Headline aircraft cannot explain a whole wartime force

The A5M is a useful example of why one famous aircraft cannot represent an entire wartime force. Operational fleets contain a much larger supporting cast of current, second-line, and reserve machines than their headline types suggest. As losses and commitments grow, former front-line equipment often returns to important work because airframes are available and crews already know how to use them. Comparisons based only on the best-known platforms miss much of the force that actually sustains operations.