The Nuking of Japan

[The Grand Nudger]

And it is worth noting that in a dogfight, in biplanes no less, shooting down enemy bombers capable of moving faster than you? Yeahhh, that actually is some crazy levels of skill, because you basically had to line up the target head-on and take it down, because if you didn't, by the time you turned and started opening fire the bomber was already getting out of effective range of your guns. And hitting a head-on target couldn't be very easy to do in those days.

I know that during the Korean War, prop planes were bringing down MIG-15's. The pilots flying the propeller planes would bait the MIGs into a mountain valley where it was at a disadvantage to maneuver because it was moving too fast and its turning radius was too wide. The slower propeller plane had the advantage of maneuvering in tighter places, had a tighter turning radius, and had an easier time bringing down the MIG. Technology's one thing, but tactics is key.

There's no problem in going HO with a bomber in any fighter, bombers generally didn't have much in the way of forward armament and even when they did it wasn't like they could swivel the nose and bring it to bear. A HO in a bi-plane against a mono-plane fighter of a similar manufacture as the bomber would be more impressive. The lack of long range escorts early on made bombers pretty easy pickings for anything with a gun and wings. Doesn't matter if the bomber is faster, you know where it's headed, you need only be there before it is to intercept.

On the subject of MIG conceding the HY-Y to prop planes and flying into a valley..I wouldn't call that tactics winning the day, I'd call that operator error on part of the MIG pilots. Why these guys decided to dogfight in a valley rather than pick off their enemies in the vert can only be explained by hubris and poor training.