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Re: Allied Opinion of IJN vs. IJA Fighter Pilots
To conclude it was about equal between Japanese Navy and US Navy pilots and their machines in 1942. By the late 1942/early 1943 the war of attrition started to show their toll on Japanese and the balance turned decisively in favour of US and other Allies.
Japanese had also much greater difficulties to maintain their supply lines, fuel reserves and spare part services than Americans and Allied (and not least because of US uboats sinking Japanese supply vessels).
At the late stage of Pacific war even the technical reliability of Japanese planes was questionable while Allied in general flew with more reliable new planes. One IJA pilot commented that his Ki-84 was excellent fighter if one forgets such little things like take off and flying.
The Guadalcanal air combat 1942/1943 was in my opinion advantegous for US as there was clear homebase advantage - perhaps even more clear than the one which RAF enjoyed in Battle of Britain. There were also some USAAF units with P-39īs, so all the fighting was not left solely to the resources of Wildcat pilots. As a war of attrition it was the US which had more resources and therefore better chances to win.
For what I have read the USAAF pilots did not make it so bad with much maligned Airacobra P-39 in 1942. It may well be that Airacobra pilots managed to shoot at least as many Japanese planes as they lost themselves in combat. To tell the difference against IJA or IJN units may be difficult as Oscars were so often misidentified as Zeros.
However Japanese accounts (both personal and official) considered P-39 units to be easy opponents as well as those flying with P-40. After the war some P-40 pilot veterans studied Japanese records and found it strange how low Japanese combat reports valuated Warhawk units when compared to their own experience. They were not wiped out of sky and managed to inflict losses to Japanese.
The stats study of USAAF/Allied P-40/P-39 units vs. IJN/IJA units may give more balanced view in future. The little that I have read about this subject shows both sides to have shot down more planes than they lost themselves!
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