Pinned post for Q&A :) Justin has written a small annotated bibliography to go along with this video: Before I start, I must again thank QAZ, Trent Telenko, and Military Aviation History for their assistance with this video. Trent provided a great deal of information on aircraft radios, HF static, and American early warning systems on Guadalcanal. Military Aviation History double-checked my non-Japanese aircraft information. QAZ backed up my poor Japanese language skills and provided me with additional source material that is not otherwise available in English. Please note this annotated bibliography is not meant to be exhaustive, not even close. Rather, I have chosen to highlight a few works that together serve as a good introduction to the Zero. Unfortunately, there isn't a single book I can point to that is THE reference on the Zero. Instead there are a multitude of works, each with strengths and weaknesses. Dunn, Richard L. Exploding Fuel Tanks: Saga of Technology that Changed the Course of the Pacific Air War. 2011. This is the only history of the Pacific War focused on aircraft protection. It is eye-opening to say the least, given the amount of gross oversimplification and mythmaking around the subject. Dunn, Richard L. ZERO-SEN Model 21 Performance: Unraveling Conflicting Data. www.j-aircraft.com/research/rdunn/zeroperformance/zero_performance.htm. Accessed February 2, 2020. This is a great article that discusses some of the conflicting data around the A6M2 (Model 21)’s top speed. At the very least, it conclusively throws out several low-end figures, such as that in Mikesh’s book. As an aside, J-aircraft and its forum are an excellent resource generally. Francillon, René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. 2nd ed. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1979. This is still the best single-volume reference book on Japanese aircraft of the Pacific War in English. However, it is now quite old and not without its fair share of errors. The Zero chapter still serves as a good introduction to the aircraft. Goodwin, Mike and Peter Starkings. Japanese Aero-Engines, 1910-1945. MMP Books, 2017. This is the best single-volume reference on Japanese aero-engines available in English. Naturally, there is a great deal of information related to the engines that powered the various models of the Zero. Horikoshi, Jiro. Eagles of Mitsubishi: The Story of the Zero Fighter. Trans. Shojiro Shindo and Harold N. Wantiez. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1981. This book was written by the lead designer of the Zero and is an absolute must-read. It provides a lot of insight into the design of the Zero in particular, but very little on tactics or operations. Lundstrom, John B. The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1990. This book is a masterpiece. One of the best air power and naval histories ever written. Even over three decades later, The First Team’s central focus (naval air combat) is unsurpassed. Lundstrom’s attention to detail, knowledge of aviation, and use of Japanese as well as English sources set it apart. It is without a doubt one of the best books to read to gain a real understanding of how the Zero fought, and how its opponents fought back. Lundstrom, John B. The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2005. The second volume of Lundstrom’s The First Team series. All of my praise carries over to this work. This picks up in the aftermath of the Battle of Midway, when the air and naval war in the Pacific enters what in my view is the most interesting period: the period of balance (roughly July 1942 through December 1943). Mikesh, Robert C. Zero: Combat & Development History of Japan’s Legendary Mitsubishi A6M Zero Fighter. Motorbooks International, 1994. I have seen parts of this book and it looks excellent. However, I haven’t read it cover-to-cover yet as it is out-of-print and I only recently ordered a used copy. Mikesh was one of the best historians of Imperial Japanese aviation writing in English. Millman, Nicholas. Aircraft of the Aces 137: A6M Zero-Sen Aces, 1940-42. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2019. Nicholas Millman is an excellent historian of Imperial Japanese aviation and his brand-new and brief introduction to the first two years of the Zero’s service is handy. Peattie, Mark R. Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power, 1909-1941. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2001. Mark Peattie’s excellent history of the development of Japanese naval aviation is a must-read. I harped on a lot about context in my video, and this book provides a good amount of it. If I have to state a criticism, his grasp of the finer points of aviation technology is weak in parts. This book is at its best when dealing with the broader points rather than technical minutiae. Ruffato, Luca and Michael J. Claringbould. Eagles of the Southern Sky: The Tainan Air Group in WWII. 1 vol. Ed. Lawrence Hickey and others. Tainan Research & Publishing, 2012. This is the most detailed history of a Japanese fighter unit currently available in English, making extensive use of both Japanese and English sources. Sakai, Saburo, Martin Caidin and Fred Saito. Samurai! Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991. While there is a plethora of first-hand accounts from Japanese fighter pilots in Japanese, there is shockingly little available in English. That makes Sakai’s memoir a must-read for those looking for a pilot’s-eye view. However, as with any memoir, one must not accept everything within at face value. Sakai, as with all fighter pilots, overclaimed significantly (which makes it into his memoir) and many dates and critical details are factually incorrect. The hand of Caidin also must be noted, as he was heavily involved in the writing of Samurai! There are some events that appear to have been added by Caidin for this English language work that are entirely fictional. Tagaya, Osamu. Imperial Japanese Naval Aviator, 1937-45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003. Tagaya is one of the best historians of Imperial Japanese aviation writing in English. This book is an excellent summary of Japanese Navy aircrew training.

