Best piston engined fighter of 1945?

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pbehn said:
No argument from me for the P-51 series from 1944 onwards but the P-51D in 1945?
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I'm just saying in the historical context, at least in the ETO. I firmly believe there were aircraft in 1945 that were equal or had the potential to be better. Especially at certain conditions such as altitude, or when compared one on one and all things being equal. But historically that did not occur, and so at least in the ETO it was the best.
 
I'd add some details to help with the Mustang's performance specs for late in the war as far as the D and H models, but I'd essentially be quoting what drgondog has posted in various other posts (though in fairness he and others here have helped immensely with my understanding of World War II aircraft).
 

The 1944 Joint Fighter Conference ranks the P-51D second for 'Best All-Around Fighter Above 25,000ft' (behind the P-47D) and also second for 'Best All-Around Fighter Below 25,000ft' (behind the XF8F). The P-51D was also ranked 6th out of 18 for 'Best Fighter-Bomber' and 4th for 'Best Strafer'.

While that's mostly limited to types used by the Western allies (an A6M52 was also assessed) and there are some notable absences there (no Spitfire or Tempest, for instance), that's a pretty glowing recommendation.

I'm always impressed by the Mosquito (assuming it's an FB Mk VI) when I look at the excerpts from the conference report. For being such a big heavy beast, it ends up ranking very well overall against a lot of dedicated single engine and twin-engine/single seat fighters. I also get a wry smile out of the Seafire being ranked as one of the best fighters above 25,000 ft, considering that their engines were generally tailored for performance at low/medium altitude.
 
I usually don't post in these "best" discussions, however comments in the most beautiful airplane thread brought a thought. The idea of a PBY or Kingfisher being the most beautiful as it lands to pick up a downed pilot, similarly, the F6F may be considered the "best" by her pilots because she brought them home or kept them alive to be rescued.
 
Best or Best Choice - for the person contemplating the execution of airpower to destroy enemy industrial capability, or support of ground forces or project airpower from a fleet?

Personally, I would be evaluating the trade-offs between the P-47M and the P-51H as 'best choice' for me if I had only one choice.

The P-51D/H IMO could have been 'navalized' had the requirement been to operate from carriers - despite USN lack of interest in supporting liquid cooled engines. More accidents than F4U but doable.

The TF-51D could have been modified easier than F7F or P-38M or F4U for night fighter role.

Installing a 1650-9 in a P-51D, swapping 4x20mm for 6x50 cal, operating at 75" w/o water, and removing 85gal fuse tank drives ROC above 4000fpm - not in class of Spit XIV but just how much difference in interceptor role do you need - the so modified D still has much longer range for much larger intercept footprint.

The P-47M drops out with no two seat factory version and longer take off run for short field or carrier ops.
 
drgondog said:
The TF-51D could have been modified easier than F7F or P-38M or F4U for night fighter role.
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I have no idea if they could have modified a single seat P-51 into a night fighter like the F6F-3N/5N or the Corsair night fighters.
Maybe there was enough room in cockpit, maybe there wasn't, Take one gun out of the wing with radar pod?
Not all radars were the same.

The P-51 may not have been the best at any one thing, but it was pretty darn good at most everything.

So is "best" a specialist at one job and is scrapping by at other jobs or is "Best" a general purpose aircraft that can do most jobs very well.
 
I think Bill is onto something here, with the TP-51D as a nightfighter.

There were sixteen built (one from Inglewood and fifteen from Dallas - all were 44-xxxxxx airframes) that had a dual control setup and full cockpit for the pilot and co-pilot/trainee.

They could have easily hung the AN/APS-4 or AN/APS-6 on the starboard wing like the USN did with it's Corsairs and Hellcats.
 
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