Best Bomber

Best Bomber of WWII?

  • Mosquito

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Lancaster

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • B-24

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • B-29

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • B-17

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • B-25

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Do-17

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Ju-88

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • He 177

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

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MP is right, the second atomic weapon was dropped from Box Car and not The Great Artist as some sources reported.
 
I suppose it would depend which theatre of the war u were talking about.
In 1939/1940 it would probably be the HE111 or the Wellington.Later in the war there were only 2 bombers in europe worth talking about namely the B17 and the Lancaster.In the pacific the B17 seemed to fail badly, but the B29 succeeded.
The best daylight bomber would have to be the B17 and night bomber the Lancaster.
 
I think we have reached the decision that we are discussing the best bomber in any arena at any time. Based purely off of technology or ability, it would have to be the B-29. Nothing else in service came close to it.
 
i came to an agreement with CC t'other day that i'd admit to the B-29 being the best bomber of the war so long as he admited that ther lanc was no.2 and no.1 in europe and at night...............
 
I won't agree to the Lanc being number one in Europe. Probably number one at night, but I prefer the American bombers.
 
B-29 hands down.

Its fast sustainable cruise of 342 mph would make it almost impossible for prop fighters to intercept, especially at 30,000 feet.

The Lancaster is a close 2nd, and carried similar bombloads, but with a top speed of almost 100 mph slower, and a service ceiling almost 10,000 feet lower, it was much more vulnerable. And its round trip range of 2500 miles is about 1000 miles less than that of the B-29A. Finally, the 8 x .303 guns in 3 manned turrets of the Lancaster cannot compare with the 10 x .50's in 4 computer assist remote turrets (using a computing gunsight and fire select system) plus 2 x .50's in the tail. The B-29 had the best defensive armament setup of any bomber in WWII by a large margin.

=S=

Lunatic
 
cheddar cheese said:
The Piaggio P.108 Bombardiere had a similar gun arrangement 4 years earlier...

It was the first bomber with remotely controlled gun turrets, but that is hardly the same. The key to the B-29 gunnery system was the analog computer and computing gunsites. The gunner entered the wingspan of the enemy fighter (most were very similar), put the pipper on the target, he twisted a grip to keep the recticle sized to the wings, and he fired. The computer used the changing position of the pipper and the changing size of the recticle and calculated the necessary lead, and up to 3 of the 4 remote turrets would fire at that target at once. It was a deadly gun system not matched by any other country in WWII. The B-17 chin gun used the same technology, but only for the one turret. The A-26 had a simplifed version for its two turrets.

The P.108 had the external remote turrets, which was quite innovative. But these were still manually aimed, not assisted by an analog computer and computing gunsights like on the B-29.

=S=

Lunatic
 
But this was 4 years earlier and by a country which had far less resources...I think the P.108 could have been the best bomber of the war had it been further developed and not seen as a joke by the Germans.
 
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