Giant Warthogs.
megan,
Many hares running now! If they were happy with the Allison, then well and good. But in the NE Burma/China theatre you had to take into account the "Hump" (the Ta Liang Shan range - 18,000 ft. and lousy weather on top). The Merlin would be a much better engine for that (and what's all this about the Allison being more reliable than the Merlin? - you'd raise a few hackles with that!) And, to anticipate the next question, the GMC product (Merlin 266 in the Spit XVI) was reckoned to be every bit as good as the Derby one.
And it is nice to hear the Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" being given some credit at last. So it could dance round the A-36 just as easily as it did round the Hurricane IIC - what's the use of 4x20mms if you can never bring them to bear? - (it was not until we got the Spitfires out there that we could deal with them on equal terms).
Almost unknown at the time, and quite forgotten now, this terrestial cousin of the more well known and glamorous marine "Zero" was just about as good. Fortunately, the Jap Army Command out there could think of nothing to do with it except to send it on "hit and run" LL opportunity-target raids (rather like the FW190s in UK post BoB). If they had only lifted their eyes to the skies, they would have seen richer pickings - boxes of six lumbering VVs slowly climbing to 12,000 en route to do them mischief.
Just one pair, properly handled, would be enough to take out all six VVs in short order, as we'd decided to stick together under attack, (rather than break out in all directions, dive for the deck and run home). The three "Bettys" en route to Calcutta one night stuck together in this way (in the vain hope of beating him off) when F/Sgt Pring found them with his Beaufighter, so he got three kills in 15 seconds and a well-earned DFM. Luckily for us, the idea never occurred to the Jap Army, so I'm still here.
Thank you for your kind offer, but as I already have more reading to catch up on than time left, I must regretfully decline.
Danny42C.
Ars longa, vita brevis.