"5 Minute Guide to Warships"-= 2&1/2hrs on an airplane. Dammit. At this point you could do 16 hours on Turkish Fighter Blimps and I'd just shrug and reschedule my cardiac bypass...

2018 Drach: "These videos might start going slightly longer than 5 minutes." 2020 Drach: "Hold my beer"

Fun Fact: the Zero and the Seafire fought in what was likely the last dogfight of WW2. On August 15, Zeros from the 302nd Kokutai engaged Seafires from HMS Indefatigable. In short, a carrier fighter-turned-land-based-air-defense fighter engaged a land-based-air-defense-fighter-turned-carrier fighter. Something of a final irony before the war ended.

2:43 What aircraft did the A6M actually take over from and what aircraft was it actually contemporary to? 6:58 Tangent on Over-claiming 11:00 The Zero in context with its contemporaries. 18:16 What lessons did the Japanese Navy take into account when designing it? 21:44 Requirements as rewritten based on experience in China 27:31 Validity of the notion that the Zero has sub-optimal design choices due to limitations in the Japanese industry 32:13 What is the Zero actually called? 40:36 How did the A6M2 compare to the opponents it faced? 49:55 The claim that Japanese pilots preferred tail-chasing dogfights and tactics discussion 1:08:26 Japanese Tactical Formations till 1943 1:14:25 Validity to criticisms of the Zero 1:19:01 Armament 1:24:28 "Fragile Structure" 1:33:00 Origins to the Zero's vulnerability and history of aircraft protection features 1:41:51 Radio Reliability Issues 1:52:40 Zero vs Land Based fighters 2:03:35 At what point when was the Zero surpassed? Zero replacement design. 2:09:06 How much did the loss of Kido Butai's skilled pilot corp alter the perception of the Zero as the war progressed? 2:23:00 Where does the Zero sit accurately in the context of the Pacific War?

A few years ago, I bought my first car. A Mitsubishi. I didn't have much money, so I was glad the dealership worked with my. I was so excited I went to see my grandfather. I said, "Grandpa, I got a Mitsubishi, zero down!" He looked at me and said, "When I was your age, I also got a Mitsubishi Zero down."

Blimey this video lasted longer than the Russian fleet at the battle of Tsushima!

My uncle was a naval pilot flying off the Uss Franklin He would tell us kids how the Zero Fighter was the best he ever fought against with highly talented pilots flying them. He himslf only shot down one Zero durring his time on that Carrier.

How is it that the longer Drach's videos are, the better they are?! This history of the Zero was so absolutely captivating that I watched it straight through, pausing only once to pour a mug of ale for sustenance. Kudos to Justin for superb research, and to Drach for keeping the focus on track. This video fills in key details of the gradual decline of Japanese combat effectiveness over the course of the war. Brilliant, and superbly done!

Luke: But you said this was a five minute guide! Drachi-wan-Kenobi: I have harnessed the power of the Force to multiply the length of the five minute guide by over thirty, thus creating an over 2 and half hour five minute guide. So you see I was right, from a certain point of view... Seriously though, loving the longer videos. They must take a long time to research and edit!

On this episode Dratch discovers cruel and unusual punishment via Japanese fighter designations.

