All of this was hamstrung by the inability of Japanese fuel industry to produce higher-grade fuel, which delayed all of the engines significantly. The real plane the IJAAS needed was the Ki-94 and similar planes using the larger engines, or attempts to re-engine the Ki-84 with the later Ha-45 derivatives. Had it arrived around the time the Ki-61 it might have been useful for filling out numbers, but in '45 it was totally outmatched. It's enough to say the F8F is a better plane, but it's not a miracle and the gap would have been bridgable if Japanese aircraft development hadn't started to fall apart in '44.Īlso the Ki-100 is an extremely mediocre plane and deserves little consideration here. This is not enough to be a decisive advantage. The F8F-1 is slightly faster than the Ki-84 until high altitude, and has marginally better turn performance, and better climb rate. Not to a degree that it would really significantly outmatch it. Maybe the Ki-100 would be getting close, but that's only if they ever got the engine to actually work as advertised. Early Corsairs and Hellcats most certainly, but the F8F has literally every edge of the Ki-84.
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