Some of the comments on this thread remind me of the common American perception before WW2 that the Japanese could never build a modern fighter aircraft let alone fly them successfully against American pilots.
"....common American perception before WW2 that the Japanese could never build a modern fighter aircraft let alone fly them successfully against American pilots."
Do you know what the AVG kill ratio was between P-40's and Oscars or the Navy's kill ratio between Hellcats and Zero's? Some of those post war Americans had pretty good perception.