There was a running joke back in the early days of WW2: "What's a P-400?" "It's a P-40 with a zero on its tail." Of course there was a P-400, which most everyone had never heard of before. Great video! How could someone not be impressed by the quality of videos on this channel? This other fellow was great. How I'd love to have him over for dinner to ask all my good and bad questions. A7M/M2 Reppu was a sweet bird. Imagine if there's a concourse survivor somewhere, sitting in a cave on some remote Japanese island, how much would that plane be worth! You start it up and it sounds like a Lexus...some wealthy eccentric nut might pay $300M for it.

One of my Great Grandfathers was part of the Team the recovered the Down Zero in the Illushion Islands off the coast of Alaska, was said that he made a ring from one some washers that came off the landing gear, sadly though wasnt able to find them among my Grandfathers things after he passed away

I need a Zero I'm holding out for a Zero 'til the end of the night He's gotta be strong And he's gotta be fast And he's gotta be fresh from the fight I need a Zero

The fall of the A6M as a top-of-the-line fighter is solely because of the breathtaking speed at which aviation advanced in the thirties and forties. The Navy's F3F fighter entering service in 1936 was a biplane... and twelve years later the Navy was bringing in the F9F Panther, their first JET fighter.

In the Nakajima plane factory they had curtains separating the factory floor devising the Army from the Navy lines.

The long length of this video meant I kept putting off viewing it. Having watched it in one sitting, I have to say it’s one of the most interesting, informative and enjoyable vids on a warplane I’ve ever watched. Thanks to Drach and Justin for a fascinating discussion and here’s hoping for more like it.

I have 3 goldfish in a large tank. One of them is white with one red spot on his head, so I named him, Tetsuzo Iwamoto.

One thought about Justin's point about the distance that the Japanese Naval Air Arm could project power from Rabaul to Guadalcanal - that was one the order of the same distance that the Argentinian Air Force found so daunting for their strikes around the Falklands Islands - thirty years later, and with things like airborne refueling possible. An amazing feat, as he says!

I grew up as an old head reading about WW1 & WW2 aircraft (father was a Spitfire pilot in the RAAF) so I had a large library at my disposal. Later I focused on WW2 Werhmacht Armour & what I have read, I've always taken these books as factual until these last few years. Military German KZfaqrs have destroyed multiple "myths" that were my facts previously & now, thanks to your in depth video my previously held views are now questionable again. Thank you for my continuous Military eduction of over 50yrs.

"Army Zero's" were misidentified Ki-43's, they have a very similar profile. Pilots called them "Army Zero's" for that reason.

6 out of 5 stars: The best video on the subject of the Zero I've ever seen. I have built up a large collection of books and other resources on Japanese aviation history over 50 years, and I even met my wife (a Japanese-to-English translator) through my interest in the topic. I knew John Lundstrom personally back in the 1990s when he was employed at the Milwaukee Public Museum -- his work is topnotch. You have achieved the same high standard in this video discussion. As a hobby I have been handicapping air combat data for wargaming and simulation purposes for years now and can confirm your assertion that the operational and strategic (as well as human and cultural) factors are more significant than the easily-quantified tactical factors. The ever-elusive "truth" of these matters is so much more detailed, nuanced and fascinating than the popular oversimplifications in most books, video games and internet pages. Thank you!

Very interesting 2.5 hours for us listeners, just like Dry Dock. Drach introduces his expert guest, makes typical English encouraging conversational noises but smartly gets out of the way. Well done. I just heard this again for the third time, what an excellent video. Thanks, Drach

3.1 million views as of Nov. 2022 on a video that’s over 2 hours long! I love it when one of Drach’s videos goes “viral” so a larger audience can see the quality of his content

I still have the thick paperback I bought as a schoolboy by Jiro Horikoshi and Martin Caidin. Entitled 'Zero' it detailed its history and employment in the various conflicts from 'The Incident' to the Kamikazes.

Ah, my favorite IJN warship: The A6M Zero

The atmospherics etc effecting radios was rather eye opening.

1:44:13 The target fixation probably also occurred from surprise. The Zeros had been able to dispatch the threats quickly every time up to that point. Thatch's division and the torp bombers were a first time exception. Awesome video. Please continue this type of work.

