of Avgas instead of methanol.
@@Triple_J.1 US Army Air Force were developing exhaust cooling to recapture the water vapor in the exhaust. This would then be injected into the engines.
I’m wondering whether that was part of the motivation here; Japan was always reliant on imported petroleum, but alcohol derivatives are probably something they could produce within the home islands, allowing them to stretch the fuel supply without sacrificing performance? Also, additional head cooling could help compensate for less capable metallurgy.
@@greendoodily Yes, and mostly everybody else was also figuring out that water/alcohol would boost power easily. Raising octane was really hard, so being able to make big power with lower octane fuel was very compelling. I don't know how much alcohol production happened during the war. Great subject for research.
putting in my two cents here might be relevant: The last time I had met Mr. Sakai Saburo at his home in Sugamo Tokyo in 1999, we talked about the Ki-84 AND IT WAS HIS OPINION TOO THAT THE Ki-84 WAS THE OVERALL BEST JAPANESE FIGHTER MASS PRODUCED during the war!
Just started reading his book last week, amazing read
@@Ray-lf1eo I still had the honor and rare privilege to thank him in person for motivating me through a very difficult part of my life by his book Samurai. I will forever treasure my experience with him and the signed books and pieces of calligraphy he presented me with...
@@Ray-lf1eo
What is the title of his book?
@@briancavanagh7048 samurai!
This is very cool. Did Sakai san actually fly the Hayate? I would think it is unlikely, given that it was an army fighter, but I am sure he talked to people that did fly it. In his book, Sakai did not seem to like too much the Kawanishi equivalent Shiden Kai.
I have an IQ of maybe like 92 on a good day going downhill With the Wind behind my back.
I can barely keep up to this but I do appreciate all the effort that goes into them and the smart guy producing them.
and even if I learn a little it's okay.
You’re smarter than some of the people running things now with no common sense.
superlative video - one of the very , very best on the Ki 84 - thank you
I just found your channel, just awesome. Dad served on a convoy escort carrier in the Royal Navy at the end of WW2 and later worked for A.V. Roe in Canada. It's in the genes I think. I have been a motorcyclist most of my life and your reference to Kawasaki's m/cycle line really struck a key. I used to club race a Kawasaki S2 1972 350cc triple at Mosport Ontario and Sanair Quebec in the late 70s and setting the ignition timing on 3 cylinders points style was an artform as I remember. Great stuff, thanks and greetings from the south Caribbean.
Not just Japan's best fighter of the war, but when properly built and maintained, probably in the top 3 fighters of the entire war altogether.
The best of almost All american fighters crafted and used of WWII !
F8F best
@@thecircusfreak5364 the F8 didn’t even see combat and got zero kills. It’s not a fighter of Ww2.
@user-zz5ep3cf5rMeteor ?!
@user-zz5ep3cf5rNah, the best 3 are:
-Vought F4U-4
-North American P-47M
-Hawker Tempest
Long story short: There are only subjective lists of the 3 best fighter aircraft of the war out of a long list of candidates.
It's probably easier to make a best fighter list for specific theatre's and periods.
I understand that the three best Japanese production fighters to enter combat were the Ki-84, the Ki-100 and the N1K1-J. Wondering which is deemed to be the superior aircraft.
Wow! it's rare for me to watch an hour long video and be left feeling I want more. Well done Greg.
I think its the n1k2 that is the good one, theres an ace interview with a guy from the 343rd squadron who flew n1k's apparently the n1k1 was a pain in the ass due to weak landing gear and something else i cant remember, he reckoned once they went to a low wing with the n1k2 it was excellent
Ki-84 definitely. Only it was on par with mustang and corsair speed wise and was much more maneuverable. Ki-100 and n1k1 were much slower
@@Colt45hatchback n1k1 was essentially sea plane converted for land based operation. N1k2 was purpose built land based fighter
@@kidpagronprimsank05 yes, but there were quite a few improvements over the n1k1 land plane and n1k2
Imagine if Jap ace Saburo Sakai was flying this plane..
