Best fighter in the world in 1940? Spitfire, 109, Zero, or something else

[pinsog]

I would vote Zero. Adolph Galland told Goering that he needed a squadron of Spitfires to win the BoB. I think if he had a squadron of Zero's it would have been a German victory, hands down.

 

[Vincenzo]

talking of best fighter of '40 i go with 109, but if we talking a fighter for win the BoB, so take most important the range/endurance, i go to Type 0 but unlucky at time the 0 wss rare plane

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Land Based - Bf 109 with the Spit 1a in a very close second
Carrier Based - Zero

 

[renrich]

Depends on the mission. Interceptor-109 or Spitfire. Escort fighter-A6M hands down. Carrier fighter-A6M

 

[pinsog]

renrich, Why a Spit or 109 over A6M in interceptor role?

What was rate of climb for these three aircraft in 1940 time period?

 

[Markus]

Thank but no thank to that (slow) flying gas tank from the land of the rising sun. I prefer my two 20mm cannon with armour and protected fuel tanks. For carrier use ... Model 439 would be cheating I guess.

 

[Shortround6]

For carrier use ... Model 439 would be cheating I guess.

Not sure about cheating but the 439 is almost 2 years too late, being delivered in the winter/spring of 1942

and being , I believe, a land plane for the Dutch East Indies it might require a couple of pounds of equipment to refit it for carrier use.

 

[Njaco]

I agree with everyone's assesment especially about Markus' "gas tank" - I like armour in my plane. I'm gonna go with the Bf 109E ONLY because I think with the 20mm cannon and fuel-injected carb had a slight - and I do mean slight - advantage over the Spit AT THAT TIME!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Bf 109E all the way. Better armament, great performance and fuel-injected carb. That gave it the advantage it needed at that time. Its only disadvantage was its lack of range, which made it unsuitable for escort duties.

 

[parsifal]

It also depends on the training and skill levels of the pilots and the mission being undertaken. In the pacific, where range is at a premium, both European fighters would be at a disadvantage, to the point of being useless really. In a fight where toughness and durability were important, the Zero was at a disadvcantage.

The 109 was an aircraft most suited to the highly trained luftwaffe pilots of 1940, where a limited amount of hard hitting ammunition was a great advantage. But for the RAF, with its less well trained avaitors, a large supply of ammunition firing from a large number of barrels was the ideal weapon, because it maxiised the chances of a kill from a poor to average shot/pilot, that was likley to be skidding around the sky almost out of control.

I'm the reverse of adler, I believe between the spit and the 109, it was the spit by a nose, but that probably has more to do with personal prejudices than anything....there really is not much to choose from between the two aircraft at all to be honest

 

[Glider]

I agree with everyone's assesment especially about Markus' "gas tank" - I like armour in my plane. I'm gonna go with the Bf 109E ONLY because I think with the 20mm cannon and fuel-injected carb had a slight - and I do mean slight - advantage over the Spit AT THAT TIME!

Sums up my position nicely

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I'm the reverse of adler, I believe between the spit and the 109, it was the spit by a nose, but that probably has more to do with personal prejudices than anything....there really is not much to choose from between the two aircraft at all to be honest

I can actually agree with you. In the end it is going to depend on what someone values more.

The 109 and the Spit are a classic example of two aircraft that paired well with one another. They both started their careers early before the war and remained competitive to the very end. Each aircraft gaiing advantages over the other throughout.

 

[fastmongrel]

I would vote Zero. Adolph Galland told Goering that he needed a squadron of Spitfires to win the BoB. I think if he had a squadron of Zero's it would have been a German victory, hands down.

It wasnt planes that lost the BoB it was tactics. Luftwaffe tactics were faulty and the RAFs tactics whilst not perfect were sufficent to win the day.

Changing the planes would have made no difference to the ultimate result apart from maybe the RAF losing a few more fighters of which they had a small but growing surplus and a few more pilots of which there were just enough available during the battle with a lot more coming down the training pipeline. The RAF of mid September was much stronger than the RAF at the start of the battle.

As for the best land fighter It is too close to call between the Spit and the 109. As I am British I will I will let crude nationalism sway me and go for the Spitfire

 

[riacrato]

Bf 109. Fuel injection is a must imo and apart from that there is overall little difference. The A6M may have actually helped as a long range escort in the BoB. But it would've only prolonged the battle by maybe a few weeks.

 

[Timppa]

Zero. Unrivalled range, which is an undervalued quality in a fighter, IMO.
In terms of pure (speed) performance, Bf109F-1, which came into service in late 1940, was the king of the hill.

 

[Milosh]

I would vote Zero. Adolph Galland told Goering that he needed a squadron of Spitfires to win the BoB. I think if he had a squadron of Zero's it would have been a German victory, hands down.

A6M2 Type 0 Model 11 didn't see combat till Aug 1940 and these 15 a/c flew before testing had been completed.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

A6M2 Type 0 Model 11 didn't see combat till Aug 1940 and these 15 a/c flew before testing had been completed.

It still saw action in 1940...

 

[claidemore]

"or something else?" How about the Mig1/3? Fastest fighter in the world in 1940, and as speed proved to be (arguably) the defining requirement of WWII fighters the Mig was in a sense ahead of its time.
If we remove the other variables, pilot training, tactical doctrine, etc, and only consider the performance of the plane, the Mig could come out on top, particularly with the eventual weapons upgrade to 2 x 20mm cannon.

 

[Vincenzo]

The MiG-1 was only at operational test in late '40, and have some trouble, it's more new of a Friederich (-1) that was in fightning from october


edit we can take in consideration the H.75 as escort fighters for BoB time

 

[Glider]

Nice idea but with such poor weapons, instability at high speed, poor climb and general agility plus poor performance at low altitude I would rather hove one of the others.

As for the twin 20mm unless they did something spectacular to the design it would only increase the weight problems of the aircraft.

If you want another choice then the Bloch 152 may be worth consideration. It will not win but its an idea