OK. I am a very late comer to first view of this video but it was tremendous! It took me two sittings to get through it all, I must admit. Justin's research, as was stated in the conclusion, is so critical to correcting common errors concerning broad statements on a variety of dimensions of the A6M and the Pacific war. It reaffirms in me the nobility of the position of historian. Thank you for not editing this video down to a few sound bites but having enough confidence in the your audience that you stuck to telling the whole (or nearly!) story. Three Cheers for History!

All future claims that Seymour was a competent flag officer will henceforth incur permanent reassignment to the Japanese Aeroengine Designation Department! There will be no second chances!

Great video. As a retired F-4 aviator, the discussion of the Zero was fascinating. BTW, this was about ships, the aircraft is the long range artillery of a ship. It is like doing a study on types of large caliber guns on Battle Ships. Which, might make a great video too.

The more we learn, the more we realize that's so much more to be learned....

It really sounds like the Japanese Army and Navy would both have much better planes if they'd talked to each other.

My dad shot down 7 with his F6F Hellcat. After 1943 the problem was the Japanese ran out of anyone who was trained well enough .

I see a 5 Minute Guide (more or less) for 2 and a half hours.. and the Day is saved! Thank you, @Drachinifel for your excellent work.

The best historical analysis of anything I've ever heard or read. By far. Like.. Holy shit. I am most in awe of the coverage and emphasis on the fact that context can make all the difference and can't be overlooked in such areas(such as this and war coverage in general). Total eye opener Tl;Dr: best historical analysis of anything ever

Very good video! The newest idea (to me) was that the greatest problem with the Zero was the radio! That is certainly not something I've heard said anywhere else, but I have heard the Soviet's claim that American radios were one of the best items of lend-lease, so perhaps the failings of many nations radios is something that's not as well appreciated as it should be.

Getting a notification about this video while reading the excellent "Shattered Sword" (as for recommendation in US vs JN damage control special) really made my day. Thanks for both Drach!

"The Typhoon was a raging dumpster fire..." I like this guy. Good presentation. I learned some things and I know a LOT about the Pacific air war. Very worthwhile presentation, have sent links to some of my contemporaries.

I have operated military HF radio in Viet Nam, in the area of 'Zero's radio trouble' in 1968. That was not a low sunspot (bad HF radio) year. I still had intermittent trouble because other radio operators were not trained to deal with changing radio propagation. 1941 was on the way down and 42 /43 was bad. There is noise there, esp in the New Guinea area and latitude as marked in your chart about 1:51 in video, from thunderstorms much of the year. I was riding on an aircraft that got hit by lightening there. There is a difference between IJN bomber and fighter aircraft for radio, quite a bit and the same as for our side. Fighters of necessity must use voice radio whereas in the period (and even for me at time in 68), the lead bomber could have a radiotelegraphy operator (as I believe was the case for 'Tora Tora Tora' or equivalent thereof Dec 1941 Hawaii ergo Nagumo at fleet knows of success Pearl Harbor right away). The bomber...and it's antenna, is larger. AM voice radios, especially mistuned voice radios, are terrible and full of 'interruptions' (spark plug noise) as I have heard WW2 German pilots describe (and say the jet was great that way, no interruptions). I also had plenty of spark plug noise in vehicles at the time. Altogether, radiotelegraphy would be 10 to 50 times better for their gear than AM (and now it is over 100 times better but only radio amateurs like me use it). 10x better is 3X better range, 50X better is 7X times the range. There is no hope for a fighter pilot of the time to adapt to changing radio propagation. If you fly 600 miles from the carrier, you fly in and out of 'dead zones' unless you change frequency every 30 minutes or so. No way (now, it is automatic and/or relay and/or satellite).

Justin is such a great guest to listen to. I really hope he makes another appearance on this channel!

The weight savings I find the best is while the P-40 fuselage and main wings were separate complete structures which were then bolted together. The Honorable Zero's fuselage was not structurally complete until riveted onto the wing. This makes the plane take up more space when being shipped and made it more difficult to cannibalize two chopped up planes into a single flyable plane.