The drastically reduced rate of fire for the cowl-mounted machine guns has to do with a combination of primer quality (and its degradation over time) and the gun's "lock time", the time it takes for the firing pin to move foreword and ignite the primer after its trigger is pulled. Variations in either or both of these reduce the window in which the trigger can be pulled and the bullet be assured to miss the propeller. The speed at which the action operates and is ready to be fired again also has a significant impact as well. Slower action speed and higher lock time can have an outsized effect at certain engine RPM's which cause a propeller blade to be in the way just as the weapon is ready to fire again.
The German electric ignition of primers eliminated the lock time issue, of course.
Thanks, I have never even heard of "lock time" which is why this sort of thing requires a subject matter expert to sort out, and why I kinda stay in my lane.
Not to mention having to interrupt the firing every-time a prop blade is in the way… a four blade prop is a frequent obstacle…
Im quite surprised really that they/someone didnt invent an engine driven gun. Like a mechanically connected to the crankshaft gun that had like a side face toothed gear "clutch" where the gun is always ready to fire, but when you pull the trigger it engages a clutch which can only lock into say 3 or 4 orientations (to allow for the timing to not hit the prop) which cycles the mech untill you let go and it disengages the drive, wether by solenoid or cable and clutch fork
@@Colt45hatchback That is pretty much what some of the synchronizer setups were. They had a mechanical or hydraulic device activated by a cam connected to the crankshaft to prevent the firing pin from dropping with a blade was in the way (or move into the way in the time it took for the firing pin to fall, primer to ignite the powder and send the bullet out of the barrel). Most setups eventually went to a hydraulic system (tube filled with liquid) instead of cables or mechanical linkages to minimize the number of components that could stretch or wear.
Some guns, like the later versions of the 20mm MG 151 used electrical primers, so the device would prevent electricity being sent to the primer when a propellor would be in the way.
You get some fxcking deep, deep comments on this channel... fantastic👍
Very informative and interesting video as always Greg. Just wanted to point out, that whilst part of Nakajima Aircraft Corporation became 'Fuji Heavy Industries' (Subaru), another large part of the company was building engines for another car making company. This company merged with the engine supplier and became Prince Motor Company. Prince are famous in Japan for being the designers of the 'Skyline' car (amongst others). The company later merged with Nissan who have continued the name 'Skyline' through to present day. So I think it fair to say that Nissan's best cars can trace their heritage back to Nakajima, as much as Subaru can... (apologies if other posters have already mentioned this).
Full info about Prince can be found in this Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Motor_Company.
Your videos are phenomenal with meticulous attention to detail that must take countless hours of research to put together. I really appreciate your dedication considering how easy it is for lesser content creators to slap together clickbait garbage. Your videos are the best!
And it is quite ironic how certain bigger creators come out with a lesser version of the work done by Greg a few months after, like "the insane engineering of the P-47" which just so happened to be released shortly after Greg finished his thorough P-47 Series.
where else can you learn which WWII fighters had parking brakes ?
@@LupusAriesGod, I was very upset when I watched that "insane engineering of the p-47" video. After watching Greg's entire p-47 series, it was like an insult.
Such a good-looking plane. Like the Fw 190 or Corsair it has that mix of beefy and graceful, and it doesn't have an unflattering angle.
That pic at 1:06:37 completed my thoughts on this aircraft appearing to me to be 'Japan's P-47'. Seeing the plane in bare metal with US markings sealed the deal. I'm really looking forward to part 2 of this.
J2M Is more of a p-47. Even the names match.
Ki-94
I've been waiting for this one for a LONG time! I thank you so very much!!! There is nowhere else where one can go to find so much honest data on WWII Japanese fighters!!!
Greg’s does a badass job at researching his warbirds I have learned so much from this channel about airplanes it’s crazy books and other sources just look at planes at the surface level.he digs deep and finds things others can’t or won’t .I especially value his educated guess when there isn’t very much sources cause they are of sound logic
That's good to hear, because to make videos about Japanese airplanes I need to take educated guesses about a lot of things. Information on some things just isn't out there, however all planes have some things in common. I appreciate you kind words about my efforts.
Very well said.
Well done, Greg, as usual. I'm looking forward to the performance segment.
