Why was the Mitsubishi A6M an excellent WW2 aircraft?
The “Zero” was light, nimble and had a very good climb rate, making it excellent at dogfighting. Many allied planes were able to outperform it later in the war, particularly in speed, service ceiling,range and firepower, but at the time of Pearl Harbor the Zero was possibly the best fighter in the world and it ruled the Pacific. The majority of US planes deployed to the Pacific theater learned to avoid dogfights and use other tactics to beat the Zero. Superiority in numbers eventually helped too. Early in the war, Japanese pilots also had a great advantage because most were already experienced combat pilots, having flown in China and Manchuria prior to 1941, while the vast majority of American pilots had no combat experience. Later in the war, due to attrition of the good ones, Japanese pilots were often less experienced than their American counterparts and often lost in combat even though they still might have had a superior airplane. Tactics is hugely important. An experienced pilot
