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Bf 109. All things being equal I'd rather have one than the Spitfire. In 1939 the Bf-109 had 20mm cannons (the E-3 saw service in the Spanish Civil War). The Spitfire had all .303 MG's.
Planes in service at that time in order of my preference:
1. Messerschmidt Bf 109E
2. Supermarine Spitfire
3. Hawker Hurricane
4. Messerschmidt Bf 110
5. Polikarpov I-16
6. Morane-Saulnier M.S.406
7. F4F Wildcat
8. Nakajima Ki-27
9. Fiat G.50
10. Fokker D.XXI
Honorable Mention: P-36 Hawk, Gloster Gladiator, Fiat CR.42, Seversky P-35, Brewster Buffalo, Fokker G.I,
You are right about the F4F, wrong about the buffalo. my information has the BRewster delivered in April 1939 so...F4F was not a 31/08/39 operational fighter same for Buffalo
1. 109 Emil
2. Spit
3. Hurri
4. Hawk 75
5. 110C
6. Ki-27
7. Fokker G.1
8. G. 50
9. I-16
10 M.S.406
list of fighters of august '39, maybe some other in minor countries
(spitfire, hurricane, gladiator, gauntlet, fury, roc, blenheim, P-26, P-35, P-36, FF, F2F, F3F, Ki-10, Ki-27, A4N, A5M, I-15, i-152, I-153, I-16 (until ~type 18), Bf 110C, Bf 109 (until E-3), Spad 510, NiD 622/629, M.S. 406, D.501/510, H.75, Potez 631, C.R. 32, G.50, C.R. 42, P.7, P.11, D XVII, D XXI, G I, Hawk II/III)
I could forgive the only two MGs if they were at least both .50s2 mg in '39 was a common weaponry, but the french hawk75 had 4 7,5 mm (imho is best a .5 and a .30 in nose) (ki-27 G.50 i-16 (not all) and also the orginal buffalo have 2 mgs)
for buffalo http://www.warbirdforum.com/f2a1.htm
you can see first delivery to navy 10/06/39 first delivery to squadron 11/12/39
The Hawk 75A did well in French hands against -109 variants during the battle of France. Although we could dispute claims, actual victories and losses, the bottom line is it could compete with the Bf 109E, at least in the manner the LW was operating against this aircraft. From Wiki but I seen other data from what I would call more reliable sources.IMHO its pretty simple - Bf 109E-3. It had variable pitch airscrew (Spits and Hurris had only fixed pitch or two pitch props at the time), cannons and all the rest of the goodies, and above all, it was around in the largest numbers of them all - and it was plenty faster than most at most altitudes. Though at this time, none of the major fighters (except perhaps for I-16?) had cocpit armor fitted yet.
I guess with french guns the Hawk-75 wasn't bad. Imagine what it would have done with a single 20mm H.S. 404.
If you got right on someone's tail in a turn-fight with a 20mm cannon you'd have yourself one dead 109E. The Emil was tough enough to take a few 7.5mm rounds.Hard to say. It did not have a high powered engine when compared to the 109 but was supposedly quite maneuverable and I think the 109s it came up against tried to dogfight it rather than use "zoom and boom." I don't know what its dive performance was like but I think on take off it was about 1000 pounds lighter than the 109E.
You can't dispute that the prewar American armament for it was an unfunny joke though. A .30 and a .50? What? no .22?IMO the Hawk 75 was the most under rated figher of WW2, at least during the first half.