# What was the best fighter of WW1?



## kiwimac (Apr 12, 2004)

Give me your votes and then tell me why you think so. I'll let you know my opinion in due course.  

Kiwimac


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## bronzewhaler82 (Apr 14, 2004)

It has to be a toss-up between the Camel and the Se5 but i'm inclined towards the Se5... 8) 

This is a cool idea actually - i was thinking the other day that it would be cool to have a WW1 aircraft forum - it would be interesting to hear what people say


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## kiwimac (Apr 15, 2004)

Actually I think that the Camel and the SE5A were the Spitfire (Camel) and Hurricane (SE5A) of their day for exactly the same reasons, the SE5A was a much more stable, biddable beast than the Camel.

However, I think the best fighter of WW1 is the Fokker DVII Which is what I _meant_ to put in the poll but it somehow came out as Fokker D V. 

Kiwimac


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## kiwimac (Apr 15, 2004)

> The Fokker D.VII was the equal of, if not better than, the British SE5s, Camelsand French SPADs and is considered to be one of the outstanding fighters of the First World War. It was so successful that it was the only aircraft to be singled out by the Allied Powers in the Armistice Agreement section which detailed war material to be handed over:
> 
> "In erster Linie alle Apparate D.VII (especially all first line D.VII aircraft)".
> 
> ...



Source: http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/fokker-dvii.htm

Kiwimac


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## bronzewhaler82 (Apr 15, 2004)

I firmly believe that the British had not only the best aircraft but the best pilots too - thats why we won the war in the air 8)


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 16, 2004)

wasnt it something like 90% of all french planes got shot down in WW1?


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## bronzewhaler82 (Apr 16, 2004)

Where did you hear that? it might be true...but the French DID have some excellent planes during WW1 and I do respect their airforce during that time...but during the 2nd WorldWar they really lost the plot  

During WW1 they had the Neiuport 11 (excellent scout plane) and the Spad which was an excellent fighter (the model flown by Eddie Rickenbacker no less) 8)


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## kiwimac (Apr 17, 2004)

Yes the Nieuport and the Spad were excellent machines. As for the British fighters, they were good, make no mistake, but the Fokker DVII and later Albatri were better.

Like WW2, it wasn't so much the fineness of the machines as the fact that they were sorely outnumbered.

Kiwimac


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## bronzewhaler82 (Apr 19, 2004)

I don't think the Germans were that badly outnumbered by us during WW1


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 19, 2004)

actually THEY outnumbered US................


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## kiwimac (Apr 20, 2004)

Only during the opening phases of the war.

Kiwimac


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 20, 2004)

the reason so any french planes were shot down was because there was so many of them - nothing to do with how good/bad they were i dont think 8)


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 24, 2004)

i don't see how that works, how is it more were shot down 'cos there were so many, i mean the germans had more than the french....................


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## plan_D (May 4, 2004)

I like the Fokker E-types because they were one of the first to use interupter gears on their machine guns which proved deadly as the Allies soon found out. However it was out-classed when all others got the interupter gear on their aircraft. 

The Spads were the best I think, the prototype got to 122 mph, and climbed to 9843 ft in 15 minutes and twice that height in a hour. Although I have a cool picture of Nieuport XI 'Bebe' with 8 rockets...which would be decent to fly.


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## cheddar cheese (May 7, 2004)

no i think the french had more planes than the germans....


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## Anonymous (May 20, 2004)

The SE5A kicked ass....Billy Bishop would have had more kills if he would have flown one the entire time...


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## keoni121 (May 20, 2004)

well hands down the best fighter is anthony fokkers d VII. it out powers out flies out manuvers and flat out runs all of the compition. every pilot that every flew the dVII fell in love with it, i had a friend that taught me to flie years ago, frank tallman, who had many many hours in all the plains on you list, and the dVII was his favorite, and as a side note i have pics of me sittin in franks original sopwith camel, and in his dVII and i would rather fly the d VII myself


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## kiwimac (May 20, 2004)

The D7 was an excellent machine but Siemens, Pfalz and Albatros FlugWerke were all producing excellent machines by the end of WW1, potentially better than either the D7 or the D8.

Kiwimac


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## Anonymous (May 21, 2004)

well i knew a man (frank tallman) who fles most of the planes from WWI and i mean originals, and he said the d VII was the best of the lot


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 23, 2004)

cool, i didn't think that were that many originals still flying................