51:00 -- RE: "The Dichotomy" -- There's another way of saying this. ENERGY FIGHTING is on a Spectrum, and there's two main polar strategies. The Zero was *also* an energy fighter, but its energy was in the ACCELERATION curve, not in the MASS curve.

The long range was a double-edged sword. Japanese pilots, typically overworked and poorly supported enlisted men, were often exhausted and punch-drunk by the time they simply reached their long-range targets. Pile-on repeated missions day after day and their leadership had a blind habit of pushing their pilots until they simply died (particularly during the grinding Guadalcanal campaign). The IJN never considered the ramifications of a long war, and failed to manage pilots and crews as precious strategic assets. Rather, their obtuse group-think and abusive military treated everyone as casually expendable. Of course, that experience really pissed off the general population, leading to societal mistrust of the military until only very recently.

That bit about the radio communication in the Southern Pacific was really interesting. It just shows that when implementing new technology, you run into new problems that you've never had to face before. Previously, battles were started or canceled because of the local weather. Japanese couldn't use radios because of the Sun's weather.

...For a second I wondered if I slipped into another reality where Drachinifel and his famous reviews of World War aircraft and his "Taxiway" Q&A session exist.

31:00 Self sealing fuel tanks and armor. It is true that the zero didn't have them until later, but we must remember that many combat aircraft of the time didn't have them. Early B-17s, P-40s, etc. didn't get them until after the production runs had gone through a few variants. So to with some of the European aircraft.

This is the best info I have ever seen on the A6M. A full lecture with no dead air. I'm glad you uploaded the whole thing.

I enjoy history but I've never seen real stills with knowledgeable voiceover. WITHOUT CRAP MUSIC and effects. Thank you.

Love the comment Drach made near the end about this being 'one of, if not the, longest videos on the channel... it's barely halfway to the longest one this week!

For anyone who is interested: There is a flyable "Zero" replica in the aircraft museum in Olympia Washington, near the Olympia airport.

this channel is the gold standard of naval warfare channels

On the subject of overclaiming: I was in USAF intel during the 6 Day War. We checked the UARAF and IDF numbers out religiously, and were just absolutely blown away by the completely ridiculous number of aircraft that both sides were claiming, I mean, it was somewhere between FOFLMAO and spit-take... Imagine the egg on our faces when we found out the IADF numbers were actually petty damn accurate...what an ass kicking...

Ah yes one of the great pleasures of life: a two and a half hour video on a single specific vehicle and its variations.

One of my favorite quotes (no immediate idea from where/whom), even if not at all accurate: a P400 is a P40 with a Zero on it's tail...

I got a cobi A6M5 set and decided to listen to this while I put it together. A perfect amount of time and a wonderful experience.

The more I learn, the more I'm impressed with the P-47.

Yay someone clarifying how the IJN designations worked! It always irks me a bit to hear those wrong (or ignored) from even scholarly sources...

Japanese: On the bright side we have armored planes in 1945 too bad all of our pilots are dead, our population is starving to death, Our navy is a reef, and everything of note outside the home islands is under new management.

From the stand point of an engineer, you must admire what Jiro Horihoshi put together. He and the requirements that he had to satisfy, and Nakajima gave up, but he made it work. Being an engineer, I wonder what a conversation with Jiro, and the brilliant and American engineers like Kelly Johnson or Ed Heinemann, and Kurt Tank and Willy Messerschmitt on the German side of it, would say to each other about solving the problem to get the job done. The thing that Kelly and Ed always had, they had a power plant to solve the problem, where Jiro was not allowed to use the Nakajima Sakae 12 and had to use the underpowered Mitsubishi Zuisei 13 when originally designing the thing but still overcame and answered the challenge to build a platform that, had it's flaws, but is something that any and every aeronautical engineer looks at and can respect since he solved the problem.

I love these talks. I helps put together the bigger picture especially when you are considering local anomalies like the radio interference of the area and at a time when equipment on a particular upgrade wasn't properly installed. It would be interesting to hear about how useful the Gloster Gladiator was in it's time because my understanding was it was for a short period quite good in a rapidly advancing aerospace setting.

