Most Beautiful Aircraft of WW2?

[David Fred]

This is a personal opinion question and no wrong answer. The Spitfires wing makes it commonly regarded as the most beautiful aircraft of WWII. The Corsair's inverted gull wing always does a little something for me. Some may like the 12 .50's on a B-17. IMO, these are mine.

#1 - Corsair
#2 - P-38
#3 - P-40
#4 - Fw-190
#5 - Me-262

plus many others........

F4U Corsair, it's Look was special and my Dad USMC 4th division, Roi-Namur, Saipan, Titian, Iwo Jima, spoke about the Corsair with love, as it was flown by Marine Pilots is CAS, and got low enough to fire straight into pill box slits. So I guess I love the Corsair, because my Dad loved it, because it was flown by Marine aviators, on the deck.

 

[newst]

There were many beautiful aircraft flown in WWII, and many ugly ones also. My favorite for looks alone is the Avia 534 V4 biplane.

 

[Navalwarrior]

F4U Corsair, it's Look was special and my Dad USMC 4th division, Roi-Namur, Saipan, Titian, Iwo Jima, spoke about the Corsair with love, as it was flown by Marine Pilots is CAS, and got low enough to fire straight into pill box slits. So I guess I love the Corsair, because my Dad loved it, because it was flown by Marine aviators, on the deck.

F4U Corsair, it's Look was special and my Dad USMC 4th division, Roi-Namur, Saipan, Titian, Iwo Jima, spoke about the Corsair with love, as it was flown by Marine Pilots is CAS, and got low enough to fire straight into pill box slits. So I guess I love the Corsair, because my Dad loved it, because it was flown by Marine aviators, on the deck.

Resp:
Corsair- An older friend (father of my high school friend) who is 96 today, flew Wildcats as a Marine aviator in 1943 as CAP over the Fleet; returned stateside as an instructor of F4U-1, F4U-1A, and F3A-1 (flew 5 days a wk, except for weather) for 12 mos; returning to the Pacific where he shot down two Kamikazes in 1945 flying F4U-1D and FG-1Ds. He returned to Korea at the beginning of the conflict where he flew F4U-4 in the ground support role. His log book his hughe! He never had to abort a mission due to mechanical issues, to include the F3A-1 made by Brewster, although it was during training only.
P-40/Kitty Hawk- Austrailan Clive Caldwell scored 22 kills flying the P-40; many against skilled ME-109 pilots. The fact that he was a skilled marksman and had an ability to lead his target, didn't hurt. He out flew two 109s against his single Kitty Hawk . . . Getting both.
P-51B- Flown by James Howard, early 1944 while escorting long range B-17s . . . took on all comers, shooting down at least 4 Luftwaffe attacking aircraft. Continued to dive directly at attacking aircraft . . . while out of ammo. He did this 20+minute flying solo, as the rest of the FG departed the bombers . . . Awarded the MoH for his actions. There were plenty of witnesses, as bomber crews gave detailed after action reports about 'a one man air force!'
Spitfire MkVa- flown by leg less RAF pilot Douglas Bader. Ace of Aces.
Note: P-38 pilot McGuire killed himself when he throttled back, in an attempt to make a deflection shot at a Japanese fighter that cut across in front of his plane. He forgot that he still had to large drop tanks, still attached! Not ten minutes earlier, he told the pilots of three other P-38s in his flight . . . Not to drop tanks if jumped, as they needed them to search for Japanese planes. His plane stalled and rolled over, and he nosed in to the ground! His aircraft received no enemy fire! It was an unauthorized mission. He was trying to beat Bong.

 

[GrauGeist]

Note: P-38 pilot McGuire killed himself when he throttled back, in an attempt to make a deflection shot at a Japanese fighter that cut across in front of his plane. He forgot that he still had to large drop tanks, still attached! Not ten minutes earlier, he told the pilots of three other P-38s in his flight . . . Not to drop tanks if jumped, as they needed them to search for Japanese planes. His plane stalled and rolled over, and he nosed in to the ground! His aircraft received no enemy fire! It was an unauthorized mission. He was trying to beat Bong.

If you're referring to Maj. McGuire of 431st FS/475th FG, they were conducting a series of authorized voluntary fighter sweeps and bomber escort missions in the Los Negros Island vicinity between December '44 and January '45.
His death (7 January 1945) was the result of him coming to the aid of one of his pilots who was being mauled by a number of Japanese fighters - it was this action that awarded him the Medal of Honor posthumously.

