[Hylander_1314]

The 50 cal worked great on Japanese planes. The F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, and F4U Corsair had them as standard armaments, along the the P-47, P-51, and P-40 E, and later models. The early P-40's B,C, and D, had 2 .50 cals in the engine cowl, and 2 .30 cals in each wing. And the P-38 had 4 .50 cals, and a single 20mm as it's standard armament. So with Japanese planes having no armor plate for the pilot and engine vitals, and no self sealing gas tanks. One tracer in the tanks and they became flying Ronsons. That's the one thing about the planes, if you do hit them, and flame them, they will keep going when the plane should break up and go down. This was due to the duralumin the Japanese developed. It had a higher level of magnesium than the European and American manufacturers used. This helped to save weight, but the flipside was that the metal was more brittle, and prone to burning due to the higher ammounts of magnesium used. I've hit them in the wing root which is great for shearing wings and setting them alight, and they keep coming back for more like they were made of high strength stainless steel. Unless the damage inflicted is lighter than the damage model is showing. Also, a couple well placed 20mm rounds in the engine(s) should knock them out. The 20mm did severe damage to cylinders and crankcases. Blow a couple cylinders off with a 20mm, and you will run out of eggbeater real quick. Blast a hole in the crankcase in the front, and they lose oil real quick and seize up, which usually disintigrated the plane from the engine locking up.