Скачать или смотреть Why American Engineers 'Called Impossible' The Zero Fighter That Dominated The Pacific

This is the story of a fighter that the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics declared "cannot exist as described" — no aircraft could achieve such performance with just 940 horsepower. A fighter that American pilots accurately reported from Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal, only to be accused of exaggeration and sent for psychological evaluation because their accounts contradicted known engineering principles. A fighter that shot down armored Wildcats at a six-to-one rate despite having 260 horsepower less. A fighter so dominant the Navy published emergency tactical bulletins with one rule: never, under any circumstances, dogfight this aircraft.

The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was not supposed to revolutionize Pacific War aviation. It was supposed to be a temporary stopgap. Instead, it became the fighter that dominated Pacific skies for eighteen months and forced American fighter doctrine to be completely rewritten.