In 1947, they discovered the wreckage of his P-38L "Eileen Anne" (44-24845) on northern Negros island and recovered his remains.

And for the record, the Japanese fighters that were attacking McGuire's fellow pilot (and eventually forced McGuire down) were a KI-43-III and a KI-84A, piloted by seasoned combat veterans who also happened to be pilot instructors: W/O Sugimoto and Sergeant Fukuda.

 

[Navalwarrior]

If you're referring to Maj. McGuire of, they were conducting a series of authorized voluntary fighter sweeps and bomber escort missions in the Los Negros Island vicinity between December '44 and January '45.
His death (7 January 1945) was the result of him coming to the aid of one of his pilots who was being mauled by a number of Japanese fighters - it was this action that awarded him the Medal of Honor posthumously.

In 1947, they discovered the wreckage of his P-38L "Eileen Anne" (44-24845) on northern Negros island and recovered his remains.

And for the record, the Japanese fighters that were attacking McGuire's fellow pilot (and eventually forced McGuire down) were a KI-43-III and a KI-84A, piloted by seasoned combat veterans who also happened to be pilot instructors: W/O Sugimoto and Sergeant Fukuda.

Resp:
You are quoting the 'official' version. Two of the P-38s were lagging behind, due to one aircraft running rough. McGuire's P-38 still had the drop tanks attached/with the wreckage. The area Commander was furious. He was a national hero, so they wrote a different report to support the MoH award.

 

[GrauGeist]

Resp. Resp.
I am relaying the investigative report from years later, which included the afore-mentioned Japanese pilot's account.

Please, though, provide me with your reference, it seems to be an interesting read.

 

[Navalwarrior]

Resp. Resp.
I am relaying the investigative report from years later, which included the afore-mentioned Japanese pilot's account.

Please, though, provide me with your reference, it seems to be an interesting read.

Resp:
It may take a few days. I read the account in one of the aviation magazines a few years ago. I think I still have it as it was an unusual story; one that you would remember. I want to say that one of the pilots of the four P-38s furnished the info.

 

[GrauGeist]

I assume that article also has Sergeant Fukuda's account included?

Sergeant Fukuda (flying the KI-84A) also shot down McGuire's #3 man that day, Maj. Rittmayer, who crashed southwest of the Japanese held Carolina Airfield.

 

[Navalwarrior]

Resp:
It may take a few days. I read the account in one of the aviation magazines a few years ago. I think I still have it as it was an unusual story; one that you would remember. I want to say that one of the pilots of the four P-38s furnished the info.

What I remember:
There were no scheduled missions for several days. Bond had returned to the US. McGuire knew he was only two kills behind Bond, and that time was running out (not much air resistance). So McGuire talked an experience pilot into flying as his wingman. He had ground personnel fit two drop tanks to four P-38s. Two other pilots were needed, so he got two relatively new pilots to fly the two remaining aircraft. It seems that he may have selected the novices to justify the flight as a training mission, if questioned. Regardless, his mission was unauthorized.
At some point in the flight, one of the P-38s flown by a rookie developed an engine problem. So much so that he had trouble keeping up with McGuire and his wingman. Picture two P-38s about a mile behind the other two.
At some point, McGuire tells the other pilots in his flight . . . "Do not drop tanks if jumped. We will need the fuel for additional engagements!" (Retaining drop tanks in air-to-air combat is against standard operating procedure).
My recollection is that McGuire suddenly saw a lone Japanese fighter at 2 o'clock that was about to pass in front of him. It was so sudden, that McGuire throttled back and banked slightly left . . . for a deflection shot, one he had done many times. However, with the two additional drop tanks, he lost his lift . . and his P-38 shuddered, then rolled over on its left . . . dropping straight down!
In an instant, McGuire was gone.
At some point, a second Japanese fighter was sighted. (Apparently they were not traveling together). One of the Japanese pilots managed to crash land, where he was hacked to death by local natives. The other lived to tell his side of the battle, only to find out years later that the P-38 that crashed was flown by Ace Maj McGuire. McGuire's wingman engaged the enemy aircraft. Obviously, this story had to be related by one of the three remaining pilots of the flight.

