P-51 Mustang Vs. Me 262 (1 Viewer)

Which plane do you think is better?


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Both aircraft were great in my opnion, but the potential of the 262 was never realized. The Mustang showed its capability in spades.

One needs to remeber the terrible conditions the 262 was operating under at the time of its introduction. By that stage, Germany was suffering a terrible pounding, with no airspece that was safe to train pilots or work out technological kinks. The 262 was a hitech item, demanding the best of materials and a skilled workforce, and Germany had neither by the time it began mass production.

If the 262 had had a reasonable chance to complete its development, had reasonable pilots to fly it, had the numbers to make a difference, and the fuel to train and fly proiperly, it would have shot the P-51 out of the sky. there was a generational difference in the two aircraft, like the MiG-15 and the Hawker Furies of the Korean War. Jets made piston engined fighters obsolete, end of story, its just that the 262 was never allowed to develop because by the time it began entering service, it was all over anyway.
 
Much as I love the 262, I'm gonna have to say the 51 in this match. When the 262 came into use, the average quality of pilots and training was much much better for the Allies; the '51 had pretty much all of its kinks and wrinkles ironed out (the aforementioned flaming engines...not a good thing!); and the 51 could stay up a whole lot longer. All it had to do was to evade the 262 for a few minutes, and then catch it on its way back to refuel.

I agree
 
Both aircraft were great in my opnion, but the potential of the 262 was never realized. The Mustang showed its capability in spades.

One needs to remeber the terrible conditions the 262 was operating under at the time of its introduction. By that stage, Germany was suffering a terrible pounding, with no airspece that was safe to train pilots or work out technological kinks. The 262 was a hitech item, demanding the best of materials and a skilled workforce, and Germany had neither by the time it began mass production.

If the 262 had had a reasonable chance to complete its development, had reasonable pilots to fly it, had the numbers to make a difference, and the fuel to train and fly proiperly, it would have shot the P-51 out of the sky. there was a generational difference in the two aircraft, like the MiG-15 and the Hawker Furies of the Korean War. Jets made piston engined fighters obsolete, end of story, its just that the 262 was never allowed to develop because by the time it began entering service, it was all over anyway.

To paraphrase an author "the ultimate expression of aerial superiority is a tank rolling onto an airfields perimeter. The air war was important the ground war was decisive.
 

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