Best WW2 Aircraft Manufacturer/Designer

[Civettone]

How much during WW2 was Willi Messerschmitt still a designer? I have the impression he was most of all a manager running a big company and more interested in becoming the biggest aircraft designer in Germany than in actually building aircraft to win the war.
It seems as if he only put effort in acquiring new orders. "A new bomber needed? I'll build one! A new high altitude interceptor? Just give me more engineers and I'll have one ready next week! Get the Me 262 in production? Well ... then I need more resources and more engineers ... and perhaps you want to consider the Bf 209? Or the Bf 309? Or maybe the Bf 109H I'm working on? Or hey, I've also got a nice single jet design, the P.1095."

And I simply cannot understand why Tank needed over a year to get the Fw 190D in service (and even then it didn't have the necessary MW 50 system.)

Kris

 

[bigZ]

And I simply cannot understand why Tank needed over a year to get the Fw 190D in service (and even then it didn't have the necessary MW 50 system.)

Kris

Neither could Tank. He was held back by the powers that be.

 

[Civettone]

Neither could Tank. He was held back by the powers that be.

Care to elaborate?



Kris

 

[pinehilljoe]

In the US we were lucky to have many legendary Chief Engineers, Heineman, Kelly Johnson, Edgar Schmued, Ed Wells, Rex Beisel, add Sydney Camm from the UK.

From the Biographies I've read of him, Willy was more an entrepenuer than Chief Engineer, more like "Dutch" Kindelberger than Sydney Camm

 

[michaelmaltby]

Donavan 'Don' Berlin

 

[drgondog]

Best based on what list of attributes? Spread of excellent (type/multi purpose) aircraft designs and contribution to the war? Best at pivoting design teams to new concepts and combine with world class manufacturing and production?

Absent objective criteria, I 'Like", Messerschmitt, Focke Wulf, North American and Douglas.

Designers? Willy, Tank, Mitchell, Heinemann, Schmeud and Johnson

I am leaving the Russian candidates because I don't have real grasp on the relative innovation contributions as well as I should.

 

[stona]

All good aircraft are designed and built by good teams. Good designers lead those teams. Some of them, like Mitchell, gave credit where it was due; others not so much.
Cheers
Steve

 

[pinehilljoe]

I am leaving the Russian candidates because I don't have real grasp on the relative innovation contributions as well as I should.

I've traveled to Moscow often for business, its hard to discern who the great designers were from the Closed Society of the former Soviet Union. The people I interfaced with held Tupolev in very high respect. Keep in mind he was sent to the Gulag for a period, and designed the Tu-2 while in prison.

 

[GregP]

I'd have to include Jiro Horikoshi of Mitsubishi, not only for the A6M Zero but also for the J2M Raiden and others.

Might also have to include Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev and Semyon Lavochkin. Their designs seriously helped to win the war. Mikoyan and Gurevich designed some planes, but not with the WW2 impact of Yakovlev's and Lavochkin's design. Their major impact was post-WWII.

 

[V-1710]

So many very good designers (has anyone mentioned Alexander Kartveli yet?) but one does stand out, particularly considering his later accomplishments. Kelly Johnson.

The question of manufacturer is a little more difficult, as many organizations only produced one really outstanding aircraft. Those that consistently produced exceptional designs would include (in no particular order) Lockheed, Boeing, Douglas, North American, Avro, Hawker, MiG, Tupelov, Messerschmitt......