On Feb 21, 2020, at 8:06 AM, Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
David,
Years ago I read Samurai by Saburo Sakai. Also the matter is covered in Toll
and some others. Japanese pilot training methods were exhaustive and time
consuming. Only a relatively small percentage of those who tried out were
able to complete the training. The Japanese pilots we encountered at the
beginning were the best in the world. But as they were killed off, the
Japanese had to change their methods. There wasn’t time to train new pilots
as thoroughly as they trained them in the past. I can’t recall whether it
was Sakai or one of the other Japanese aces who survived the war that said
all of the pilots who washed out during his training were better than the
pilots being turned out with abbreviated training toward the end of the war.
As to planes being destroyed on carriers versus being shot down in combat –
this occurred on both sides. Launching planes from a carrier was time
consuming, and if the enemy’s planes showed up before you got yours into the
air then you had to stop launching and concentrate on saving your boat. Lots
of planes were destroyed on decks or down below if enemy planes were
successful. But at some point, almost all Japanese pilots being produced
were inferior to American pilots. Also, American planes at some point were
superior to the Japanese. The Japanese hadn’t time to produce a new design.
They tinkered with the Zero, but couldn’t make it as good as the later
American planes.