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World War II Wiki

The Hineri-Komi was an aerial maneuver that was used by Japan during WWII. The maneuver consists of an aircraft being in front of its target, banking, and then utilizing the rudder to "slide". This then allowed the Japanese aircraft to cut down the rate at which it took it to perform a vertical loop and subsequently get on the tail of its chaser who would be performing a standard vertical loop, finishing the corkscrew.[1]

The Hineri-Komi was designed to be used as a low speed maneuver and is used to best effect when the Japanese aircraft performing the maneuver is being chased by an enemy aircraft.

The maneuver was often coupled with other staple tactics such as the Immelmann Turn and Split-S Maneuver in combat to attempt to out fly the enemy. However, these tactics were not without risk and as the war progressed, counters were found to exploit their weaknesses such as in the Thatch Weave.

History[]

The Hineri-Komi maneuver was initially developed in 1934 in Yokosuka to replace older, western derived fighter tactics which had shown their age in the early combat over the skies of China. Although not a maneuver that could be used in every set of circumstances, it became a favorite among Japanese pilots. Furthermore, it was extremely effective in combat, in part due to the extreme maneuverability of most Japanese planes. The tactic itself continued to be taught in Japanese fighter schools until the end of the war, being most closely related with the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen or "Zero".

References[]

  1. Tagaya, Osamu. Imperial Japanese Naval Aviator 1937-1945. Osprey Publishing (2003), Page 46
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