Best Bomber

[MP-Willow]

LG- 52 that is a lot for a 24 crewman. When did he serve/ what plane?
I am trying to find info on B-24s the flew more then 35 missions and it is a slim list, but I have only started. The RAF information hunt is a little more interesting and needs time.

 

[Lightning Guy]

I have a rough draft of the memoirs he wrote somewhere but I believe they are stored away somewhere. He says it was not uncommon for them to fly 16 hour missions, taking off at 2 AM bombing the target at 10, and returning to base at 6 PM.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

wow, that's almost two tours isn't it??

 

[Stuka-99]

WHY ISN'T MY BELOVED JU-87 HEY??????

 

[Lightning Guy]

I don't think the USAAF in the PTO held to the 25/30/35 mission tour as rigorously as they did in the ETO. The PTO was being fought with leftovers in terms on men and material and it wasn't feasible to just release crewmen like it was in Europe.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

WHY ISN'T MY BELOVED JU-87 HEY??????

becuase it wasn't the best.............

 

[cheddar cheese]

there is the option of "other"

 

[MP-Willow]

LG, thanks. I tend to forget that the PTO was fr most of the war until 1943 or 1944 the second to fight.

The Ju-87? Over spain maybe but it was showig its age, like the bf 109 by 1941.

 

[Lightning Guy]

Anytime during WWII that the Stuka was forced to fight with anything less that complete German air superiority it was decimated.

 

[MP-Willow]

But why then did it continue on well after it should have been phased out? I have the same grip about the P-40. I understand the the Stuka was needed and replacment development was slow, but it and the 109 were showing the years early on after 1940 and 41.

 

[plan_D]

On the Western Front the Stuka would be obliterated in the skies, but you have to remember that they mostly went to the East. Air superiority was gained quickly over Russia.

The 109 never truly showed its age, all the way up to the end of the war it was dogfighting with the best of them.

 

[Lightning Guy]

Well, in one since the 109 was showing it's age. After, the Fredrich or so, the engine power was really beginning to produce more power than the small wing of the 109 could handle. And their was also the inevitable weight gain. All of that resulted in markedly decreased handling.

 

[MP-Willow]

Opps forgot the East. LG- the Ks were to adress the the G problums and were to be the step off for the 209 project.

 

[David m Card]

The Handley Page HALIFAX Bomber was the best!!!!!Just ask my Grandfather who flew 33 sorties over Germany piloting one...He also had the oppertunity to fly Lancasters,Wellingtons and a American Plane witch we will not mention because the American bombers took way to much glory away from R.C.A.F R.A.F bombers.

 

[Lightning Guy]

Welcome to the site. Halifax wasn't even the best British bomber. An every advantage that has been named for the B-29 over the Lanc it also holds over the Halifax. Those would include, speed, range, ceiling, armament, payload, pressurization, and just about whatever else you would want a bomber to have/do.

 

[David m Card]

Welcome to the site. Halifax wasn't even the best British bomber. An every advantage that has been named for the B-29 over the Lanc it also holds over the Halifax. Those would include, speed, range, ceiling, armament, payload, pressurization, and just about whatever else you would want a bomber to have/do.

I agree with you statistically, however, in my opinion....the Halifax was still the best. Maybe I'm just prejudiced since my Grandfather flew them and is a war hero earning a DFC...and the plane did bring him home 33 times.Very few can beat that.I quess the boys in the B-29s got the cadillacs and the boys in the HALIFAXs got the Buicks.

 

[Lightning Guy]

The B-29 isn't my favor either (in fact of the Allied heavies it's probably my least favorite). But it terms of ability, it was head and shoulders above anything else that served during the war.

 

[David m Card]

The B-29 isn't my favor either (in fact of the Allied heavies it's probably my least favorite). But it terms of ability, it was head and shoulders above anything else that served during the war.

What is your favor?

 

[Lightning Guy]

Probably the B-24. It was built in greater numbers and saw more widespread service than any other bomber in the war. I liked it's turrets, particularly the nose and tail turrets (man turrets always seemed cooler to me than remote ones).

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

in terms of performance the lancaster would also beat the halifax..................