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Transport: C-47 (simply the best transport of the war and the best aircraft of the war in my opinion.)
Night Fighter/Medium Bomber: Ju-88 (gotta love that versatility, not the best aircraft of the war but damn good at everything she did)
Naval Recon/Anti-Submarine/Sea Rescue - PBY Catalina (I like her looksbut would also not have a problem choosing the Do-24 and Do-26 which were actually a bit better than the Cat)
Well my always chose British manufacturer broken record friend, then this should piss you off...
Strategic Bomber - B-29 (armament, speed)
Medium/Attack Bomber - A-26 (armament, speed, versatility)
Fighter/CAS - P-47 (ruggedness, handling, speed, range)
Night Fighter - P-61 (radar sophistication, range)
Maritime Patrol - Short Sunderland (armament, range)
Transport - C-46 (loadout)
Fighter - F4U (nuff said)
Trainer - Piper Cub (what's not to like)
And my choices are HEAVILY influenced by common engine cores for virtually all of my choices. Thus saving training, maintenance, spares and operational readiness.
I noticed that none of us picked a reconnaisance airplane.
?
I noticed that none of us picked a reconnaisance airplane.
I noticed that none of us picked a reconnaisance airplane.
What about the Ju-388? Faster than hell.
And while folks have focused upon the Ta-152H, and rightly so, what about the Ta-152B??
As fast as a Mosquito??
My sources says that there was no production versions of the Ta-152B.
Faster at altitude. 460mph max with 435mph in armed version. But I'd have to check. A bit faster than wartime Mosquito.
[Below is the Wikipedia pic. She looks brutally fast.]
QUOTE]
Best I could find is 435 mph with high performance engines (also from Wikipedia).
"With later models of the 222 it was supposed to have reached around 700 km/h (435 mph), again losing about 25 km/h for nightfighters. These -2 versions were considerably faster than the de Havilland Mosquito. The bomber versions flew at roughly the same speeds (depending on load), while the recce versions would have been about 25 km/h faster."
In any event, it seems to be an excellent recon. I am not sure that it would fit in this category. There doesn't seem to be a record of these high powered versions being built or used in combat.