 

[Navalwarrior]

I assume that article also has Sergeant Fukuda's account included?

Sergeant Fukuda (flying the KI-84A) also shot down McGuire's #3 man that day, Maj. Rittmayer, who crashed southwest of the Japanese held Carolina Airfield.

Resp:
I do not recall the details about the Japanese pilots, but seem to remember that the two Japanese fighters were different; a Frank or a George was one???

 

[Milosh]

Jim Oxley
16th July 2007, 22:52
The best analysis of Tom McGuire's death IMHO is contained in John Stanaway's brilliant book "Possum, Clover and Hades".

McGuire was leading a four-plane patrol on the morning of 7 January, 1945; consisting of Capt. Ed Weaver as No.2, Maj. Jack Rittmayer as No.3 and Doug Thropp as No.4. All were very experienced combat pilots except Thropp, who was relatively new.

The following is and extract from the book:

"McGuire eased the flight down when they reached Negros and broke out beklow the clouds at 1,700ft. The Americans were about ten miles north of Fabrica aerodrome and bodly began circling the base at exactly 0700 hrs.

Five minutes later McGuire set course at about 1,400ft for the airstrips on western Negros, despairing of finding Japanese over Fabrica. Within a short time Weaver sighted what he took to be a Zeke 52 climbing directly below about 500ft and ahead about a thousand yards.

What Weaver identified as a MitsubishiA6M5 Zero was actually an Ki-43 Oscar flown by W/O Akira Sugimoto of the 54th Sentai. he had been flying in search of an American supply convoy headed for Mindoro or Lingayen Gulf. The weather had been impossible and Sugimoto headed back after a long and frustrating flight.

Weaver had called the enemy fighter and McGuire made a diving turn to the left to trap it; Sugimoto was already directly beneath the P-38 flight. The Oscar pilot may have been tired after the long search mission, but he was sharp enough to turn left himself, and get on the tial of Lt. Thropp, who was now the number htree after being ordered to switch positions with Major Rittmayer.

Thropp skidded his Lightning to avoid the fire coming from Sugimoto's two 12.7mm guns. It was inconceivable to Thropp that the Japanese pilotcould miss but he did. Rittmayer put his P-38 on the verge of a stall to draw enough lead to discourage this pugnacious Japanese. That he managed to do, temporarily. Sugimoto simply tightened the turn on his extremely maneuverable fighter and got a bead on Weaver.

With all he could do to avoid the attack, Weaver called McGuire and tightened his own turn until he was inside and a little below his leader. Sugimoto stuck like glue in his light olive-green Ki-43 with it's graceful yellow-orange tail insignia and confounded the entire flight of battle-tested Americans. A call ffrom McGuire ordered the flight to keep it's drop tanks even as the Oscar was out-turning the P-38's. The tanks were nearly full and further hampered the flexibility of the American fighters. Within a moment that inflexibility would produce catastrophe.

Weaver saw McGuire "increase his turn tremendously" to get his sights on the Oscar. The last thing Weaver observed of his leader was when McGiure's P-38 "snap-rolled to the left and slipped in an inverted position with the nose down about 30 degree. Becuase of the attitude of my plane, I then lost sight of him momentarily. A second later I saw the explosion and fire of his crash."

Sugimoto either saw his opportunity to escape or was driven off by Doug Thropp who had come around in the circle sufficiently to fire a three second burst at the Oscar. The Japanese fighter raced off to the north where it amde a forced landing, probably from damage received by Rittmayer or Thropp, and Sugimoto was soon caught and shot to death by a group of Filipino partisans.

Meanwhile, Sergent Mizonori Fukuda of the Ki-84 Frank equipped 71st Sentai was landing at Manapla strip on Negros when he noticed Sugimoto's plight to the north. He raced to the aid of his comrade in the Oscar and arrived just about the time McGuire crashed and Sugimoto escaped into the clouds to the north.

