Originally Posted by Chimbu chuckles
The Zero v P40 debate is interesting...talk to chaps who actually flew against the Zero in P40s and they have a dramatically different opinion than the historians.
It wasn't just the historians- the American Air Corp leadership pushed hard for the P38 and seemed to have an anti-P40 agenda. The RAAF had operated a thousand Kittyhawks by war's end, and unlike the RAF, US and even Kiwis, still operated the type until the last days of the Pacific war.
The Zero and Japanese pilots for that matter, were grossly underrated initially. Then probably overrated by the time units such as the RAAF Kittyhawk squadrons adjusted tactics and attrition depleted experience levels.
One of the great "what if's" is what would the course of the Pacific War taken, had the RAAF been well equiped with Kittyhawks in 1941-1942? Debatably, Singapore may not have fallen.
Your friend is certainly humble. He may not have been a great shot because RAAF Kittyhawk gunsights were unreliable; and in the early stages, often replaces with homemade versions.