Japanese airplanes easy to destroy

The Pearl Harbor movies past and present all show Japanese planes being shot down throughout the attack, many with just .30 caliber antiaircraft machineguns.

This was true and it was because of the light construction of the Japanese airplanes.

Captured or abandoned Japanese military airplanes like the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero, the Kate torpedo bomber, and the Val bomber were tested by American military authorities and found to be easy and pleasant to fly. These early Japanese military planes were relatively easy for beginner pilots and forgiving of ham-fisted novice pilots.

Yes, the Japanese airplanes at Pearl Harbor were a delight to fly and would have made excellent civilian private planes, unless your plane was hit with machine gun bullets.

The problem was the lightweight construction of the Japanese airplanes at the start of the war.

1) The early WWII Japanese planes did not have any protective armor for the pilot and vulnerable parts like the oil cooler.

2) Same planes did not have self-sealing fuel tanks. Bullets would pierce the fuel tanks, starting leaks that caught fire and lead to Japanese planes exploding in the air like Roman candles.

Because of these weaknesses, the Japanese warplanes were light and maneuverable but could not withstand damage. They were vulnerable to even .30 caliber machine guns intended for antiaircraft which mean incendiary bullets were included.

During Pearl Harbor the Japanese flew low and slow which greatly aided their bombing accuracy but left them vulnerable to antiaircraft machine guns and even small arms fire. As a result, 29 Japanese warplanes were shot down, out of 300 attacking planes, this was almost 10% of the attacking force, which by today's military standards is considered a heavy loss. Acceptable military losses in comparable operations are usually under 6%. At the time this did not matter to the Japanese. Manpower and pilots were plentiful. By 1943 this would all change for the worse for the Japanese.