best fighter of ww II

[Maestro]

No plane is perfect.

Examples :

- The Spitfire (in my mind) was the best dogfighter, but it didn't had the range to escort bombers to Berlin and back.

- The P-51 was also a good dogfighter (in my mind, not as good as the Spitfire) but it got the range to escort bombers to Berlin and back. However, in spite of the numerous tries the US Navy did, the P-51 couldn't land on a carrier (that's why they bought some Seafires).

I won't argue that the P-51 is better than the P-38, because I prefer the P-51 to the P-38 anyway.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

don't confuse the best with perfect, they're very different.............

 

[Maestro]

I know, but it seems that LG thinks that the P-38 is perfect. In fact I'm quite sure he couldn't tell us a lone disadvantage.

 

[Lightning Guy]

There were plenty of disadvantages. Kelly Johnson once listed 15 bad points of the P-38. These included reduced reward visibility, poor cockpit heating, slow rate of roll, poor intercooling, etc. However, it must be noted that most of these were corrected with the introduction of the J-25 and the L. That being said, it wasn't perfect. Every aircraft is a compromise. I just happen to feel that the P-38 managed to blend the traits one might desire in a fighter very well.

As an interesting note, the P-51 was tested as a naval fighter in 1944. With Robert Elder at the controls, a modified P-51 made several landings and launches from the carrier USS Shangi-La.

 

[Gemhorse]

Yes, I'm inclined to agree there Maestro...the Lightning to LG, is what the Mosquito is to me, but the reality here is about single-engined fighters. Both the Mossie Lightning were superb aircraft but even I have conceded that this is about s/s fighters. The P-38's biggest problem in the ETO was not having an engine in front of the cockpit, and therefore gave no heating for the pilot....no matter how good the pilot, he's not able to give his best if he's freezing his nuts off trying to dogfight at 30,000 odd ft. In the PTO, it was the opposite, because of insufficent cooling and a cockpit hood that couldn't slide back, the pilots were virtually in their undies tennis-shoes, but they were able to dogfight, albeit most aggressively! - Even at altitude, the sun's heat through the canopy kept them hot. Anyway, the Corsair was really the first US Fighter to check the Japs Air Supremacy, the Wildcat was deadly too, but not as fast , and all that was learned from the Wildcat from it's baptism-of-fire at the heroic defence of Wake Island onward, went into the Corsair and Hellcat. The early Lightnings had teething troubles, particuarly with the tail-section, and once their engines incorporated opposite-rotating props that made the torque manageable, they were otherwise a handful for one pilot to dogfight. Also, in the MTO, Lightnings were sort-after for PR work particuarly, but also ground-attack and escort.
As Lanc points out too, the Beaufighter did superb work in all these theatres and IT'S firepower WAS formidable, they just weren't as fast.
- All said and done though, I feel the Spits Mustangs are real canidates for 'Best Fighter', so let's continue............

 

[Lightning Guy]

The P-38 had counter-rotating props from the outset. I'm not aware of any other aircraft of the era that had this particular feature. That feature offered the P-38 an advantage over single-engine typse in that it could turn equally well in either direction. A single-engined fighter (until the advent of contra-props) would always be slower turning one direction because it had to fight the engine torque.

 

[Maestro]

The P-38 had counter-rotating props from the outset. I'm not aware of any other aircraft of the era that had this particular feature. That feature offered the P-38 an advantage over single-engine typse in that it could turn equally well in either direction. A single-engined fighter (until the advent of contra-props) would always be slower turning one direction because it had to fight the engine torque.

So... ? I don't think it was noticable for the pilot.

I don't think the Spitfires/Hurricanes pilots noticed that during the BoB. Neither did the Spitfires/Hurricanes/Mustangs/Typhoons pilots during Operation Overlord.

 

[Lightning Guy]

It was noticeable, especially in a low-speed turning flight. The lower the speed is, the more problem torque causes (if often showed up during the flight). The thing is, in a near-stall speed turning, a single engine fighter pilot has to be aware that there is the possibility of the engine torque flicking him out of the turn and into a spin.

 

[lesofprimus]

Many many pilots ended up in the chute, or even dead because of engine tourqe....

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

it was even worse in WWI, because of the tourqe of the sopwith camel (amoung others) it was quicker to turn 270 degrees to the right than 90 to the left...................

 

[lesofprimus]

Yea I heard that before as well.... Pretty easy to figure out which way ur opponent was gonna turn away from u when ur on his 6....

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

well if you think about it, if you're on his 6, and he turns 90 degrees left and you go 270 to the right, you'll still be in a good firing posistion..........

 

[Plane Guy]

Call be a traitor, but I think that the FW 109 was one of the best out there. One of the few drawbacks was the fact that it's proformance dropped at high altitude. But come on, do you think that even a Lancaster could survive one coming at it with .20mm cannons blazing?

 

[lesofprimus]

Oh oh.. New guy who hasnt read alot of previous posts before posting his first.....

The 190D, or Dora, solved the problem of the high altitude deficiency...

Which is the plane that I think was the Best in WW II, the Fw-190 D...

 

[Lightning Guy]

THe Fw-190 was a brilliant fighter (with terrific firepower and an unbelievable rool rate) but it turned fairly slowly and was short-ranged. Even the Dora-9 was outrun by plenty of other fighters. I think it was a great fighter, and personally my favorite German fighter, but not the best of the war.

 

[Maestro]

For once, I agree with LG. The FW 190 was a great fighter... But personnally, I prefer the Spitfire.

 

[Gemhorse]

Yes, the Fw-190 [any variant] is my favourite German fighter...I've just got the latest 'Classic Wings Downunder' magazine, and it's got Flugwerk GmbH's first of a dozen limited edition, brand new A-8's advertised on the back cover for sale....ahhhh, can you imagine having the coin to buy one ?! - They are just flight-testing at the moment, but the two guys that started Flugwerk had a vision that they were such an awesome and important aircraft design, they had to make these accurate reproductions of them, so that they would be available for all to see at Airshows etc. - They spent time with Kurt Tank, before he passed away, for his knowledge, and have tracked down aircraft and parts worldwide, and now have it set-up to start making the kitsets. - Bloody awesome...
- Theres also an article about Doug Champlin's Fw-190D-13/R11, which Gosshawk, in Mesa, Arizona, another Focke-wulf specialist outfit, have been doing a 3 year, 26,500 hour extensive restoration on, has been wheeled-out for the media recently...there's no plans to fly it, altho' near airworthy, it's just so rare and valuable....it's off to Seattle's Museum of Flight. [you lucky Americans !] - Gosshawk also have an F-8 they're building to fly, called 'White 1'...check it out at www.white 1 foundation.org

 

[Lightning Guy]

I recently found a hard-plastic 1/18th scale 'toy' of an Fw-190D-9. It even has a pilot and a drop tank. I'm hoping to had that to my collection soon.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i think the Do-335's pretty interesting, never really got to prove itself though..............

 

[lesofprimus]

LG, say what u want about the -190D, but it is closer to best WWII fighter than the P-38....