I think There are a few things that often get confused when talking about the imagined or real fragility of the Zero vs its contemporaries. (and I get much of this from having grown up around many of the Grumman and Republic Engineers that designed some of those planes). The Zero was an extremely advanced aircraft for it's time. It was one of the first to be fully utilizing more ultralight aluminum designs. This made it extremely strong and more than able to withstand any G forces or maneuvering stresses. But it meant that it was utilizing the stronger aluminum skin as a critical component of it's load bearing. They used the stronger skin to reduce the needs for some internal bracing. This made for a lighter more agile fighter with much greater range. But damage to the outer skin or load bearing surfaces would much more quickly erode the planes structural stability than it would on a corresponding Grumman. Whereas the Grumman designs (and lets be fair when we are talking about at least the US planes going head to head against the Zero we are talking mostly about the Grumman's) Well not just Grumman, Lets call it the Long Island Plane Engineering Community during this period. Which included in very tight coordination and an awful lot of neighborhood brain storming, was Grumman, Fairchild and Republic, Sperry (Makers of the Norden Bombsight) etc. So both the Grumman and the Republic Designs tended to be more over engineered to be strong and solid not just when fully intact, but to adsorb a tremendous amount of damage and still keep flying. Much of the critical structural strength was inside. If you still had one wing, a piece of tail, and 3 or 4 cylinders still working in you engine you could fly that Wildcat home. Saburo Sakai's description of his somewhat Legendary fight with Pug Southerland over Guadalcanal left a really lasting impression on him. It was his first encounter with the Grumman's. The F4F-4's I believe. Sakai was stunned. He had dumped every round of ammunition he had into the Wildcat, and it showed. The F4F was a flying trash heap. But it was still flying. Riddled stem to stern with holes, but no fires and the pilot waving at him. Finally the engine began to sputter so the Pilot took his time, collected himself, and bailed out over friendly forces. Living to return in a new plane the next day. The people that designed the Wildcat, Hellcat, Avenger and later the A-6 Intruder and F-14 Tomcat were also friends neighbors and relatives of the ones that designed the P-47 Thunderbolt and as their masterpiece the A-10 Warthog. A common design goal shared by this close knit community of aviation Engineers was the plane should still be flying with 1/3 of it missing. The ability of the American planes particularly the "Grumman's" to just soak up bullets and damage like a sponge and still keep flying and fighting somewhat unnerved the Zero pilots. The Zero wasn't however poorly designed or weak. In fact all aircraft manufacturers eventually started using the same weight saving tricks used on the Zero. Things like letting the outer skin carry most of the load and stress. The B-29 is a great example.

Drach, thanks for asking the juicy questions. Justin, thank you for explaining everything so well, especially in giving us context. Also, a special thanks for staying humble even though you were in your element. You come across as a great communicator of history. I hope you two will collaborate again.

2.5 hours and no midroll ads. Mad respect.

Great point about the AVG misidentifying Zeroes. I just read "God is my Co-Pilot" about a Flying Tiger who repeatedly cites he enganged Zeroes over Burma and China. I knew about the chronic error, but could see how contemporary writers would parrot these books and reports and perpetuate the mistakes because they thought they had accurate, first-hand accounts. That book in particular was written before the end of the war, so it was as fresh an account as any and had the error throughout.

Great point about the electromagnetic interference, that certainly warrants further investigation!

As a kid I built a Revell model kit of a Zero and loved the look of it, that sleek shape and the dark green and grey paint scheme. Always liked this airplane.

I fall asleep to this video constantly. You two simply have soothing voices and information that I don't have to think hard about because it's presented so clearly that it makes sense

I read The Eagles of Mitsubishi in the 80s. It talks about the type 96 and the development of the A6M. I worked there for a while in the late 80s.

I may not remember how to spell drachinifel, but 5 minute ship will always get me back to you.

That HF radio problem from local magnetic conditions. Damn I never thought about it but it makes so much sense considering HF radio characteristics. That is certainly the most eye opening thing of this video to me. Certainly one of many things that explains the Japaneses struggles in the Solomon's along with effective Allied early warning responses. And details like how the Model system worked and other things. Compared to other documentaries all 2.5 hours were informative, with actual examples and anecdotes actually fitting in and serving to explain what information was provided. Everything in context and not overblown or ignored. This was a real joy to watch and listen to. Fantastic work Drach and Justin.

