Greatest WWII Fighter Plane

[hedonis]

I love the P-51, and boy did that thing become a game-changer in the bombing raids on Berlin, as far as protection of the B-17s!

H

 

[sproing99]

I voted 109 on sheer longevity, numbers produced and aircraft shot down

 

[marquis2]

A glaring omission is the Hawker Hurricane which although slower than its contemporaries changed the face of history.The Hurricanes brought down two thirds of all enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain.There were nearly as many built (14 000) as the P51 Mustang .
I'm inclined to see the "best" as a toss up between the Spit (which served right through the war, with over 20 000 built , not bad for an aircraft thought unsuitable for mass production) and the P51 Mustang (just under 16000 built) which had the range to accompany bombers all the way to Berlin which meant the air offensive was possible.
As for the 109 it was built in vast numbers (33 000) but received little development , it was roughly on a par with the Spit early on but was hopelessly outclassed as the war progressed.The FW190 was a fine fighter too , gave the Spit a few headaches until the Spit in turn was upgraded.

 

[tunsty]

Depends on what criteria you are using..

The Spitfire should be the obvious choice, as someone previously mentioned, it probably had the greatest bearing on the air-war, at the time... it certainly was a major factor in stopping the Luftwaffe gaining air superiority over Britain and therefore stopped any thoughts of invasion.
The Me109 was actually regarded as the better plane, in terms of performance, at the time... it's only achilles heal was a lack of maneuverability at higher speeds, which is why the RAF managed to down so many of them.



I'll go for Spitfire... simply for the fighting spirit that it represents (not bad, for something that started out as a playboy's leisure-time seaplane)

 

[Mr. Daystar]

Although the P-38 Lightning is my favorite, I had to vote for the P-51 Mustang, simply because of what it did for long range bomber escort. I Would have voted for the Spitfire, due to it's success over England, during "the Battle of Briton", but I felt that the long range escort aspect edged it out. Plus, it's speed and maneuverability were an asset in dog fighting, and towards the end, when Germany finally developed jet fighters.

 

[marquis2]

There's another first class aircraft called the de Havilland Mosquito which began life as a fast bomber (at the time it was actually the fastest aircraft in the world) but some of them were used as fighters and were particularly effective at night.
It was probably the best overall aircraft of the war , it could carry a 4000 lb bomb (which the B17 couldn't) yet outrun most enemy fighters.

 

[Neutron66]

Mustang.

End of discussion.

 

[Baill Inneraora]

He was good but I think Eddie Rickenbacker was better,but it is hard to leave out the P-47 Thunderbolt and the BF-109

Ed-Dee! Ed-Dee! Ed-Dee!



Anywho, gotta go with the P-38 Lightning!

 

[Jagger69]

Although the P-38 Lightning is my favorite, I had to vote for the P-51 Mustang,

A case can be made for the P-38. This plane shot down more enemy aircraft than any other fighter in the Pacific theater. An awesome plane with tremendous range and loaded with fire-power....and so cool-looking with the twin-booms.

http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/albums/new_war_photos/p38lightning_water.sized.jpg

 

[Mauser98k]

Mustang, Corsair and Spitfire. those 3 planes spread out in combat action across the globe were simply dominant

 

[Frame313]

A glaring omission is the Hawker Hurricane which although slower than its contemporaries changed the face of history.The Hurricanes brought down two thirds of all enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain.There were nearly as many built (14 000) as the P51 Mustang .

Good point - I think the Hurricane often gets overlooked because it is not as flashy as some of it's contemporaries. The Hurricane was the workhorse of the RAF, being both efficient and ubiquitous, and as you point out, it really is the plane that dominated the Battle of Britain.

But, having said that, I am reluctant to vote for it. Because, let's face it, a little bit of flash and panache go a long way. Voting for the HH would be like voting a Honda Accord as the "greatest" car. Certainly a Honda's dependable, and if I'm spending my money, I know I'm getting a good deal, but c'mon, where's the head-turning oomph that you want out of a piece of machinery? So, I think my vote has to go to the Spitfire. I once saw a Military Channel doc about WWII fighters and one of the talking heads that they had interviewed made a good point, by saying something to the effect of: ask a hundred 10 year olds to draw a WWII fighter and probably 90+ of them will draw a Spitfire, it just IS the classic concept of what a fighter aircraft of that era should look like.

 

[ballzano]

Although the P-38 Lightning is my favorite, I had to vote for the P-51 Mustang, simply because of what it did for long range bomber escort. I Would have voted for the Spitfire, due to it's success over England, during "the Battle of Briton", but I felt that the long range escort aspect edged it out. Plus, it's speed and maneuverability were an asset in dog fighting, and towards the end, when Germany finally developed jet fighters.

Yep, Hermann Goring himself (head of the luftwaffe) said "When i saw mustang's over Berlin, I knew the war was over."

 

[E-Ann-Hilden]

Very good point and lets not forget about the Wildcat

The Stuka pretty much became a ground attack plane with Bf 109 as top cover. Bf109 were than supplanted by Fw 190, which proved an equal to many allied planes in turning and dogfighting ability. I agree the Stuka's were pretty much sitting ducks to British Spitfires.

I voted for U.S Air Force the P51 and the Navy F4U Corsair.

