Recent content by ShVAK

I guess it would depend on the theater. For carrier operations in the PTO you're not going to have twin engine craft available until very late in the war, so I'd say SBD would be my choice in that environment. F4U a VERY close second. D4Y Judy was notable for its speed (relative to other dive...

Too hard to settle on just one. It really depends on the era and role. Post-WWII strategic bomber? My FAVORITE is the Tu-95, while I will freely acknowledge that the B.U.F.F. is a more capable aircraft that deserves its place in history the Bear with its monstrous contra-rotating NK-12...

Fiat CR.32--sub-250 mph biplane fighter introduced in 1933, produced a number of aces in the skies over Spain, in the hands of the Regia Aeronautica still shooting down more advanced English fighters and bombers over East Africa as late as early '41. Served in the Hungarian Air Force against the...

Although I doubt it's better than the B-17B/C, I wonder where the SM.79 Sparviero would fit into this discussion. Fast for a bomber in 1940, torpedo capable, already had a proven record coming into WWII, and didn't suffer for armament by early war standards (though the lack of turrets was a...

The Fw 190's is my fave, but someone got that one already. Ju 88 = Maid of All Work F-8/F8U = Last Gunfighter, The Gator (for its low slung intake) F-100 = The Hun F-105 = Thud, Triple Threat (it could bomb you, strafe you or fall on you) Il-2 = Hunchback, Flying Infantryman Fi 156 = Criquet...

It was a claim taken from Barrett Tillman's 1976 book about the Dauntless.

Zero had decent armament and speed at that point in the war, true. But it was also very lightly armored, to the point where even the Dauntless' twin .30's could force them to back off if not shoot them down outright if the gunner was any good. The Stuka had one defensive 7.92mm until the D...

Main advantage the Dauntless had over the Ju 87 (and the Il-2) was its radial engine that was significantly less vulnerable to failure, having no radiator to shoot out. It also typically faced more lightly armed/armored and slower Japanese opposition (though still faster than the SBD by a fair...

Again, obsolete =/= abysmal. Barring the TBD and Battle ALL of those aircraft listed had serious design faults that made them inadequate right out of the starting gate. The LaGG-3 was a flat out poor fighter: Underpowered, unstable, unreliable. By comparison the P-26 along with the Polish and...

I'd take the Battle and TBD off. They were obsolete aircraft, not terrible aircraft. Avro Manchester should go on here. Maybe even the He 177, despite that plane's enormous potential and advanced tech.

As pointed out with the sheer number of airplanes to refuel and the nature of WWII air combat, not practical at all. Aerial refueling only makes sense if you're talking about truly intercontinental operations with long stretches over friendly territory, like those of SAC during the Cold War, or...

Haven't really studied the PTO very much, so I'm curious to hear you folks' opinions on this: Which late-war IJAF fighter had the best chance of successfully intercepting the B-29 Superfortress? I know that while some of their best fighters like the Ki-84 Hayate, Ki-100 and N1K Shiden...

A night fighter version of the A-26 actually did compete with the XP-61. Not sure why it didn't make the cut.

I think the main problem behind the P-61 is that it was a very expensive project designed to fill too specialized a role. It was an okay night fighter, but it would have made an excellent platform for daylight ground attack and tactical bombing if the P-61E's solid nose with 4 x .50 cal was used...

Thanks for the sources gentlemen!