Best naval fighter

[Lightning Guy]

I'm just saying the Wildcat lacked the smooth lines of something like a Spit or a Mustang.

 

[cheddar cheese]

i see what you mean, but i dont think you could call the wildcat ugly

 

[Lightning Guy]

Ugly may have been the wrong choice of words on my part.

 

[cheddar cheese]

dont worry bout it 8)

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

na, the 'stang is the only plane that can pull off that sort of bubble canopie............

 

[Lightning Guy]

I think it looked pretty sporty on the Bearcat.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

not really, it made it look small and stupid..............

 

[Lightning Guy]

Well regardless of how it did or didn't look, the Bearcat would have been more than a match for anything the Japanese cared to throw at it. Did you know that a modified Bearcat held the world record for time to 10,000ft until a F-16 broke it sometime in the '80s?

 

[plan_D]

Did you know that, that is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard?

The F8F held and still does hold the record for: from stand still to 10,000 ft in the quickest time for a piston engined aircraft. The Lightning (not the P-38) held the 0 - 10,000 ft for 30 years until it was beaten by the F-15 which was the first aircraft with higher thrust than weight.

Now, Lightning Guy, this is a good reason to have that name. This was one of the best fighters ever built and nothing could match it until the 70s. And it was designed in 1949.

 

[cheddar cheese]

i prefer the p-38 lightning to the EE lightning 8)

 

[plan_D]

Nothing could match the EE Lightning, those things were intercepting the Soviet 'Bears' all through the Cold War and those 'Bears' didn't exactly fly at low altitudes.

 

[cheddar cheese]

does the fact that jeremy clarkson has one in his garden make you jealous?

 

[plan_D]

Not really since I've seen loads because my dad worked on them for years, he says they were great aircraft but a b**tard to mantain. I've heard plenty of stories about them.

Advise for anyone who ever might be working on an EE Lightning while in Cyprus or Malta (Anywhere hot for that matter), if its in its original all metal scheme watch your hands, they get hot.

 

[cheddar cheese]

cool 8) i wish i had a plane in my garden

 

[plan_D]

Same here, but I'd have a Hurricane Mk. IV or F-5 Freedom Fighter

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

it was beaten by the F-15 which was the first aircraft with higher thrust than weight.

not true, the lightening weighed just 29,000lb but produced 30,000lb of thrust...............

 

[Lightning Guy]

I'm not sure how a discussion on "best naval fighter of WWII" ended up discussing the thrust-to-weight ratio of the EE Lightning. It may have been my fault. Sorry to get this thread so off topic.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

it doesn't matter, we're not spamming so it's ok, but back on topic, i think the best naval fighter would have been the carrier based shiden, but it never took off (excuse the pun)................

 

[plan_D]

The EE Lightning did not, if it did it could have carried on and on up to its service ceiling without losing speed, this it could not do.

 

[Lightning Guy]

The Shiden was a great plane. But I think the A7M would have been the best the Japanese produced, but they had only built a dozen of them or so by VJ day.