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## Anonymous (Jun 1, 2004)

kiwimac said:


> Give me your votes and then tell me why you think so. I'll let you know my opinion in due course.
> 
> Kiwimac


fokker eindecker...for it's time it was the best in the air ie,bloody april,it's most difficult to say wghat was the bedst becaus of the rapid advance of the technoligy...fokker DVII had to be the best for the longest time..


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## Anonymous (Jun 14, 2004)

Hello everybody,

perhaps one should put in here some different categories.
First I use only Aircraft, that saw combat for at least 2 mnths of WW1

-fastest Fighter : SE 5a
-most nimble Fighter/best turning a/c : Sopwich Camel / Fokker Dr I
-best climbing fighter : Fokker D VII ( BMW IIIa )
-easiest to fly Fighter/ Beginnerfriendly : Fokker D VII
-best performer at alt > 5000 m : Fokker D VII
-best boom n zoom bird : Fokker EV / D VII
-most stable gun Platform : SE 5 a
-mont advanced/ ahead of Time : Junkers J2 ( all-metal/low-
Wing-a/c

So as even the alleys admitted, the D VII was not best at all categories, but clearly best overall fighter. 

And for your Information, since the second half of 1917 the german air-force was allways outnumbered, in 1918 by a ratio of nearly 5:1 at some parts of the front. That was the reason why the germans began to form the first "Jagdgeschwader" (squadrons) out of 4 JaSta's (9 to 12 planes ) . So they hat at least equal strengh at SOME parts of the Front. First Jagdgeschwader was JG1, lead by no one else then MvR. 

So guys, if you have some more Questions, I am willing to answer  

Best Greetings 

Brotrob


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## HealzDevo (Dec 11, 2004)

I'll head out and pm a moderator maybe Horse can do the trick and take out the trash this forum has.


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## lesofprimus (Dec 11, 2004)

I deleted several unnecessary posts here...


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## Erich (Jan 16, 2005)

nice paint job right ? this has got to be one of my favorites from too many years ago. Two aces in the pic with this wild Albatross


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## evangilder (Jan 16, 2005)

Very nice, Erich! Rare to see a pic that old that is so clear.


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## Nonskimmer (Jan 16, 2005)

He actually took it in his back yard, last Sunday.


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## evangilder (Jan 16, 2005)

Now THAT would be a nice artifact to own!


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## Erich (Jan 16, 2005)

glad u guyz enjoyed the pic. Yes it is quite old but what a shot ! 

Say any of you have any of the many Squadron-signal publications on the WW 1 fighters. have to admit for a soft bound volume(s) these are nifty little booklets to have due to the huge photographic content. sometimes the stats are not always true but the pics are enough to buy the works


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## evangilder (Jan 16, 2005)

I haven't seen any of the Squadron Signal books on WWI airplanes, just WWII ones. And they do have amazing shots. I just picked up 2 yesterday, one on the F4U and one on the C-47, both for future presentations. It has some good stuff, but the pictures are awesome.


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## Erich (Jan 16, 2005)

ok bud you have to pick up the Albatross and the Fokker Dr I and the volume on the DVII. Osprey actually did two nice volumes on the DVII as well. the profiles might be a bit bright but still sehr Kühl nonetheless. Of clurse this is if your interested in German WW 1 a/c. they do cover the Spad and other Allied craft.....


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## evangilder (Jan 16, 2005)

I will keep my eye out for those, sounds pretty cool.


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## Erich (Jan 17, 2005)

I have the 1st volume of the Osprey D VII but not the second so I need to order it. I have found many of the Osprey books crap due to their loud profiles and mismatched captions under the pics, but the WW 1 pieces have done pretty well from what I hear.

any good books on the Jasta's as a whole anyone ?


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## evangilder (Jan 17, 2005)

Jasta?


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## Erich (Jan 17, 2005)

Jasta was the name for fighter wing used in WW 1, which then came under with several forming a division


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## KraziKanuK (Feb 8, 2005)

evangilder said:


> I haven't seen any of the Squadron Signal books on WWI airplanes, just WWII ones. And they do have amazing shots. I just picked up 2 yesterday, one on the F4U and one on the C-47, both for future presentations. It has some good stuff, but the pictures are awesome.



You can order them from here.

http://www.squadron.com/SearchResul...verything&ManuList=SS&Key=in+action&Submit=Go

The Osprey books.

http://canvaseagles.diplomacy.ca/osprey_book_list.htm


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## Erich (Feb 8, 2005)

If you are in the staes any of the Barnes and Nobel books tores or Borders or ? make sure you have the ISBN # on hand as the help will be totally lost with out it.....

by the way the Fokker DVII rules the air 8)


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## Concorde247 (Mar 26, 2005)

The Germans were the first airforce to get really organised with seperate jasta bomber squadrons, ours of the RFC sometimes had one flight of fighters and another flight of bombers/recon aircraft in each squadron.

