Best Overachiever Aircraft?

What aircraft gave the best account for itself despite the long odds?

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"overachiever" in this context is an Underdog that prevailed despite long odds.

The 109 was never an underdog
The swordfish and Buffalo were true underdogs that rose to the occasion
 
going with the swordfish, was used as late as 1944 as a attack aircraft against e-boats and u-boats, gladiator is a close second
 

Fokker D.XXI (why isn't it there?). Being out-gunned and out-performed by the Germans, still did quite a good job on May 10th. Furthermore, it was quite successful with the Finns.
 
More and more keep coming to mind-- I didn't want to flood everyone out with exhaustive choices. Two more I thought of are the Martin 166, which fought well in the NEI, and the PZL P.11 which put up quite a fight against the invading Luftwaffe. The PZL really should have been on the list, the 166, maybe not so relavent to the discussion. The D.21 might should have been on the list, I suppose, but I didn't think of it-- remember it also fought for Finland.
 
Hello
in the end I voted for Swordfish, it fullfilled 3 categories from Oreo's list, it achieved incredible results against incredible odds, in small numbers, and with ancient technology. After all Brewster F2A was a modern all-metal cantilever monoplane with tractable undercarriage.

Juha
 
Brewster Buffalo. The things the Finnish achieved with that bird, amazing.
 
Well, with the 109 I am still puzzled as to why no-one seemed to say 'hey guys lets widen the track of the undercart because right now it is killing pilots'

On one side : this is why I always wonder why they did not do more to solve the Seafire question

So many of them just folded up on landing or skidded off the edge !



 
Swordfixh for me...although I have a soft spot for the 123. But the swordfish is probably the only aircraft on that poll to make the claim of being one of the 5 aircraft that won WWII.
 
BTW don't forget that test pilots said that the Swordfish was a well-balanced aeroplane - with great low speed handling. So, perhaps looks are a little bit deceiving ?

- same for the Gloster Gladiator - in fact there is one still in flying condition near to me at Old Warden in Beds

I have spoken to the display pilot there and he says it flys like a dream - spins on a coin and is well harmonized which is more than can be said for some other WW2 planes.



Burmese Bandit said:
Swordfixh for me...although I have a soft spot for the 123. But the swordfish is probably the only aircraft on that poll to make the claim of being one of the 5 aircraft that won WWII.
Click to expand...
 
I had to go with the Buffalo as well. The Netherlands East Indies squads had a kill raition of almost 2-1 Kill with them. For a "lousy" plane, the Finns and Dutch sure knew how to use them.
 
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I'm having a tough time deciding between the Buffalo or the Swordfish.

The Swordfish helped locate the Bismark, and then helped to torpedo her. That's a big achievement for it. The German Battleship was the terror of the high seas before it was downed.

On the other hand, the Buffalo performed remarkably well, considering how the US didn't give it much appreciation.

Maybe I'll go with the Swordfish, and amazing little plane.

Gloster Gladiator deserves a mention as well, for defending Malta against 109's.
 
Soundbreaker Welch? said:
....The German Battleship was the terror of the high seas before it was downed.
Click to expand...

Just a small correction there... Yes, Bismarck was a great threat but wasn't "terror of the high seas before it was downed" because it was destroyed on his first cruise. Apart from Hood I don't think Bismarck sunk any other vessel.

As for overachiever aircraft, its a hard choice, but I would go with Buffalo because of its surprisingly good record with the Finns against the Soviets.
 
It's kind of ironic that the Hood was destroyed with 1,400 of it crewmen dead, and then shortly after the Bismarck was destroyed with 1,900 of it's crew lost.

It was one of the better Naval battles in WWII at any rate, where battleships faced each other at slightly more even odds.
Bismarck was hurt by airpower, and without the Swordfish it might have escaped. But in the end it needed the British battleships and destroyers to finish it off, and it was such a powerful ship that even they had trouble at it.
 
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2 Things

First - I actually have spoken with a pilot at Old Warden re. The Gladiator which they fly there - he says it really is a great aerobatic aeroplane and is a hard act to follow in anything else - so perhaps there is more than one way to skin a cat in combat ?

Shuttleworth

Bit like the CR42, which actually was quite a tough cookie for the Spits and Hurris

Second - the reason, alllegdedly, that the Bismark took so long to finish off was actually that the Brits were so desperate to do the deed they got TOO CLOSE

Naval shells work best when then land going straight down (more or less) - not pinging off the sides, which is where battleship armour is the strongest too.

BTW this is what I heard on a programme on TV but like all these things it could do with some verification I think.
 
Swordfish gets my vote, Buffalo and Hawk-75 are the contenders.

Think you're right about the vertical vs. horizontal defence against cannon shells, Cromwell.
 
The Brewster Buffalo is my choice. It truly had the odds stacked against it yet it achieved making aces of pilots.
 
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