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If we're OK with the Mosquito B.IV's introduction date of 15 November 1941, then the Mosquito pretty much tops the list.
The Petlyakov Pe-2 is probably up there, if not quite at Mosquito levels.
For heavies it's really an RAF clean sweep. Halifax, Stirling, Wellington.
Letting the Mosquito into consideration for 1941 means a host of American bombers become eligible. The first production B-25C was delivered in Dc 1941, The First B-26A was delivered in Oct 1941 after 201 (?) B-26s. " By November 30, 1941, 42 B-17Es had been delivered." and some of them were at Pearl Harbor.
The Mosquito was very good at it's "job" (but it's job even in 1942 was rather restricted as 105 squadron was the only Mosquito bomber squadron for 9 months) but trying to compare planes doing different jobs gets very difficult. Was a Skua a better or worse dive bomber than the Mosquito was pathfinder or target marker?
It is a bit like saying is a chicken Caesar salad a better salad than a German chocolate cake is a cake
What you can do is compare the aircraft to others in its category.
The Mosquito was, arguably, without peer in its category/class of bomber - light to medium bomber.
Not sure that could be said of the Skua.....
The Mosquito was, arguably, without peer in its category/class of bomber - light to medium bomber.
What does that make the B-17 then, in terms of bomb load?
Cheers
Steve
The Skua was a pretty lousy light/medium bomber. On the other hand it wasn't a bad carrier based dive bomber for 1940/41. Something the Mosquito could never do (unless they built much bigger carriers).
...the next two months of handling and deck landing assessment trials were to be an absolute joy; from the outset the Sea Hornet was a winner!" "The view from the cockpit, positioned right forward in the nose beneath a one-piece aft-sliding canopy was truly magnificent. The Sea Hornet was easy to taxi, with powerful brakes... the takeoff using 25 lb (2,053 mm Hg, 51" Hg) boost and flaps at one-third extension was remarkable! The 2,070 hp (1,540 kW) Merlin 130/131 engines fitted to the prototypes were to be derated to 18 lb (1,691 Hg, 37" Hg) boost and 2,030 hp (1,510 kW) as Merlin 133/134s in production Sea Hornets, but takeoff performance was to remain fantastic. Climb with 18 lb boost exceeded 4,000 ft/min (20.32 m/sec)"... "In level flight the Sea Hornet's stability about all axes was just satisfactory, characteristic, of course, of a good day interceptor fighter. Its stalling characteristics were innocuous, with a fair amount of elevator buffeting and aileron twitching preceding the actual stall"... "For aerobatics the Sea Hornet was absolute bliss. The excess of power was such that manoeuvres in the vertical plane can only be described as rocket like. Even with one propeller feathered the Hornet could loop with the best single-engine fighter, and its aerodynamic cleanliness was such that I delighted in its demonstration by diving with both engines at full bore and feathering both propellers before pulling up into a loop!"
And
"Landings aboard Ocean had been made without any crash barrier... Yet, in the case of the Sea Hornet, I had felt such absolute confidence that I was mentally relaxed... Indeed, there was something about the Sea Hornet that made me feel that I had total mastery of it; I revelled in its sleek form and the immense surge of power always to hand..." "Circumstances had conspired against the Sea Hornet in obtaining the recognition that it justly deserved as a truly outstanding warplane...in my book the Sea Hornet ranks second to none for harmony of control, performance characteristics and, perhaps most important, in inspiring confidence in its pilot.
Kind of depends on when doesn't it?
First 10 Mosquito bombers (first of which flew in Sept of 1941) were limited to four 250lb bombs.
B-17D which started production in Feb 1941 could hold 4800lb of bombs (eight 600lb bombs ?)
First B-17E flew 3 days before the first Mosquito bomber which had the short engine nacelles and short span tailplane.
B-17E was good for 12 500lb bombs or 8 1000lb bombs.
512 B-17Es were built before the Mosquito flew it's first combat mission as a bomber.
First B-17F flew the day before the Mosquito flew it's first combat mission as a bomber.
It would be quite some time before the Mosquito, extraordinary aircraft that it was, would come close to challenging the B-17 for bomb load carried.