Re: "water injection," the following is from my Dad's squadron's (VF-19) combat history of their tour in the western Pacific in the summer and fall of 1944: “After having transferred twenty planes to ComAirPac the squadron received thirty seven new F6F-3’s. Twenty of these new planes had water-injection engines, the first water injection planes in the Hawaiian Islands… About this time, the squadron was notified that thirty seven F6F-5’s had been assigned to VF-19, and Ralph Clarke, another experienced Grumman representative, lectured on the similarities and differences of the F6F-3 and F6F-5. However, before delivery of the new planes could be effected; orders came through for the squadron to depart. Within two days, all the non-water injection planes were exchanged with VF-18 for water-injection planes.” They flew aboard the USS Lexington in early July, 1944. Dad was the squadron engineering officer, and squadron pilots likely well-understood the combat advantages of the system.
While he did face (and shoot down) two Ki-44 Tojos, to my knowledge, Dad never faced a Frank, though I've seen a painting of one of the squadron's final missions in the Philippines in early November, 1944, during which a couple of VF-19 pilots combined to down a Frank in a low-level fight near Clark Field.
If it helps any, after my own lumbar surgery (decades ago) I was able to resume normal activity a couple months later, with the exception of lifting dead weights of 50 lbs. or more, and I stayed away from golf for a couple decades (no loss, I wasn't very good at it). In fact, I coached fast-pitch softball (including swinging a bat for fielding drills many, many times) for 15 seasons, until I retired from teaching, beginning a few years after the surgery.
Thanks Greg, can't wait, what a beautiful plane!! Get real healthy, real soon! Have a good warm winter and take it easy, you deserve it!
Thanks Vlad. I seem to be recovering well. Not being able to fly airplanes or work on cars is quite a downer, but otherwise I'm doing well. I seem to be healing quickly and I enjoy making these videos and the extra time with my grandkids.
Ki-84 is one of favorite WW2 aircraft. Have waited a long time for someone to do a well researched video like this as so little is written on most Japanese planes. Thanks for all your work Greg. You’re a national treasure!
Good video. I had heard that one of the reasons P-38s had problems in europe was that high altitude temperatures could actually disable the pilots. Good to hear they fixed that.
Great to have some technical insight into the homare. After stalking Callum Douglas and Snapping up a first edition of his awesome book, I'd always wondered how the Japanese engines developed into the late war period. You're the first person to add some useful detail beyond the basic specs. Hopefully one day you'll do a Collab video with Callum.
What? No, Greg, don't leave us hanging. We finally get to see a competent, well made video of one of Japan's best WWII fighters nd we have to wait for a part 2? Still though, I got to say that this is well done and VERY interesting. I can't wait for part 2.
I really enjoyed the detailed discussion on water injection ratios.
The GOAT is back, and with a banger of a plane!
Ki-84 has always been a favorite of mine and such an interesting plane. so stoked to finally see a Greg's video on it.
"David Lednicer is a pretty big deal in the world of aerodynamics - even if he does drive a Subaru." Love it! Said as just a throwaway comment with no emphasis.
Well deserved recognition for this plane, it has been in oblivion all this time and as you say Greg, it may well have been the best japanese fighter of the war. I love japanese warplanes of wwii, the Ki-61 and F1M Pete are another favorites!
More prototypes also allows for testing in different environments and extremes. I'm not sure this was a common practice in WW2, by any nation, but it is an advantage. You can test one prototype in arctic conditions and another in desert or tropical conditions. The Germans seemed to have had a multi-tiered prototype system as well. They produced "V-n" (where n is a number) variants and then they produced "A-0" aircraft which were pre-production prototypes.
That's a darn good point.
The Versuch numbers continued after the A-0 versions - Versuch were test articles for modifications too.
The Hawker Tornado was another example of a mutated prototype being the direct ancestor for three different production aircraft.
Your work just keeps getting better and better, Greg. You're the first person on youtube, out of over a decade of using it, that I genuinely think I'm going to subscribe to the patreon of.
Thanks, I appreciate your kind words.
Dude ya, I think I'm at that point now too, the only other one that comes close is Drachenifal
Considering the lack of data out there regarding this model, an excellent well researched and totally engrossing video on Japan's arguably premier WW2 Fighter!
absolutely fantastic work. love your content. since the History Channel stopped publishing history I've been looking for something to fill the void. You have done that. Excellent work sir.
Greg, you are the KING of military aviation nerds and, as a fellow nerd, I aspire to your nerd-ocity.
