4 Most Important

[Flyboy2]

Ok, I was just thinking about what the four most important Allied aircraft where of World War 2. Here's my choices
B-17 Flying Fortress
P-51 Mustang
C-47 Skytrain
Il-2 Shturmovik
Anyone care to disagree?

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Hard to pick 4 but...

C-47
Lancaster
B-17
B-29

 

[ccheese]

Without designating a catagory (i.e. Fighter, Bomber, Attack, etc) it's
rather hard.... but, I'd go with:
C-47
P-51
B-17
B-29

It seems like we did this before....

Charles

 

[ToughOmbre]

Same as Charles....

C-47
P-51
B-17
B-29

Actually there's not a lot of room for disagreement, is there?

TO

 

[B-17engineer]

Bf-109
B-17
P-51
Lancaster

Its like FLYBOYJ said tough to pick 4

 

[Flyboy2]

Um.. I was kinda looking for Allied aircraft but if you want to open it to Axis, thats cool.
I think you guys are all forgetting about the Il-2. I think this was the most critical aircraft that aided the Russians, and therefore helped take Berlin.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The Russians would have taken Berlin and defeated the Germans with or without the Il-2.

 

[ccheese]

The Russians would have taken Berlin and defeated the Germans with or without the Il-2.

T O U C H E '

Charles

 

[Thorlifter]

Same as Charles....

C-47
P-51
B-17
B-29

Actually there's not a lot of room for disagreement, is there?

TO

Yep, this seems like a good lot.

 

[pbfoot]

Lots of room for disagreement the B17 while an extremely tough was no better then the Halifax maybe less then equal , the B17 carried a tiny bombload and was no more accurate even with the advantage of daylight.
the 4 I'd opt for would be
The Dak or C47
Spitfire the aircraft that escorted the 17 while the 8th was learning their trade
Catalina or Canso or PBY
Mosquito

 

[Thorlifter]

PB, do you really think the Mosquito was more important than the B-29?

And, yes, the Spitfire was escorting the B-17's across, but not too deep due to it's limited range. Giving that, there were several planes that could have done escort duty for only a few hundred miles. But there were only 2 or 3 that could have done what the P-51 did as far as being an escort. The P-51, the P-38, and the P-47. But the British didn't like the P-38 because the Lightning I didn't have superchargers and I believe the P-47 came along after the P-51.

 

[joy17782]

all go along with thors pick, and i dont think there is much room for disagreement , only on a personal referance,its hard too let your favs not too be in the pick, i love the p-40 but it aint no war winner is it !!!!

 

[pbfoot]

PB, do you really think the Mosquito was more important than the B-29?

.

Nope but do you really think the B17 deserves a top 4 listing
but I'd did see a lot of only US aircraft on that list and in defence of the Spit it functioned from day 1 til the end and performed every type of mission including one the 51 or 47 never did to any great degree that of a defensive fighter/interceptor
As for the role played by the spits in the initial 8th airforce foray's or 1st year it has been overlooked totally

 

[ToughOmbre]

Can argue about a number of aircraft I guess, but if you don't have the B-29 on the list (or the C-47 for that matter), you're not paying attention.

TO

 

[B-17engineer]

So your saying I am not paying attention because I dont have those 2 planes? Well them I am not paying attention i guess......

 

[Flyboy2]

I'm not paying attention either then. But I guess the B-29 should have replaced the Il-2 on my list.
Whether the B-17 was a great airplane or not is not important. It had possibly the biggest affect on the war. Of course the B-24 went online and was a little better but if the B-17 never entered service we would have been flying Hudson's over Germany. The B-17 allowed our aviators to put bombs directly on Germany and give our ground forces a chance. Without the B-17 laying down the heat, we wouldn't have had a chance, which also gives the P-51 a top listing because without the Mustangs, we wouldn't have been able to fly deep penetration missions into Germany, we would have lost to many men (need I mention the Schweinfurt-Regensburg missions).
Also the Mosquito defienatly does not beat the B-17. It was a great plane, yes; but not as critical as some of the other bombers.

 

[Phoenix9]

What about the Hurricane? Played a very important role in the Battle of Britain. Without it no bases for B-17s, P-47s and P-51s to fly to Germany...

 

[Flyboy2]

See I agree that the Hurricanes where important, but to the overall war they weren't as important as other aircraft where.

 

[evangilder]

The B-17 had the biggest effect on the war? Nope. The C-47 had the biggest effect on the war. The B-17 was durable, no doubt, but the bomb load wasn't that terrible large for long range missions.

The bomber that ended the war for good in the Pacific, the B-29 had the range and the load capacity to do real damage. You want a devastating bomb load, take a look at the Lancaster.

For me, the top of the list is the C-47, without a doubt. Then the B-29, P-51 and the Spitfire.

 

[kool kitty89]

On the Hurricane comment... w/out the Hurricane the BoB would likely have been lost to the Germans. w/out Britain as a base, there would have been no place for the western Allies to launch any meaningful air offensive. Russia would likely have fallen. And after defeating Japan much more quickly, the US still wouldn't have any real way of attaking Germany. Except maybe (probably Nuclear) strikes with the B-36 or maybe B-35. There would be nothing to escort them, and the LW would probably have fighters with enough ceiling to meet the B36 as well. The US jet program would not have been spurred by british developments. Axis developments could go unimpeeded and would have Soviet natural resourses.

So in short the Hurricane won WWII. Thats right, singlehandedly! Well maybe that's a bit much. Just a tiny bit. =)