Reporter: Please talk about Mariana shooting turkey.
Horizo: Indeed, the bulletproof ability of Zero War is very poor, which is also a common problem of Japanese military aircraft in wartime. The fuel tank is a dead hole. Once hit, it's over. However, the United States was very thoughtful, and soon after the launch, the research focus shifted to bulletproof measures. The inside of the fuel tank of American aircraft is sealed with multi-layer rubber, and the middle layer is raw rubber, so even if the fuel tank is punctured by bullets, the raw rubber will immediately blend with the fuel, so that there will be no oil leakage. Japan didn't think of this technology until it got worse and worse, but not to mention rubber, even a suitable adhesive has not been developed.
Reporter: What does the US military mean by "Wright"?
Horizo: "Wright" refers to the land attack aircraft (bomber). This kind of plane is not well designed, because how can a bomber win by maneuverability when he meets a fighter? The most important thing for bombers is bulletproof performance, but this was never considered in the design of the first model. But soldiers are different. Except the level of the pilot, the air combat performance determines everything. However, at the level of Japan at that time, the engine power was 20~30% lower than that of advanced countries in Europe and America. In order to gain more flexible performance, something must be sacrificed.
Reporter: So the bulletproof device was sacrificed?
Horizo: The military believes that the key point of fighter planes is how to attack and shoot down enemy planes more effectively, regardless of their own casualties and other circumstances. This was the guiding ideology at that time. Eliminating the bulletproof device can make the plane lighter, have better flexibility and increase the attack power. At that time, the procedure of military aircraft development was as follows: the aviation headquarters in Lu Haijun collected annual reports, such as the evaluation of the aircraft in use, shortcomings records, combat records, opinions of aviation teams, and the development trends of various foreign aircraft, and then conceived the performance that the new aircraft "should" have, such as climbing ability, maximum speed, range, hovering ability, weapons and engines, which were all decided in the draft, called "design plan order". In today's wORds, it is or (operations research). This document will be distributed to airlines for competition, and the winning prototype will be approved for mass production. Based on the above design ideas and military orders, of course, bulletproof performance is not considered. Although the bulletproof performance was sacrificed, Zero War actually barely passed the harsh indicators, because these requirements were almost the limit for an aircraft with an engine of only 1000 horsepower, and the air combat capability at that time was very good. But after the appearance of the F6F "bitch" fighter with 2000 horsepower engine of Grumman Company in the United States, the suffering began. How to deal with her? However, this is also a reflection of poor productivity and national strength, and cannot be entirely attributed to the aircraft itself.
Reporter: This is the reason why "shooting turkey" came into being.
Horizo: In fact, during the five years of the Zero War, the engine horsepower did not increase, and no successor aircraft was found. Both the army and the navy have their own set. There are so many designs of "letting a hundred flowers blossom" that no one can come up with them in the end. On the contrary, Americans are very smart-they don't have many models, but they are all practical. The F6F with high horsepower and high performance and the B-29 bomber with flying altitude far exceeding zero degree are the successes of "key development" in the United States.
Reporter: For example, a commodity can't stay behind in the competition for five consecutive years in modern society.
Horizo: However, the life span of Zero War is not short. Standing at the forefront of world aviation technology at first, the backwardness in the later period is also the result of poor national strength.
Reporter: The design of Zero War started with 1937?
Horizo: The official installation is 1940 (AD 2600), so it is called "zero style". The proposed design requirement is 1937 (Showa 12), so the experimental type is called "Twelve Trial Ships".
Reporter: Is there any special reason why you became the chief designer of Zero War?
Horizo: No, it may be that we have been engaged in naval aircraft, because we just finished the' 96 warship war, and 1932 also tried to design seven trial warship wars. Therefore, the above hope to maintain a continuity in design.
Reporter:1932 ... You were very young then?
Horizo: Yes, I worked in the company for five years, and I was just 28 years old. The seven-test-ship battle was the first plane I designed. (ultimately failed, not produced)
Reporter: Are you surprised that the company appointed a newcomer like you as a designer?
Horizo: Why are you surprised? In fact, the company is very depressed. I am one of the few graduates from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Dongda University. Maybe they took me as a hope to get out of trouble.