I had a particularly slow day at work, and as a university student working in the school cafeteria, I had some time to listen to this video in it’s entirety. I am so glad I did. This is why I love this channel. I love the long, clear and descriptive discussions that occur, and it is really fun to observe other historians discuss topics such as this in detail, and with accuracy to not only the understanding of war itself in the understanding of how tech played the role in it. Far too often, I have seen people talk about how tech inside wars, and how blank being better than blank means that blank should’ve one, and how they don’t get the picture. His channel does a good job in getting rid of those myths, and bringing a sense of maturity to the military history field that I feel is pretty lacking in a lot of areas. Thank you for the content, and keep it up

This video is just about right in length, given I am on Pandemic Stay-at-Home! Tbh, it is more of a podcast with pictures than a video, but it is just fine with me. Proper analysis rather than "fanboy" ravings - this is what keeps me on this channel.

"Greetings this is Greg" -Just kidding.

Last time I was this early, the USS Constitution was still pounding the HMS Macedonian into fire wood. But fantastic video Drach, thank you sir. One interesting observation I'd like to make. The Japanese had no way to get the Zero from the factory except by using ox teams. No railroads, airports were directly connected to the Mitsubishi factory. As its often been said, the big things the Japanese could do fantastically. But the little things often tripped them up.

More information about the zero than I thought existed! Thanks Justin and Drach!

A privilege to sit down and listen to people that know their subjects inside out and convey it with so much enthusiasm. I have learnt so much and have had to rethink and ditch so many of what I now now are commonly held and wrong beliefs. Top work!

This was absolutely fascinating. I thought I new quite a bit about the Zero. Boy, was I wrong lol. Loved the info, and was glued to my headphones from beginning to end. That info on why the IJN struggled so badly in communication makes so much more sense to me now. What an incredible stroke of bad luck for an otherwise exceptional plane (for its day).

2 hour vid combining my to favourite subjects - Airplanes & Ships & I have haven’t even gotten through the 4 hr dry dock - feeling well spoiled :)

Note to "?" Dorfman - It is It is illegal to use a disguise when boarding an aircraft. According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), it may lead to fines and sometimes even arrest. The TSA may impose civil penalties of up to $14,950 per violation per person for prohibited items violations and violations of other TSA regulations

So many comparisons bean count capabilities and end up in 1v1 assessments when in truth it usually was a systematic comparison of aircraft capabilities, aircrew training and experience combined with logistics. Truly enjoyed your analysis!

All things considered, the Japanese knew how to build an airplane. Gotta give 'em that.

A superb video. Well researched by the presenters and a really important contribution to the assessment of the Mitsubishi Zero and IJN air arm. More please!

59:05.... wait.. A zero could out turn an I 16? That's awesome. Yes, I watched the whole thing and thank you so much. A lot of my misconceptions about this aircraft have now been dispelled. Brilliant video guys !

These videos are like an aircraft carrier. The longer the better.

Ah yes, the ‘5 minute’ guide to the Zero Edit: Daddy Drach hearted!!!!!!

One of the best documentaries I have ever heard! So many interesting details, rational resolutions of some common myths, perfect. The relative comparison of characteristics/values is really good, in the end it is more informative then numerical values (which are often of questionable accuracy and/or without conditions)