Great video Greg, looking forward to part 2. Wish you a smooth and speedy recovery!
I really appreciate your calm, methodical presentations, without any flashy nonsense. Great stuff and greatly appreciate!
I've been anticipating this one Greg and you don't disappoint. Complete information on Japanese planes is so scarce that having someone of your ability to weave into a fuller picture with real data and some educated guesses is very valuable. And entertaining, at least for me.
I'm even happier that there will be a part 2 with performance data.
P.S. glad to hear your recovering ok. Don't try to push the recovery to much. One of my friends did and got a massive infection that could have paralyzed him.
regarding the gun trigger on throttle. having the trigger on stick affects the finer inputs needed to aim steady when pilots squeeze too hard which affects accuracy. trigger on throttle solves that issue and it also helps to compartmentalize tasks. "right hand for aiming" "left hand shooting"
Greg, I value your opinion on the Ki-84, frankly it's my favorite Japanese fighter...
Frankly put, it's the Hayate way
Yes indeed, FRANKly the best of them all
For Japanese fighter aircraft outside the famous Zero, I'm torn between the Ki-84 and the Mitsubishi J2M "Raiden".
Great info on one of the most rare and obscure fighters of the war. Looking forward to part II. It sure looks like a Japanese P-47.
Wasn't particularly rare. They built about 3500 of them, which by Imperial Japanese was a very large number. It still holds the Japanese record for highest production number of airframes in a year. There is just, so far as I know, a single surviving airframe.
The in depth analysis of the power plants if my favorite part of this channel
Thanks for all your research of best Japanese fighter. Your research details best on RUclips
Loved this video! And also your pretty humorous and scathing remark about David Lednicer driving a Subaru.
Fantastic presentation!! I really enjoy listening to someone go over a subject that they have actually done the research and even pre-addressed some questions that might arise. Thank you. Had to sub!!
Great video, thorough as always. Very interesting to see an in depth analysis of the Japanese planes as so little info on them is out there.
I'm a big fan of restoring warbirds into flying conditions, mainly because as a musician I love hearing the unique sounds of these birds. There was a video of a restored ki84 flying around, it must have been incredible. No sound on the footage, sadly. I doubt an authentic engine like that will ever get restored to flying condition in my lifetime, the authentic Nakajima Sakae in the A6m was a massive hurdle enough- im sure if some collector did manage to restore and fly a ki-84, they would stick anr2800 in it.
How could they fit such a bigger engine?
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 just something of similar size is what many collectors do now. The a6m replicas without original engines use r1830s. Fw190s without the original bmw801 use an r2800. Hawker sea furies without their centaurus have r3350s. Same goes for inline engines- most rare engines (looking at the Il-2 and mig 3 that are restored) have been replaced with Allison v1710. Engine restoration is a whole different beast from airplane restoration and after a certain point it just makes more sense to retrofit a similar engine unfortunately
@@elliottsmith8268 Did you watch the video and see the difference in diameters? You'd need a TARDIS to fit an R2800 inside that cowling.
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 perhaps not an r2800 but a similar common engine- I was just presuming that if they did somehow restore a 84, it probably would have a different American engine, because despite the sake of authenticity, the original engines of rare warbirds are even harder to restore and maintain. It seems like if someone somehow did get a ki84 in the air, it wouldn't be with a homare but with a modified cowling and fuselage and a 2800. But I'm not saying I'd want them to do that lol, I'd rather a restoration company to dump millions of dollars into finding these insanely rare documents and parts and restore or create an actual homare engine
@@elliottsmith8268 I had an earlier comment but I think it disappeared. The only surviving Ki-84 had been kept at the Planes of Fame Museum until it was sold to a Japanese businessman. It was flown during a 1973 air expo in Japan and filmed. Sometime after, the Ki-84 ended up on outdoor display and the elements took a toll on the aircraft. It is no longer flyable, but is on display at the Chiran Kamikaze Memorial Museum in Japan.
been looking forward to this one
Wow amazing detail as always. I was a little worried that there wouldn’t be enough surviving information on this plane. Loving your work as always Greg!
Well researched, accurate, factual and very watchable. Anyone wanting to expand their knowledge of Aircraft design, history and performance needs only to watch these video's. Thankyou
What an interesting airplane, great video Greg!