While the three P-38's were still in disarray, Fukuda dived from the clouds to the left and got onto Rittmayer's tail in the middle position. All the remaining P-38's had now dropped their tanks and Weaver, in the trail position, fired a burst at the Ki-84 just as Fukuda fired a killing burst at Rittmayer. A moment later another explosion was seen on the ground less than two miles from Pinanamaan Town. Fukuda also put a cannon shell into Thropp's right tail boom and left engine manifold. Weaver had done some damage to the Frank which made it back to Manalpa and crashlanded with twenty three bullet holes from Weavers guns, and was a complete write-off."
jeanba

 

[Navalwarrior]

Jim Oxley
16th July 2007, 22:52
The best analysis of Tom McGuire's death IMHO is contained in John Stanaway's brilliant book "Possum, Clover and Hades".

McGuire was leading a four-plane patrol on the morning of 7 January, 1945; consisting of Capt. Ed Weaver as No.2, Maj. Jack Rittmayer as No.3 and Doug Thropp as No.4. All were very experienced combat pilots except Thropp, who was relatively new.

The following is and extract from the book:

"McGuire eased the flight down when they reached Negros and broke out beklow the clouds at 1,700ft. The Americans were about ten miles north of Fabrica aerodrome and bodly began circling the base at exactly 0700 hrs.

Five minutes later McGuire set course at about 1,400ft for the airstrips on western Negros, despairing of finding Japanese over Fabrica. Within a short time Weaver sighted what he took to be a Zeke 52 climbing directly below about 500ft and ahead about a thousand yards.

What Weaver identified as a MitsubishiA6M5 Zero was actually an Ki-43 Oscar flown by W/O Akira Sugimoto of the 54th Sentai. he had been flying in search of an American supply convoy headed for Mindoro or Lingayen Gulf. The weather had been impossible and Sugimoto headed back after a long and frustrating flight.

Weaver had called the enemy fighter and McGuire made a diving turn to the left to trap it; Sugimoto was already directly beneath the P-38 flight. The Oscar pilot may have been tired after the long search mission, but he was sharp enough to turn left himself, and get on the tial of Lt. Thropp, who was now the number htree after being ordered to switch positions with Major Rittmayer.

Thropp skidded his Lightning to avoid the fire coming from Sugimoto's two 12.7mm guns. It was inconceivable to Thropp that the Japanese pilotcould miss but he did. Rittmayer put his P-38 on the verge of a stall to draw enough lead to discourage this pugnacious Japanese. That he managed to do, temporarily. Sugimoto simply tightened the turn on his extremely maneuverable fighter and got a bead on Weaver.

With all he could do to avoid the attack, Weaver called McGuire and tightened his own turn until he was inside and a little below his leader. Sugimoto stuck like glue in his light olive-green Ki-43 with it's graceful yellow-orange tail insignia and confounded the entire flight of battle-tested Americans. A call ffrom McGuire ordered the flight to keep it's drop tanks even as the Oscar was out-turning the P-38's. The tanks were nearly full and further hampered the flexibility of the American fighters. Within a moment that inflexibility would produce catastrophe.

Weaver saw McGuire "increase his turn tremendously" to get his sights on the Oscar. The last thing Weaver observed of his leader was when McGiure's P-38 "snap-rolled to the left and slipped in an inverted position with the nose down about 30 degree. Becuase of the attitude of my plane, I then lost sight of him momentarily. A second later I saw the explosion and fire of his crash."

Sugimoto either saw his opportunity to escape or was driven off by Doug Thropp who had come around in the circle sufficiently to fire a three second burst at the Oscar. The Japanese fighter raced off to the north where it amde a forced landing, probably from damage received by Rittmayer or Thropp, and Sugimoto was soon caught and shot to death by a group of Filipino partisans.

Meanwhile, Sergent Mizonori Fukuda of the Ki-84 Frank equipped 71st Sentai was landing at Manapla strip on Negros when he noticed Sugimoto's plight to the north. He raced to the aid of his comrade in the Oscar and arrived just about the time McGuire crashed and Sugimoto escaped into the clouds to the north.