This is absolutely masterful. I’m a former USAF pilot and listened intently to every word, and I thank you both. My uncle was a Corsair crew chief in the Pacific (F4U-1A/D) and had nothing but good things to say about the Corsair. He’s the one who got me interested in aviation and related the pilots loved the Corsair (other than it being particularly difficult to taxi given the long nose); they were likewise keenly aware of the strengths and weaknesses of various Japanese designs including the Zero. They held most of the Japanese pilots in high regard, though noted the deterioration of skills as the war progressed. From my background, what you said about whoever started the fight higher normally won, though energy state was not taught then as such. The desire to initiate a flight from higher (and faster if possible) is still prevalent, and the desire to avoid dogfights if possible was desirable for all the reasons you stated. I think it’s clear the Zero was a very good aircraft at the beginning of the war, and was flown by combat experienced pilots. As allied designs progressed (F6F/F4U in particular) and US pilots became more experienced, the Zero was not only outclassed, the new pilots weren’t up to the task. I appreciate your discussion of this, which tends to mask the capabilities of the underlying aircraft. I do have one question that I don’t understand: it was mentioned the ailerons were shrunk (2:27:17) and that provided better roll rate. How? Did they get more deflection or move further outboard, as otherwise I find this extremely counterintuitive. Again, great show: I learned tons and appreciate both your hard work to bring this to us! Happy New Year! [Edited for typo.]

This is the stuff that makes me come back to watching your videos. I learned a lot of new things because you and your guest included details. Just feel comfortable going into deep delves. I watched your Dreadnought design video multiple times because of the way it explained some basic ship design principles and the scope of what was available at the time.

“Japan might’ve been the only country in WWII to have an HE shell for a rifle-caliber MG”. Not true, the Soviets had them too, although they were referred to as “Immediate Action Incendiary” ammunition, and their main purpose was to produce a bright flash that indicated one was hitting their target. Simo “The White Death” Haiya was shot in the face with an HE round by a Soviet counter-sniper in the Winter War (yes, they were so scared of this guy that they sent guys with explosive rounds intended for machine guns out specifically to kill him). He lived (and might’ve killed the poor guy that shot him), though it fucked up his jaw. As for the engine on the Zero, actually one of the major problems was a completely different plane: the D4Y dive bomber. It originally had a copy of the DB 601 engine in it, but this engine had so many problems in the D4Y that it needed a new engine. Unfortunately, Mitsubishi’s Kinsei engine, the first choice for a new engine for the Zero (and its planned successor, the A7M), was the engine that the IJNAS decided to earmark for what would become the D4Y3, and it wasn’t until the final year of the war when the powers that be finally threw up their hands and let Mitsubishi stick this new engine in what was to be designated the A6M8 (which was supposed to be a fighter-bomber/dive bomber variant intended to replace the D4Y, D3A, and other types still in service), but by then, the war was effectively over.

Well done! This has genuinely contributed to the state of knowledge for the average military history enthusiast. No repitition of common notions but an in depth collation of up to date research that Id never before heard after years of cursory interest in this aircraft.

I avoided this particular video on your channel for a very long time because of how long it was and because I felt, from reading various WW2 history texts over the years, that I already kinda knew what the conclusions were going to be. Man... I was very wrong. There was an immense amount of unique information that I had never heard before. From the radios and their problems with them and the bizarre atmospheric factors at play (that was wild) to the misconceptions about self-sealing fuel tanks and how that isn't like a 1/0 toggle and how complex that issue could really be. To some basic popular misconceptions about what tactics the Zero pilots were taught to use and how a little mishandling of them (pulling up in front of the enemy you just boomed-and-zoomed too quickly) could create an opening to be killed by their opponent. It's amazing how fast that 2+ hours flew by, I was hooked. Excellent content. A must-watch by anyone who really wants to know the granular story about IJN carrier aviation in WW2 and not just a few talking points commonly spouted that are frequently wrong or at least only half-right.

Wonderful exposition of the A6M2 Zero, although a lifelong military history fan, and a fan specifically of the Zero, I still learned a lot, and what I learned was not trivial.

Drach, I sat down and watched this in one session ! amazing, this is some of your best work. thanks also to your exports!

‘Man I really should stop bingeing Drachinfel’ Drachinfel uploads two and a half hour long video. ‘Hard mode it is!’

I am a configuration engineer so I was intrigued by the discussion about designation systems.

This was one of the best episodes you've done and there are plenty of quality material that you've shown us. The service you and other online historical channels provide is utterly amazing!

Any chance that the development of naval aviation as a whole will be covered on this channel?

What an fantastic presentation. Certainly a lot of hours of research accumulated to give a fair appraisal of the Zero and its creators. Thank you Drach and Justin for the collaboration on this video.

Currently on my 4th? 5th rewatch. Amazing discussion video