The likely explanation for why armor was "worth it" is that it is quite unlikely to get a perfect 90 degree hit on the armor. We know that a hit at any oblique angle will increase the effective thickness of the armor and reduce the likelihood of penetration.
Quite a respectable engine. Thanks Greg.
Excellent... highly detailed ... technical details in abundance. The Subaru reference was funny.
All of these videos are of 5-DIAMONDS quality, the most Superlative. Has one been done on the P-61 Blackwidow? One of my favorites is the XP-72 SuperBolt. Thanks a Zillion for these. The Italians had some great airplanes in WW2. The DO-335 and the TA-152 should be done. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
ruclips.net/video/hSdYtF2uR3U/видео.html
DE HAV HORNET OUGHT TO BE DONE ...YESTERDAY period
This is the best aviation channel on YT. This is also the best warbird content on the internet period.
Greg, you’re a treasure. What you’ve done with these series is outstanding. Thank you for your content. I hope you enjoy creating as much as we enjoy consuming.
Another GREAT piece of work! Thank you Greg! What a fascinating subject!
Intelligence and ingenuity knows no national boundary. Another great video, Greg.
Another great and grand tour of an aircraft and its design, will wait for part two, love your work.
34:53 hey Gregg I might be able to explain this. The Japanese Navy licensed the MG131 to use as their back gunner machinegun. They did not use the electronic firing and used the original percussion ignition which lowered the firing to 750rpm from the original 900rpm. Japanese navy said they did this because the heat and humidity of the tropical environment would damage the electrical connections and since they would not use their Type 2 as cowling or even wing mounted machineguns only ad back gunner this increased reliability
Thanks, that makes sense.
Great as always, glad it was available 'Live'. Hopefully more 'live' stuff soon. About to investigate patreaon
Thanks Phil.
Appreciate these thorough technical videos you make.
Really appreciate the long, hard work and research that these videos require, thanks😁
I've wondered for so long why fabric was used on control surfaces,... finally I have an answer! Thanks
thanks Greg. Can't wait for part 2.
It will be up this weekend.
I have bought and read a pick up truck load of aviation books and magazines in the last 50 years. I learned more solid info on planes from your vids than the whole shebang. Your engineering background and research is by far the most revelatory stuff around. Thanks a million and keep it up. 👍
An hour and 8 minutes of Greg talking about airplanes, count me in.
great video as usual.
Wow, water-methanol right out of the box. The Homare engine had the advantage it was smaller, smaller motors more HP per weight and per displacement.
Really nice looking plane.
Great video Greg. Very interesting and highly informative as usual.
In my 45 years of working in aerospace, I have found that the one thing all prototypes have in common is that they are fabricated with little or none of the tooling that enables serial production. Lack of tooling (among other things discussed) could have contributed to a necessity to continue manufacturing prototypes.
20:30 I might be able to add something useful here. My car, 2020 Honda Civic, has a 2L I-4 and produces a maximum of around 150 hp. Meanwhile, my motorcycle, 2009 Yamaha R1, has a 1L I-4 and also produces 150 hp. Same power, but one engine is twice as big. How? The R1 has an rpm redline of 13,500. The Civic? Just 7000 rpm. The R1's engine can spin roughly twice as fast as the one in the Civic. Now, torque is another matter entirely, but in short, engine rpm is directly proportional to maximum power.
Not having Automotive Technical Training, I surely appreciate your Analysis and Technical Podcasts. I have a mechanical & technically analytical mind but never really utilized these traits. No Education. Your explanations are understandable, and I do understand. I usually enjoy your Excellent Videos when I watch them. Thank you.
I wish you were my teacher in my college time. With people like you there is no need for education system, you could gain great knowledge on YT.
The internet may be making traditional K-12 schools obsolete.
Your videos are so good to listen to at work. Makes the day enjoyable
As usual, fantastic piece sir.
Is there anything Better than being wide awake at 3am and finding Greg has put out an hour long video. Perfect! #insomniagang
I've been waiting for new video for a while, and as always, it's awesome!
Thank you for a great video on how a great design can be compromised by poor implementation. I saw this time and again in my career in software development. Looking forward to part two.
