От "папы" ПХ Лютьера, из первых рук, так сказать
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Сообщение от luthier1
posted Wed April 21 2004 21:57
The only advantages the F4F had over the Zero were its dive characteristics, and its sturdiness. It however was more than enough in capable hands.
Wildcat was a pretty nimble plane and it was not easy to keep it in the sights for too long even for something as nimble as the Zero. And the Zero armament was really not ideal for bringing down sturdy nimble targets as the F4F. Rifle-caliber machine guns were virtually ineffective, and the 20mms had a ferociously slow rate of fire.
So the F4F was really not so desperately outclassed by the Zero as some might think. In capable hands it was anything but a deathtrap. In a one on one dogfight it stood little chance, however one on ones were very rare in the Pacific. When multiple planes were engaged, wildcats could escape in a dive which the Zeros could not follow, or evade and sustain Zero's gunfire while needing only a short burst to bring down a Zero.
One on one against the Zero a Wildcat has low chance of victory, but a pretty high chance of surviving the encounter. When the numbers get higher, the odds are becoming more even because of good US radios and reliance on teamwork, compared to Japanese focus on individual performance and often no radios at all.
Still the Wildcat is an inferior plane, and the best possible outcome of an engagement you can realistically hope for is equal losses on both sides.
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