Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military
From: vrdxhq!verdix.com!bob@uunet.UU.NET (Bob Boulanger)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Bf 109 vs. Fw 190; "Flying Tigers" and aircrew quality
Message-ID: <10317@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 18 Oct 89 02:49:05 GMT
References: <10235@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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Approved: military@att.att.com



From: vrdxhq!verdix.com!bob@uunet.UU.NET (Bob Boulanger)

In article <10235@cbnews.ATT.COM> military@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker) writes:
>
>
>While your basic point is correct, this isn't a very good illustrative 
>example.  Japanese pilots, both of the Army and Navy, were the best in the 
>world (until the massive losses at Midway and Guadalcanal).  Japanese 
>fighter pilots operating in China were better pilots than the "Flying 
>Tigers" pilots.  The reasons why the "Tigers" did so well were not really 
>related to crew quality--although it is true that the "Tigers" were the best 
>pilots the Japanese had ever faced up to that time.  There's not enough 
>bandwidth to really get into an analysis of the "Tigers'" success, but 
>suffice it to say that a superb ground warning system, brilliant deception 
>methods, and Japanese failure to take the "Tigers" seriously were more 
>important than the "Tigers" crew quality, which really didn't compare well to 
>the Japanese anyway.  When P-40s and Zeros tangled later on more even terms, 
>such as in the early fighting around New Guinea, the P-40s were slaughtered, 
>despite the American use of "Tigers"-type flying tactics.  The price of
>inferiority runs high. 
>
General Claire Chennault might debate the point with you.  When the Flying
Tigers were originally formed, and known as the AVG, they had no virtually
no ties to the American military.  The pilots were "on loan" to Chennault,
and were not required to answer to U.S. military authorities.  Chennault
was also free to teach his radical methods of air engagment, which
accounted for many of the AVG victories over the Japanese.  This
progression can be seen from when the AVG first started and were routinely
beat up on to the point where Chennaults tenets started being believed in
and used by the pilots.  Their kill ratios improved considerably.

When the American military finally absorbed the Tigers and took over the
mission, many of Chennaults policies and practices re: air combat
engagement were thrown out the window and we returned to the old "tried and
true" methods.  Which in large part accounted for the slaughtering of our
P-40s.

Bob Boulanger