As a guy who prefers Japanese motorcycles, but grew up with British and American bikes; and has been flying since the seventies, I love the Japanese WW2 fighters, and so, I really enjoyed this video, Greg. (Honda made the piston rings for, mostly the Mitsubishi engines for the Zeros, but years after the war, when Honda was racing Grand Prix motorcycle engines, they were running much higher RPM than anyone else. Reliably.) Having only twice needed to swing a prop-a little 172 I am a big supporter of electric start! The late '70's were the epitome of GA; affordable, reliable, amenable, and familiar. It's all messed up now.
Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
Once again, a video that makes me glad I'm a subscriber. Your delivery is great; you sound like you should have been in broadcasting. 59:23 As for the Frank, it looks pretty smart in US livery! Also very impressed with all of the ingenious design features the designers used to try to gain an advantage over their more advanced opponents.
Ironically, my first aviation job was in radio. I was a traffic reporter back when that was a job you could get.
I was wondering if you would do a little video on Ki-100?
Maybe. Let's see how this and the next K-84 videos do first. Also I have a Ki-61 video and need to cover the 61-2 version before the Ki-100.
@@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles Oh hopefully she get covered eventually, she's definitely one of the best "emergency/stop-gap" measure fighters in WW2. And a very gorgeous plane.
Love your presentations. Beyond Jack Webb saying "Just the facts, mam". Because of my involvement with motorcycles since the '60's when you were comparing engine parameters to HP, as you went through the differences my head was saying 'RPM'! The Japanese have been some of the best and earliest reguarding that ratio in road racing through the years since WWII. Having said that the Italians (Moto Guzzi) had a double overhead cam V-8 in the early 50's. Seems tyres were the limiting factor - go figure.
The Napier lion engine from 1917 is a w12 dohc with 4 valves per cylinder. 400 hp.
Oh yeah, one of my favorite WW2 fighters. I've been a Hayate geek for decades! LoL Thanks Greg! ありがとう 👍
Yeah, Spitfire flaps aren't meant for use in flight. Only when landing, when you actually want the speed brake effect as well as the added lift. They only have a full-down setting, not in notches like the P-51 or continuously adjustable like the P-47.
Sorry to hear you had surgery, that's never fun. Glad you're on the mend, get well soon!
Wow.!! In the running for the best fighter of the war. From Greg that is high praise indeed. Again thanks for sharing your insight Greg. I'm looking forward to more of your videos.
Many Thx Greg , didnt have much sources/Books about Japanese Planes so this Video is a very welcome addition, the Hayate is definitive the best looking japanese Plane
Another great video, thanks Greg!
Greg, you did a great job of presenting this aircraft, especially considering the dearth of information available. The "Frank" is yet another Japanese design which I believe I would have enjoyed flying. Glad, honestly, that it was not readily available for the final year of the war.
On the topic of .50 penetration of Japanese armor, Richard L Dunn wrote a book called "Exploding Fuel Tanks" in which he has reproduced a couple US tests of Japanese plates, one using M8 API against a 16-17mm plate from a Lilly, and one M2 AP against a 13mm plate from an Oscar.
Late war japanese planes had arguably equal Armor as US planes.
Another excellent video which obviously took a lot of research, glad you're in recovery-take it easy.
43:00 Muzzle velocity would also fall over distance. I'm a humble engineer and have never touched a gun but a bullet from a 2700ft/s gun is going to slow to 0ft/s at SOME point. Secondly, as the WWII armor's love of sloped armor was based on, hitting a plate at less than 90 degrees will have to cut through more distance: at 30 degrees it's double-thick. (formula is: 1/sin(angle) ). Further, I don't know details but I think there's a cos^4 fall-off on energy transfer due to the bullet simply wanting to deflect. The result is that probably at even very close ranges, there were a wide range of angles that the bullet couldn't penetrate this armor, with a cone around 90 degrees which could penetrate. As you got further away, the cone would narrow until simple questions of velocity decrease over distance would result in the armor holding. And as you say, the bullet will deform with everything it hits, and the closer to 90 degrees you get, the more things you're likely to hit.
A totally different answer is that if more armor would have been nice to have, the US surely would have used it. They didn't, so 1/2" surely sufficed for a really wide range of conditions.
Another outstanding achievement, Greg!