Nice poll! I am a big WWII buff! :glugglug:

 

[E-Ann-Hilden]

Hm, it's not exactly my field of expertise, but counting out the new technological innovations of 1944/45 (turbojet- or rocket-powered fighters like the Messerschmidt ME 262), I'd say the Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a pretty dangerous and effective fighter plane. If the Japanese would have had the same amount of "human resources" and material as the US, the Pacific war would have been very different, as the Zero was faster than almost every other fighter plane and the pilot training of the Japanese was superior. But the reality turned out to be different.

If bombers of any kind weren't excluded (even the smaller ones and the dive-bombers), I'd probably choose the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. By the end of the war it was outdated, as the "age of the dive-bombers" only lasted from about 1930 to 1945, but when it comes to the "greatest" plane of WWII besides the Superfortress and the Zero, I'd choose the Stuka. It was used as a dive-bomber, ground-attack aircraft and tank hunter. With it's countless merciless attacks in the first two years of the war especially against Poland and France it became the symbol of the Blitzkrieg. The effectiveness and relentlessness of these machines was legendary. The fight logs of the Luftwaffe show, that just one of the Ju 87G of the famous Rudel-unit destroyed 519 allied tanks and armored tracked vehicles. The Stuka's trademark, the "Jericho-Trompete" (the "Jericho Trumpet", a kind of air-propeller attached to the plane's hull making a siren-like sound), became a source and symbol of sheer terror. The Stuka was Germany's WWII-version of shock and awe, so to speak. I read a lot of eyewitness accounts from people who survived Stuka attacks and it seems that it must have been horrible. I recall, there was one very sweet old lady from the Netherlands who still today wets herself if she hears a sound resembling that of a Jericho-Trompete. I cannot imagine the horror these poor people must have lived through. The grandfather of my fiancée flew Stuka a couple of times before he started flying fighter planes. According to him, these things were pure death machines.

Unfortualty the ME 262 did not see much battle. The main German factories were in rubble by the time the thing hit the air. Most of german industrial might was being done in underground factories and they could not build enough of "Hilters Wonder Weapons". Also the main problem was a lack of trained pilots let along good ones to fly it. They were hard to fly even for a seasoned pilot and lack of fuel or spare parts and being such a new technogical advance it had many issues.

Stuka scared the crap out of allied ground forces especially in dive bombing. Those provided incredible air support for the axis ground troops as well.

 

[mrtrebus]

Being british I gots to go for the rather spiffing Spitfire. Its role in the Battle of Britain cannot be underestimated & should never be forgotten. We gave the bosh a damn good thrashing!! :thumbsup:

Also shout out to the De Havilland Mosquito. A wooden plane(!) & as such practically undetectable to enemy radar, it was the fastest bomber of WWII.

 

[Mr. Daystar]

A case can be made for the P-38. This plane shot down more enemy aircraft than any other fighter in the Pacific theater. An awesome plane with tremendous range and loaded with fire-power....and so cool-looking with the twin-booms.

http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/albums/new_war_photos/p38lightning_water.sized.jpg

That's why it's my favorite...but I tried to cast my vote based on something more then my personal taste.

 

[mickeit]

Messerschmitt Me 262

The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (German for Swallow) was the world's first operational turbojet fighter aircraft.[4] It was produced in World War II and saw action starting in 1944 as a multi-role fighter/bomber/reconnaissance/interceptor warplane for the Luftwaffe

 

[Skyraider22]

There's another first class aircraft called the de Havilland Mosquito which began life as a fast bomber (at the time it was actually the fastest aircraft in the world) but some of them were used as fighters and were particularly effective at night.
It was probably the best overall aircraft of the war , it could carry a 4000 lb bomb (which the B17 couldn't) yet outrun most enemy fighters.

Wow someones knows there planes.:thumbsup: Even though it was a fighter bomber it was one hell of a plane.The Me-109 and the FW-190 had to be the most produced and feared essplically during the early years and the P-40's had there hands full with the Japanese Oscar Fighter

 

[Ol-Skool-Perv]

There's another first class aircraft called the de Havilland Mosquito which began life as a fast bomber (at the time it was actually the fastest aircraft in the world) but some of them were used as fighters and were particularly effective at night.
It was probably the best overall aircraft of the war , it could carry a 4000 lb bomb (which the B17 couldn't) yet outrun most enemy fighters.

My grandfather was in the RCAF 410 Squadron, I've got a great shot of his squadron all lined up in front of a mossie at the end of the war. He left me even his training manuals and so many pictures as one of the groundcrew - he loaded the 20mm Hispano cannons and fit the various bombs. My molst prized pics are of a prisoner-of-war facility they bombed with precision to enable POWs to escape

The Mosquito was made of of mostly laminated plywood, and fast as fuck.

Still, my fave is the P-47 with it's eight .50 and rocket capability. I love them tank busters

 

[Skyraider22]

My grandfather was in the RCAF 410 Squadron, I've got a great shot of his squadron all lined up in front of a mossie at the end of the war. He left me even his training manuals and so many pictures as one of the groundcrew - he loaded the 20mm Hispano cannons and fit the various bombs. My molst prized pics are of a prisoner-of-war facility they bombed with precision to enable POWs to escape

The Mosquito was made of of mostly laminated plywood, and fast as fuck.

Still, my fave is the P-47 with it's eight .50 and rocket capability. I love them tank busters

I hope I'm not asking for to much but can you share some of those pictures The P-47 tougher than them all it could take punishment