They had some powerful aircraft, but like the Luftwaffe. they lacked properly trained pilots.The Japanese had some pretty sleek appearing fighter aircraft during late WWII. I guess they just didn’t have the production and powerful enough engines to make an advantage of them. I wonder if they started incorporating pilot armor and self sealing fuel tanks in their later aircraft?
That's for sure, the Luftwaffe had a terrible training regimen. When they needed more pilots, they grabbed everyone, including the flying school teachers. After 1942 they didn't have much of a trained or experienced flying crew left. The planes kept improving but without proper pilots to take advantage of them.They had some powerful aircraft, but like the Luftwaffe. they lacked properly trained pilots.
These things were pretty rugged. Like a tank with wings!