@Fishmoto37:
In the Pacific the P-38 could not turn with a zero. They could survive by holding at a high altitude and then diving on a zero with its heavy firepower. If it missed then the pilot could just keep going as they were faster in a dive. After outrunning the zero the P-38 could just come back around for another pass.
Yeah, I mentioned that above I though? Although, again, diving in a early model p38 was a risky proposition. They could handle shallow dives, but many pilots were lost in p38’s once they got stuck in a dive too steep. Both the P40 and P38 used boom and zoom combat methods. In a turning fight, absolutely nothing could match the A6M until 1942/3 (and even then I don’t think US planes matched their rate of turn so much as surpassed them in every other aspect - armour, roll, dive, climb, weaponry, etc).
What was the main point of this thread anyway?