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Description
"Drop your tanks, here come the yanks!" Shout the gallant Sky Samurai' as they haul their mighty Mitsubishi-Veeblefitzer A6MV5c "Thunder Zero"'s into action, against the deadly "Herculean-Tempest"'s of the British/Canadian Empire's Royal Air Force.
The famous A6M5 Zero fighter, of our universe was a small, lightly built, armed, and powered machine.
When bigger and more powerful allied aircraft showed up, with more engine and firepower, the Zero became obsolete and couldn't defend the Japanese Empire.
However..., in Prof. Anton Veeblefitzer's universe, things went a bit different.
Prof. Veeb' insisted that Japanese aircraft be designed as "muscle" or "Sumo" machines, with extra powerful engines, heavier firepower, armor plate, etc.
The young Emperor Hirohito, a skilled pilot and brilliant in his thinking , agreed with his friend, Prof. Veeblefitzer, and mandated that ALL designs for Japanese aircraft, etc(uh-oh)., be authorized only after the Professor has a good look at them first. And the whole of Japanese aircraft-civilization gnashed their teeth in frustration!
Taking the reliable Nakajima Sakae 21 radial air-cooled 14-cylinder engine, rated at 1,130 hp, and mating (really "screwing") three whole engine banks together, Prof. Veeb' succeeded in creating a monster: the Nakajima-Veeblefitzer Sakae 21-6!
The -6 was for the fact that the new design had 6 rows of cylinders adding up to 42 cylinders total!
Horse power was an astonishing (for the 1940's) 3,390 hp, and with war-emergency fuel additive, that power could go up to an even 4,000 hp for several minutes! And get a load of that counter-rotating propeller!
Our universe' Zero was armed with 2 x 7.7 mm fuselage mounted mg's and 2 x 20 mm wing mounted cannon, which was effective if your opponent flew slowly enough for you to get some licks in, while the Thunder Zero carried 2 x 20 mm fuselage mounted cannon and 4 x 30 mm wing-mounted cannon with 120 rpg!, and could blow the daylights out of any enemy machine.
The Zero carried little or no armor plate or fuel tank protection and was lightly constructed. This made it very maneuverable but very vulnerable to enemy hits.
The Thunder Zero, however, was a flying navy destroyer in comparison. Ruggedly constructed to the point where critics said that "It's way-y-y-y-y-y over built! You madman!" Armor plate? Look at the piece guarding the pilot's flank, and note the big dent in it, for starters. The fuel cells were armored and self sealing and small automatic fire extinguishers were mounted at strategic fire-hazard sites, such as fuel lines, inside that enormous engine cowl, oil cell, etc. Even the tires were bullet proof!
The Zero was designed exclusively for medium-to-slow speed dog fighting maneuvers, and the pilots were forbidden from exceeding 400 mph, as the air pressure at that speed could cause structural failure.
The Thunder Zero's pilots were, however, forbidden to dog fight in their machines, as they were not maneuverable enough to stay with the more nimble enemy British/Canadian Empire' aircraft.
"Thunder'er's" as the pilots were referred to, relied on speed to win battles. The "Thud" as it soon came to be called, could top 450 mph and excelled at Boom and Zoom, Streak 'em and Geek 'em, thunder and plunder, etc., tactics, which the slower BCE aircraft had difficulty dealing with.

Expect more Veeblefitzer insanity in the universe of: "War in the Pacific".

Description
"Drop your tanks, here come the yanks!" Shout the gallant Sky Samurai' as they haul their mighty Mitsubishi-Veeblefitzer A6MV5c "Thunder Zero"'s into action, against the deadly "Herculean-Tempest"'s of the British/Canadian Empire's Royal Air Force.
The famous A6M5 Zero fighter, of our universe was a small, lightly built, armed, and powered machine.
When bigger and more powerful allied aircraft showed up, with more engine and firepower, the Zero became obsolete and couldn't defend the Japanese Empire.
However..., in Prof. Anton Veeblefitzer's universe, things went a bit different.
Prof. Veeb' insisted that Japanese aircraft be designed as "muscle" or "Sumo" machines, with extra powerful engines, heavier firepower, armor plate, etc.
The young Emperor Hirohito, a skilled pilot and brilliant in his thinking , agreed with his friend, Prof. Veeblefitzer, and mandated that ALL designs for Japanese aircraft, etc(uh-oh)., be authorized only after the Professor has a good look at them first. And the whole of Japanese aircraft-civilization gnashed their teeth in frustration!
Taking the reliable Nakajima Sakae 21 radial air-cooled 14-cylinder engine, rated at 1,130 hp, and mating (really "screwing") three whole engine banks together, Prof. Veeb' succeeded in creating a monster: the Nakajima-Veeblefitzer Sakae 21-6!
The -6 was for the fact that the new design had 6 rows of cylinders adding up to 42 cylinders total!
Horse power was an astonishing (for the 1940's) 3,390 hp, and with war-emergency fuel additive, that power could go up to an even 4,000 hp for several minutes! And get a load of that counter-rotating propeller!
Our universe' Zero was armed with 2 x 7.7 mm fuselage mounted mg's and 2 x 20 mm wing mounted cannon, which was effective if your opponent flew slowly enough for you to get some licks in, while the Thunder Zero carried 2 x 20 mm fuselage mounted cannon and 4 x 30 mm wing-mounted cannon with 120 rpg!, and could blow the daylights out of any enemy machine.
The Zero carried little or no armor plate or fuel tank protection and was lightly constructed. This made it very maneuverable but very vulnerable to enemy hits.
The Thunder Zero, however, was a flying navy destroyer in comparison. Ruggedly constructed to the point where critics said that "It's way-y-y-y-y-y over built! You madman!" Armor plate? Look at the piece guarding the pilot's flank, and note the big dent in it, for starters. The fuel cells were armored and self sealing and small automatic fire extinguishers were mounted at strategic fire-hazard sites, such as fuel lines, inside that enormous engine cowl, oil cell, etc. Even the tires were bullet proof!
The Zero was designed exclusively for medium-to-slow speed dog fighting maneuvers, and the pilots were forbidden from exceeding 400 mph, as the air pressure at that speed could cause structural failure.
The Thunder Zero's pilots were, however, forbidden to dog fight in their machines, as they were not maneuverable enough to stay with the more nimble enemy British/Canadian Empire' aircraft.
"Thunder'er's" as the pilots were referred to, relied on speed to win battles. The "Thud" as it soon came to be called, could top 450 mph and excelled at Boom and Zoom, Streak 'em and Geek 'em, thunder and plunder, etc., tactics, which the slower BCE aircraft had difficulty dealing with.

Expect more Veeblefitzer insanity in the universe of: "War in the Pacific".