Best World War II Aircraft?

[Catch22]

So, as far as fighters are concerned, we seem to be coming to a realization (at least over the past couple of pages of this thread) that maybe its not one single aircraft, but a small group that stand above the others.

Again, concerning fighters only, would we all agree that, over the entire war, the list is pretty much as follows?...

P-51
Me-109
FW-190
Spitfire
Zero

Yes? No?



Elvis

I know that there are threads for fighters specifically, but no. The Zero should not be in there and the Corsair should be in its place.

 

[Marcel]

Why not the zero? It was a very good fighter in it's time (1941). That it was outclassed later in the war like many others should not count that much against it. The Corsair was relative late, so naturally it would be better than the earlier types.

 

[Burmese Bandit]

The operative phrase is "over the entire war". The design of the zero made in incapable of accepting upgrades: it was one of those planes that was maxed out from the Mk 1 model onwards.

 

[Marcel]

The operative phrase is "over the entire war". The design of the zero made in incapable of accepting upgrades: it was one of those planes that was maxed out from the Mk 1 model onwards.

You can hardly say that the P51 and the Corsair served over the entire war. If that is a criterium, the Spitfire and the Bf109 are the only candidates for fighters.

 

[Burmese Bandit]

Good point Marcel. C'est vrai.

 

[Catch22]

Yeah, good point Marcel. Though, if you're willing to leave the confines of the war, the design of the Corsair did allow it to see mainstream service into the 50's.

 

[Marcel]

Yeah, good point Marcel. Though, if you're willing to leave the confines of the war, the design of the Corsair did allow it to see mainstream service into the 50's.

True, the Corsair was a great fighter.

 

[Elvis]

Elvis, on fighteres alone there have been several "best fighter" threads, the overal reasoning gets pretty complicated in such discussions, particularly given the abiguity of "best." (and what it means to be the best fighter, which devides into interceptor, dogfighter, escort, etc... as well as if best means most important, best performing, most effective, etc.)

There's a good poll http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/polls/best-piston-engined-fighter-ever-7415-12.html which was organized after a preceding discussion thread to narrow down the choices. So you can see that there are a lot of variables even in such a discussion even when you narrow it to a single type.

In terms of most important to WWII of all types, it would have to be the C-47.

I brought up the fighter plane thing because its all that was being mentioned (at least over the past couple of pages), with one or two mentions of the C-47.
It seemed to be more immediate to how the present discussion had turned and also, there seemed to be some mentioning of a small group of fighters being "above" all the others, so my last post was coming from that direction.

...however, I do agree with you on the C-47. In fact, I think I stated just that, about 50 pages ago.



Elvis

 

[Eurofighter]

In my opninion there is no such thing as the "perfect" fighter but there are many that deserve the title of "One of the finest fighters of WWII" mine being the P-51 Mustang.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

In my opninion there is no such thing as the "perfect" fighter but there are many that deserve the title of "One of the finest fighters of WWII" mine being the P-51 Mustang.

This isn't necessarily about fighters - all round aircraft - best built, contribution to the war effort, longevity, legacy - the C-47 takes it....

 

[p51#1wwii]

yea the FW190 kills man. aces fly it it pwns!!!

 

[FLYBOYJ]

yea the FW190 kills man. aces fly it it pwns!!!

Brilliant!

 

[p51#1wwii]

i think the P-51 is pretty good.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

i think the P-51 is pretty good.

Ok...........

 

[SoD Stitch]

i think the P-51 is pretty good.

Ah! Reminds me of flyboy in his younger days . . . . . .

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I do not know if I can take another one!?

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I do not know if I can take another one!?

Your Siggy will become the size of a whole page!

 

[Marcel]

Time for the quotes thread, Chris

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Time for the quotes thread, Chris

Yeah I need to get that thread going. Maybe this weekend.

 

[swallow]

I'm interested to know if anyone can help with a comparison of flight characteristics between the WWII Typhoon 1b and the later Tempest V?

Thanks
Swallow