While the three P-38's were still in disarray, Fukuda dived from the clouds to the left and got onto Rittmayer's tail in the middle position. All the remaining P-38's had now dropped their tanks and Weaver, in the trail position, fired a burst at the Ki-84 just as Fukuda fired a killing burst at Rittmayer. A moment later another explosion was seen on the ground less than two miles from Pinanamaan Town. Fukuda also put a cannon shell into Thropp's right tail boom and left engine manifold. Weaver had done some damage to the Frank which made it back to Manalpa and crashlanded with twenty three bullet holes from Weavers guns, and was a complete write-off."
jeanba

Resp:
It seems like there are many similarities in the various accounts. The low altitude, extra weight of two drop tanks, and a quick reaction (muscle memory) of reducing power for a deflection shot . . . ended McGuire's life when his P-38 nosed over to the left, then dropped straight down. All with no enemy fire. It was a reaction that he had done many times; only with a lighter P-38 and at higher altitudes.
It has been related that McGuire made fun of Lindbergh when he visited his unit; making Lindbergh drive him around in his jeep. Indicating to others that he was old and past his time as an aviator. Arrogance? Who knows.

 

[GrauGeist]

Resp:
I do not recall the details about the Japanese pilots, but seem to remember that the two Japanese fighters were different; a Frank or a George was one???

I mentioned earlier that W/O Sugimoto was flying the KI-43-III and Sergeant Fukuda was flying the KI-84A

 

[calic]

My favorites as far as most beautiful planes of WWII are
#1 B-25 "Mitchell"
#2 F4U Corsair
#3 P-61 "Black Widow"
#4 B-17 "Flying Fortress"

 

[GregP]

Funny, I have seen McGuire described as the worst CO ever and as the best CO ever by different pilots from the same unit.

Wodner which McGuire was the real one?

 

[Navalwarrior]

Funny, I have seen McGuire described as the worst CO ever and as the best CO ever by different pilots from the same unit.

Wodner which McGuire was the real one?

Resp:
Sometimes it benefits the situation to border on arrogance. If McGuire did what was claimed to Lingbergh, then it was shameful. It he did it to impress upon those who needed emphasis to get the desired result, then it was necessary. Leadership, being in command isn't a fun activity . . . you are responsible for all under you.

 

[michael rauls]

For just straight up most beautiful plane I would have to say the spitfire. For just plane looking cool( kind of a subset of beauty) I'd have to say its a tie between the bf 109g and the p40f. At least to me.

 

[P-39 Expert]

Pretty sure that I read that Fukuda claimed in an interview after the war that he shot down McGuire in that engagement, I could be wrong.

Pretty dumb of Mcguire to be taunting the Japanese over their own bases under 2000' altitude. Hard for me to believe that a 38 victory ace would stall and crash by himself. The long published story just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Navalwarrior]

Pretty sure that I read that Fukuda claimed in an interview after the war that he shot down McGuire in that engagement, I could be wrong.

Pretty dumb of Mcguire to be taunting the Japanese over their own bases under 2000' altitude. Hard for me to believe that a 38 victory ace would stall and crash by himself. The long published story just doesn't make sense to me.

Resp:
Understand. But if you read the various accounts, it appears that that is what happened. I believe that he just 'reacted' as he had done many times. However, he did drop down over their bases to taunt them (low altitude) ; and he still had two fairly full drop tanks, neither of these two actions were done by him (or anyone experienced) in conjunction with each other before. His throttling back was a reaction (habit) that with these two variables caused his demise. I am not saying it is fact, only that what I read several yrs ago in an Aviation mag and, it specifically stated it was 'an unauthorized mission.' I gave up persuading people years ago, as it is a waste of time, as I believe people generally believe what they want. Just human nature, I guess.

 

[Peter Gunn]

Well, I'll try to put a list together, there are so many beautiful planes in that (or any) era.

1. P-51 - Prefer the B/C with tail fillet, not sure I like the looks of the Malcolm Hood but understand it's usefulness.
2. P-39 - If looks could kill...
3. Macchi 202/205 - Italian Style, man they can make tractors look sexy.
4. Spitfire - Mark IX and later, once you get to the bubble top I think they're absolutely stunning.
5. Kawasaki Ki-61 - They don't come much sleeker.
6. Bf-109 - What's not to like, about as sleek and compact as they come (any marque).
7. Lockheed Constellation - Quite possibly the best looking four engine airliner/transport ever designed.
8. Mig 3 - Just as good looking as the Macchi and the Ki-61, how'd those Russkie's do it?
9. B-17 - Not only Iconic but looks great, even better to me than its big brother the B-29.
10. The IMMORTAL Buffalo - Need I say more?

Honorable Mention:
B-29
Republic XF-12 Rainbow - Only experimental which is why I didn't include it.
Boeing 314 Clipper
Kawanishi H8K