How come the Japanese aircraft designers in WWII never cared for pilot protection?

Question

Don't you want your best pilot to fly again? I mean you could shoot the Zero with a rifle. So howcome they never took pilot safety seriously like we did?

Answer 1

japan is a country where honor is very important to them.

AND DIEING IN BATTLE GAVE THEM GREAT HONOR just how suicide bombers think it is glorious 2 kill themselves.

also less armor adds speed and agility.

Answer 2

at the time, japanese and germans planned on making concrete gliders for suicide missions

simular to todays terrorists

they thought "fight to the death"

was the most effective option

in fact, the americans were scared shitless of the suicide bombers

Answer 3

cause back then they thought dieing for your country is the most honorary way to die.

Answer 4

I'm guessing you're not familiar with the concept of kamikaze pilots.

Answer 5

There's a cultural difference that is hard for us to comprehend.  To them to die in battle is very honorable.  Similarly we value "bravery" in the face of danger and those who give their lives to protect ours but not to the point that we would want to go down in flames so that we might be immortalized.  It's the same with the suicide bombers on 9/11.  They have reached a notoriety that is unmatched by any other act (except for maybe being a pop star and smoking around or dangling your baby from a second story window).

By dying in such a way they in a sense "live forever".  Our culture is very phobic of death whereas others don't fear it nearly as much.

It might help you to understand if you researched the suicide rates in Japan.  It's so common place that they actually impose a fine on the living family members if one of their relatives throw themselves in front of a train.  Killing yourself there doesn't carry the taboo that it does in most western cultures.

Answer 6

kamakaze!!

Answer 7

To die in battle was glorious.

And the trade off of weight vs. range vs. maneuverability vs. pilot safety

Answer 8

jgdifhugeughietught

Answer 9

Because they built them for speed and maneuverability. Plus they didn't really care that much for their service men. Victory or death that was the only 2 choices they had.  

Answer 10

japanese were poor in the time so couldnt foucuse in safety for your plane fighter when you come home from a mission they actully care more about the plane if it damage or not  they dont care about you because they have a lot of troops untill the nuke

Answer 11

  Desert Viking paid attention in class!!!! The Mitsubishi "Zero" was indeed a copy of Howard Hughes's hand made "H-1" racer.Hughes flew that aircraft coast to coast @ 325 mph in the 30's.

    The "Zero" was a huge success,but was built very light to be very fast.Through it's production there were no major "mods" made to the Airframe or the vulnerable fuel tanks for protection or longevity.

     The Pilots knew exactly what they were letting themselves into.All personaly subscribed to the "Bushido" code.To die in battle was honorable and preferable to going home a live hero.

     Since they were willing to sacrifice themselves,there was no attempt or need to protect the pilot.

      The US NAVY and Marine Corps pilots were protected by Armored windshields,plate steel behind there backs and lots more.The fuel tanks were self sealing rubber bladders.The Aircraft produced by Grumman soon overtook and passed the "Zero's" performance envelope and swatted the Zeros out of the air almost at will.

      Fly Navy !!!

Answer 12

They thought speed and agility was the answer and they were right for awhile

Answer 13

The Zero was designed by Howard Hughes. Our War Department wasn't interested in it when he presented it to them in the 1930s, so he sold the design to Japan.

The fault with Japan's military strategy is that it was based on their national sport: Sumo. In that sport one comes off the mat from a crouching position and forces his opponent out of the ring or down onto the mat. It is called the "Final Battle" and each Sumo match is the final battle.

So, they threw all of their assets into a battle, figuring that there would be no next battle. That's why, after the Battle of Midway, all but a handful of the Imperial Japanese Naval aviators who had carried out the attack on Pearl Harbor were dead. So, in the later Battle of the Philippine Sea (also known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot"), the Japanese aviators were shot down in droves because they were all junior aviators who had not garnered "lessons learned" from more experienced aviators.  

Answer 14

They were still fixated on bushido and the thought that death in battle was the most honorable way to die and so they didn't really think about it