Awesome & highly informative video. Thank you for all your hard work!
These are so detailed, I need to watch 15 minute chunks
Bubble canopy.....big guns. brilliant analysis as per usual
Fascinating as always, Greg. Thanks.
Been using thumb trigger on my throttle for about 3 years now. Much preferred. So much so that I have altered the normal key mapping for planes in DCS to accommodate.
Oh, that's interesting. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks there is something to this, and your gunnery is very accurate, so it means something coming from you. Thanks.
Great video Greg. I am particularly interested in how the Allied test pilots learned how to fly or even start the engines on captured German, Italian or Japanese aircraft. I get it that they are test pilots, but even test pilots have a briefing or designer notes and information on engine performance to refer to before they strap an airplane to their butts. Did they capture manuals as well as the complete aircraft? As you can probably guess, I am not a pilot so if my question seems wonky I beg your indulgence and patience. Great videos, and thank you for putting these together.
I'm a pilot and flight engineer, and I think that's a great question. Wish I had an answer. Greg?
Often wondered the same!
Translating written German into English is not difficult as far as engineering is concerned. Very little is lost in translation there. Grammar, syntax, different word meanings etc. are not a concern there. The main difficulty would be conversion from metric altitude/pressure/speed to non-metric. As far as start ups etc. you need a manual even if you transit from lets say a P47 to a P51. That being said there are similarities. You wouldn't fly a captured plane though before your mechanics had had a very good look at it to see how it works. Just my two cents.
In the .50 cal pen also don't forget those are for a perfect 90deg angle. So the vast majority of those shots are not going to be at right angles. So you've got distance, hitting other objects, thickness at the angle of impact and ricochet all to factor in. I am sure there is a formula or guides to figure out how thick the pilot armor should be to save the pilot in X% of hits. I'm sure they've got a ton of info on shot angles and ballistics tests to figure this out.
I'm a bit surprised just how good this design is, looking forward to the next part. Although if the Ki-61 was already significally hindered by the lack of "Division 1" pilots then things could only be worse for this aircraft. If possible, I would like a quick assessment of the aerial situation for Japan at the time of the Frank's appearence, as I'm pretty sure most people (including myself) only know that "it was getting really bad".
I'm not sure about japanese army figures but from what I read about navy pilots I can make an educated guess. At the start of the war both army and navy had a very strict program selecting only the best pilots. Navy pilots quality was above army as the training was even more intensive and required strong navigational skills. Young pilots started frontline duties with 700 flying hours in the navy and 500 in the army. Yet most pearl harbour veterans either died or became not able to fly anymore by the end of 1942 after the carriers battle of that year and the attrition caused by the Guadalcanal campaign. In the army, the situation was similar after the air war over new guinea which lasted until 1945. New Guinea was even called the green graveyard by japanese army pilots. During 1942 new pilots were of good quality but the attrition rate forced the japanese both in the army and the navy to drastically decrease the time given to train new pilots. Flying time required was more than halved while US pilots were not qualified without at least 525 flying hours. By 1943 allied units witnessed a sharp decline in the quality of japanese pilots and the situation only worsened when 2nd generation of US fighters appeared against zeroes and oscars. The US submarine campaing started to bear fruits and hit japanese supplies of oil sharply making pilots training all the more difficult. I read somewhere japanese pilots were qualified with a whooping 40 flying hours at the start of 1945. So in essence when the Ki-84 appeared most skilled pilots were dead and they were too few Ki-84 to really make a difference and the machines were unreliable given the poor experience of the workshop building personnel and the lack of skilled mecanics and the quality of the fuel used had dropped hindering further the perfomances of japanese planes. Bear in mind the KI-84 first saw combat when the Imperial Japanese carrier based pilots were being slaughtered during the Marianna great Turkey shoot. 4 months later Japan used Kamikaze attacks because conventional aerial attack could not reach US targets anymore. So yes, it was getting really bad.
Hello Greg. I truly enjoy your in depth reviews of WWII aircraft. They are a passion of mine as well. My sincere prayers for your complete recovery. 🙏🏻. All the best to you.
thanks greg for covering my favorite japanese ww2 aircraft! 🙏🙏
“But that’s another story.” And it was a good one, as Greg’s always are.