Best Aircraft in Many Different Roles Part II

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I have a different approach to this discussion. Aircraft are usually designed
to meet a spec that is usually aimed at a primary mission. Kurt Tank designed
his Fw190 to be a fighter pilot's aircraft, a thoroughbred. I doubt he thought
"how many bombs might we hang on her?" as he drafted those beautiful lines.
So there had to be qualities inherent in the design which lended themselves
to other missions...A lot of power? Good range? Ease of production so that
chnages didn't shut down the line for weeks and months...Germany had
two primary front line fighter designs. Imagine if they had the capacity
America had? How many good designs might have been produced? As it
was, making best use of what was available and in sufficient numbers to
have an impact drove versatility where one wouldn't have anticipated it.

Although I have a personal soft spot for the B-25, I would lean toward
the Ju-88 like Adler...I have never seen a real one, but looking in the literature
I am astounded by the number of roles it played and the variations cobbled
together, and it is generally a very attractive aircraft (always important!).
 
I allways thought there was one at the Sinsheim Musuem where I am going tomorrow (I have been sayign that for weeks now, but I am finally going there again tomorrow), but apparantly there are only 2 surviving ones and one is in the US and one in England.
 
And yes there is one. I just went to the Museums website and they have an original Ju-88, so I will take a picture for you tomorrow. This one was salvaged from a Lake in Sweden in 1986 and restored.
 
wmaxt said:
If another WWII aircraft is capable of carring two torpedos and making a a standard torpedo approach please tell me about it.
Click to expand...

Savoia Marchetti SM.79, SM.84, Piaggio P.108, PBY, Shackleton, Privateer, TB2D. I'm sure there are more.

General comment of "Best aircraft in lots of roles" not "how many roles did an aircraft do"
 
Sorry guys. I ended up not going to the museum on saturday. I got unexpected guests on Friday night and could not kick them out of the house so that I can go to a musuem. We are going to try this weekend though.
 
red admiral said:
Savoia Marchetti SM.79, SM.84, Piaggio P.108, PBY, Shackleton, Privateer, TB2D. I'm sure there are more.

General comment of "Best aircraft in lots of roles" not "how many roles did an aircraft do"
Click to expand...

Your right of course, I'm sure the B-29 could have carried a large number but it would not have been very good at being a torpedo plane. Most of the large patrol planes did to and I was not clear in my comment - my bad.

How many fighters/dedicated torpedo planes could?
How many fighters/dedicated torpedo planes had a max radius of action of 400miles with two torpedos?

There are a number of aircraft that were used as multi roll aircraft most like the P-38, Ju-88, PBY5A, B-25, Fw-190, Mossie, etc were not designed that way to begin with. Many of these aircraft once modifed were limited in there furure use to the roll the had been modified to perform. The P-38 was easily adapted and for most roles did not need to be irreversibly modified with a bonus of being extremly capable in its new roll. Ultimately and in the final analysis there are a number of aircraft that can do a wide range of tasks and no one plane was best in all rolls in which it operated. The P-38 belongs in Both groups, at least in my opinion.

wmaxt
 
I still go with the Ju-88 as I said it could be used in the most roles in WW2. It was the most versatile aircraft of WW2. The aircraft did not have to be heavily modified to do these roles with execption of maybe the Mistel project. The aircraft was not the best aircraft but did a damn good job in every role.
 
I have to agree Chris. The 88 was not the best at anything but it was good at alot of them.

Lets here is a list of them:

- Bomber destroyer

- Torpedo bomber

- dive bomber

- level bomber

- fast bomber

- Night fighter

- Pathfinder (enough room inside to store all the extra gear needed)

- Tank buster

- recon plane

Did I miss any of its roles?
 
I would group some of yours together such as fast bomber and level bomber. They can be grouped just as bomber.

Ju-88 roles that I can think of:

Bomber
Recon
Transport
Pathfinder
Night Fighter
Day Fighter
Ground Attack
Torpedo Bomber
Naval Attack (not included with Torpedo Bomber because it could use missiles for this role)
Mine Destroyer
Trainer
Cable/Barage Balloon Cutter
Maritime Patrol
Dive Bomber
Heavy Fighter/Destroyer
Anti Tank
 

Good list.
 
I just have to repeat my 2 cents for the FW 190A

In addition to having performed from well to exceptionally well every role that was planned or invented for her, we should not forget some plain basic things:

- None of the 'competitors' was that flexible in configurations and armament: we had armoured belly for the Fighter Bomber versions, Mk103 underwing pods, MK108 in bay, twin MG152 in pods, bombs, rockets and torpedoes hung everywhere: that is something more than just hang different loads to multi-purpose pylons.

- all this in a compact and nimble package, with pure fighter performances that were always at high end of the bunch.

-the STANDARD 190A6-A8 had nearly 1,5 to more than double the firepower of the various P38, Spit, P51, P47 etc (according to Tony Williams table) The only comparable fighter was the Typhoon/Tempest, with the difference that the Hawkers had 150 rpg where the 190 had 140 rpg for the outer and 250 (!) for the inner guns, plus the 12,7. That means that when a Tempest was out of ammo, the A8 still retained the firepower of a fully loaded Spit.
Any doubt about which plane was potentially more effective in ground support and strafing roles?
 
DerAdlerIstGelandet said:
The Ju-88 could carry two 1,686 lb (765 kg) LT F5b torpedos.
Click to expand...

and the mossie could carry 1 torpedo and 2,000lbs of bombs (i'll have to try and look up where ir ead that though) so i think he's blowing the torpedo thing out of the water if you'll excuse the pun, all of the aircraft we're talking about performed many roles they weren't designed to..........
 
Yes but the Ju-88 performed many roles it was designed to and many that it was not designed to. The Ju-88 easily was the most versatile aircraft of WW2. Oh and adding a turret to the aircraft is not a role but rather a modification lanc....
 
2 cents not going to comment. this debate reminds me which was better bomber the lancaster or the liberator. i perfer the mosquito but the p38 was just as good in its multi roles it was placed into and as for other aircraft of similar vien they too had their roles to play. what i am going to say its a matter of personal choice and what you consider to your own opinion which was the best aircraft of World War 2
 
yeah we all know that for the most part these aircraft were equals in versatility, even i will admit to the Ju-88 being the most versatile, but there's nothing we love more on this site than to stubbornly fight for your favourite/national pride
 
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