The best British Aircraft i think is the SE5A, its wolsey viper engine didnt suffer from the torque effect of the Gnome rotarys used in the Camel.#

The best German Fighter is the Fokker D8 monoplane. its been said that it could hang on its prop in the air like a helicopter, and fire its guns upwards. a worthy adversary


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## KraziKanuK (Mar 27, 2005)

Another surce for info on WW1 a/c is the Windsock Datafiles. Expensive for the few pages they have though.

http://www.hrunway.com/shop/en-us/dept_3.html

Erich, Windsock has one on Jasta 5.

The NASM Museum has a book on the restoration of the Albatros they have. Very informative.

For Nieuport a/c,

http://mars.ark.com/~mdf/nieuport.html


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## Nonskimmer (Mar 27, 2005)

Some really good info here! Thanks guys!


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## Erich (Mar 27, 2005)

gents is the mag Windsock still in business ?

Also the pic I posted, does anyone have a clue from what albatross Jasta ??

vielen Dank 

E ♪


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## Gnomey (Mar 28, 2005)

Sopwith Camel.


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## KraziKanuK (Apr 4, 2005)

Erich said:


> gents is the mag Windsock still in business ?
> 
> Also the pic I posted, does anyone have a clue from what albatross Jasta ??
> 
> ...



Just a guess Erich but the Windsock Datafile Special on the Albatros has a profile of a simular painted D.V of Jasta 16 flown by a Lt Theodor Rumpel. Your photo is a D.V.

The nose is all black and the stripes (5) continue on to the fin.

Reference given: Cross and Cockade Journal Vol 8 No 4 Winter 1967 pg 374

The Special also has a photo of a reflector gunsight mounted in a D.III (pg28). Another trivia is that Fokker Waffenfabrik had 12 barreled motor driven machinegun. A photo can be seen on pg14 of the Arado book by Kranzhoff.


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## HealzDevo (May 24, 2005)

Albatross IV I reckon was the best fighter of WW1.


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## jrk (Aug 3, 2005)

i loved the se5a.i have several of that marque on my ceiling.sluggish with earliy powerplants but when produced with the hispano suiza/wolseley viper powerplant it became the vital killing machine.twas a sad day when one of britains finest pilots(albert ball)died in arguably britains finest fighting machine.


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## Glider (Aug 3, 2005)

Fokker DVII has to be the best fighter in WW1. I know its not on the list but it made a huge impression on the allied forces. 
Its agility was as good as anything but without the vices of the Camel. Its spead was as good as the best


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## KraziKanuK (Aug 6, 2005)

HealzDevo said:


> Albatross IV I reckon was the best fighter of WW1.


The only reference I can find on the D.IV(L22) is that it was an experimental a/c that was tested and then abandoned in April 1918. It was based on the D.II though slighly larger.


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## Smokey (Aug 6, 2005)

Where's the Fokker DVII?


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## KraziKanuK (Aug 6, 2005)

Smokey said:


> Where's the Fokker DVII?



That is a given.  The question is really what is the 2cd best fighter of WW1.

Was not the D.VII specifically mentioned to be surendered in the Versaille treaty?


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## kiwimac (Oct 19, 2005)

Mea culpa I forgot


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## plan_D (Oct 19, 2005)

_"The Fokker D.VII was the equal of, if not better than, the British SE5s, Camelsand French SPADs and is considered to be one of the outstanding fighters of the First World War. It was so successful that it was the only aircraft to be singled out by the Allied Powers in the Armistice Agreement section which detailed war material to be handed over: 

"In erster Linie alle Apparate D.VII (especially all first line D.VII aircraft)". "_

Yes it was. And if you go to the first page of the thread, kiwi, you actually produced this quote.


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## kiwimac (Oct 19, 2005)

I know but it was in the poll that I missed it. Senility.... sob ....


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## carpenoctem1689 (Nov 21, 2005)

My vote goes for the DVII. Fokker made a world class fighter in the DVII. Ive heard alot about the Camel not being so easy to fly for beginner pilots. While overall it was a good aircraft, i would still prefer the fokker. As for the french spad and nieuports, i wouldnt want to set foot in anything that was designed by the group responsible for the Cho Cho machine gun. That pitiful piece of trash cost alot of americans theyre lives.


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