Best Long Range Fighter of WWII

[syscom3]

At Chino 2005, there was a 475th FG pilot I talked too, and he mentioned he had gone on a couple of those long range missions.

He said they were miserable!

But he also said that Japanese plane were getting scarce over NG in the summer of 1944, so the true fighter pilots were motivated to go after them where ever they were.

 

[xelanhua]

sorree to make you mad lesofprimus. didn't mean it. jus like to bring up the tuskegees. my poppa's side ex-slaves my momma's side ex-soviet. like to bring litvak up a lot too. didn't mean to make you angry. my bad.

 

[HealzDevo]

I was always of the impression that the P-47D lacked the range of the early P-51 models. Which is important for a long-range interceptor. Therefore I wasn't sure that they would really have quite the same reach and thus the
P-51 was necessary at least initially.

 

[renrich]

Tim you make a good point about the physical beating those pilots took on those long range missions. Add to all that the noise and vibration particularely in a SE aircraft and the fact that in the Pacific their living conditions were probably not that good. The only mission that might have been more trying would be a long range mission off a carrier in blue water conditions where you were over water the whole way and then you had to find that carrier and make a safe landing.

 

[Glider]

Maybe we should try a second best poll?

 

[syscom3]

I want to know who voted for the Mosquito and ta-152.

The Mossie was a fighter bomber, not a fighter in the sense of the word.

And how many long range missions did the -152 go on so we can judge its performace?

 

[drgondog]

P-51H was built for high alltitude purposes and was not used in WW2.

Chris - (I'm pretty sure you know this) Strictly speaking the 51H was a re-design to remove as much weight possible without sacrificing structural integrity, firepower or range - and with the new -9 Packard Merlin it was faster, climbed better and accelerated better... but as you pointed out while 600+ were delivered by VJ Day it was held back from overseas deployment..

Very few parts common with earlier B/C/D

I know the Ta 152 had better performance over all but it just didn't do long range bomber escort so the 51D gets my vote for the a/c that did that role.

 

[Erich]

Gents the Ta 152H was a high altitude craft or at least that was what the a/c was designed for. it never was suppose to be an escort for any airplane fighter or bomber, so it cannot be considered, short range only

 

[Glider]

I want to know who voted for the Mosquito and ta-152.

The Mossie was a fighter bomber, not a fighter in the sense of the word.

And how many long range missions did the -152 go on so we can judge its performace?

It wasn't I but at a guess they were thinking of the best long range night fighter.

 

[syscom3]

It wasn't I but at a guess they were thinking of the best long range night fighter.

Agree to that.

 

[SoD Stitch]

I voted for the P-38, partly becuase I really like the P-38, and partly because I get tired of evrybody saying how great the P-51 is. Okay, yeah, it was a pretty good plane, probably the best single-engine fighter in the world in 1945, but it was not the be-all, end-all plane some people say it is. Judging by the way they talk about the -51, you'd think we would have lost the War if somebody hadn't invented it.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Chris - (I'm pretty sure you know this) Strictly speaking the 51H was a re-design to remove as much weight possible without sacrificing structural integrity, firepower or range - and with the new -9 Packard Merlin it was faster, climbed better and accelerated better... but as you pointed out while 600+ were delivered by VJ Day it was held back from overseas deployment..

Very few parts common with earlier B/C/D

I knew it was a redesign and slightly smaller but I was not aware that it had very little in common when it came to overall parts.

I know the Ta 152 had better performance over all but it just didn't do long range bomber escort so the 51D gets my vote for the a/c that did that role.

I agree. As I said before I think the P-51D is a bit overated but all in all when it comes to long range fighter (escort duties) it was the best of the best. I voted for it as well.

 

[ccheese]

In that case I have to go with the P-51D. I am not a fan of the P-51D but she had the best range for the job.

I'm with you on this one.... even tho I like the P-38 better as a
fighter (in the PTO).

Charles

 

[Erich]

nah it's gotta be a Stang !! this case ace Dick H. from the 78th fg, he scored 2 Me 262's on one mission close to Prague in spring of 45, one of them was ace Hans Grünburg who bailed out safely the other jet pilot did not........

 

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

A bit off topic, but if the Germans had a choice, would a long range Bf 109 be better for escort duties than a long range Ta-152? If the Ta-152 was the better fighter, then it should be able to handle the situation better.

 

[Erich]

but the TA 152H was used for the defense of Berlin nothing else. It was not used as it should of been so we will never know. the Dora 9 was the equipment of the day even better than the Bf 109 for high alt for the time being until total replacement by the TANK but that did not happen

well my two thoughts

 

[syscom3]

A bit off topic, but if the Germans had a choice, would a long range Bf 109 be better for escort duties than a long range Ta-152? If the Ta-152 was the better fighter, then it should be able to handle the situation better.

The -109 was not a choice for a long range fighter. Its internal fuel stowage was limited.

The -190 was.

 

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

The -109 was not a choice for a long range fighter. Its internal fuel stowage was limited.

Yeah, but there has been topics about how they could have used drop tanks in BOB.

 

[syscom3]

Yeah, but there has been topics about how they could have used drop tanks in BOB.

The P38 set the standard for long range flights, followed by the P51.

If it couldn't fly 1200 miles minimum radius, then it isn't a long range fighter.

 

[Kurfürst]

Oh, and by the way. If somebody knows of a Bf 109 or FW 190 variant that could go over a 1,000 miles then you can add it in too. But I don't think there ever was.

Well, basically all Bf 109F, G, Ks could... they had 1000-1200 miles range with a droptank. FW 190As ditto, with a single, jettisonable droptank. Some 109/190s had two droptanks with a bit longer legs I presume. That's not radius of course, but range then again, then again, it's the same in the case of some planes on your lists (Spits - none of them could actually return after flying 1000 miles distance).