The Forum's Favorite WW2 Aircraft?

hurricane55 · Aug 2, 2012

My favorite is the A6M Zero because it was the dominant fighter in the Pacific until 1943 and was still a match for all allied fighters until the end of the war due to its speed and maneuverability. And it also looks very cool! Some of my other favorites are the P51, B17, and Me 262. Although I like almost all WWII aircraft.

aurora-7 · Jan 10, 2013

Phhhht! Fighter jocks!

For overall aircraft I chose the PBY because I love flying boats and I love its parasol wing design.

As for fighers, It's the P-47

For bombers, the B-24

For attack aircraft, the Mosquito.

woljags · Jan 10, 2013

my fav isn't there as i would pick the short sunderland

Procrastintor · May 23, 2013

Fighter would have to be the P-40 Warhawk, shooting it only makes it angry.

richard schwab · Jun 16, 2013

Give me the P-47 any day!

Rich

Vengeance · Jul 15, 2013

Other, I'd have to agree with Wildcat, the Vultee Vengeance, great looking divebomber, plus I got a family connection to the machine, Grandfather was 12 Squadron based in Darwin and Merauke Dutch East Indies!

pattle · Jul 20, 2013

I have always thought of Russian, German and Japanese planes as being generally ugly, sinister and even fiendish looking machines, American planes I find as generally bland and functional while British and Italian planes are things of beauty. Just my opinion and I don't use this as a rule.

Mishal Kennedy · Jul 30, 2013

Honestly... This is torture... Being unable to click P-36, P-38, Dewoitine D540, FW-190, or F4F all at once... Torture! I'm sorry Hawk, Wildcat, Wuld, Dewoitin, but I had to pick Lightning...

EDIT: And the corsair, and the warhawk... My god, TORTURE!!!!

pattle · Jul 31, 2013

Mishal Kennedy said:
Honestly... This is torture... Being unable to click P-36, P-38, Dewoitine D540, FW-190, or F4F all at once... Torture! I'm sorry Hawk, Wildcat, Wuld, Dewoitin, but I had to pick Lightning...

EDIT: And the corsair, and the warhawk... My god, TORTURE!!!!

World War Two aircraft are the greatest!

swampyankee · Aug 3, 2013

I voted for the F6F, but I'm also a fan of the Westland Lysander, which was, for some unknowable reason, omitted.

MSlechta · Aug 6, 2013

I like nearly all planes from World War Two. If I have to chose only one, I will prefer Mitsubishi J2M Raiden. It is absolutely awesome plane, for me of course.

rlgdestroyu · Aug 20, 2013

Hmmm...FW190D such a beautifully menacing piece of aircraft, and the B-17F, it just reminds me of that bravery shown by the aircrews flying unescorted all that time early in the war.

HBPencil · Sep 26, 2013

Choosing just one is tricky but I went for the Spitfire. It has strengths and weaknesses like any aircraft does but, to me, it looks great regardless of whether it's the pure lines of the early models or the bad-ass-ness of the Griffon powered versions... although I do feel that the really late, post war models with the revised wings and big tail units ended up looking awkward. Oh, and both engine types sound great as well!

bbear · Sep 27, 2013

This is a fun thread, a matter of afection rather than kinetics, as i understand it. If fun is about laughter. And the key to humour is timing..

Enter stage left, a wooden aircraft with little armour and no defensive weapon - DH 98 Mosquito.
although overall the Mossie crews sufered low losses - that just meant they got given tougher and tougher missions

I went through some War Cabinet minutes last year and from what I could see the Mosquito raids got a separate line of report - in the highest body in the UK, not the Joint Chiefs, the full political body. There can't be many single aircraft type that got such political atttention.

And it got the job done, many practical, difficult, conventional, militarily important jobs. And it looks fast and powerful. And theres a heap of variants to build as models. And the mission stories and the men that flew them ... but that's divisive.

I can't say better than that - except for a Fairey Swordfish 'stringbag'. Or an air-power game changing C-47. but really the b17/P51/Lancaster/B29 were the main symphony why pick anything else? But without the carrier force and Coastal ASW they wouldn't count for beans. Spitfires are the prettiest. or ....

stan reid · Oct 17, 2013

The Me 163 just because it was freaky unreal.

chicken · Oct 17, 2013

I have to go with the yak 3 because it had exceptional agility and looks so cool

GregP · Jan 5, 2016

Why can't you put these things in alphabetical order?

Marcel · Jan 7, 2016

Maybe interesting, 2 years ago I crawled the forum to count how often an aircraft was mentioned. I made a list of about 90 single engined fighters and searched for that. The Spitfire came on top, see this wordcloud:

You can read about this action in this thread:
http://ww2aircraft.net/forum/off-topic-misc-/forums-discussed-single-engined-fighter-ww2-40007.html

pbehn · Jan 7, 2016

GregP said:
Why can't you put these things in alphabetical order?

Has it taken you 7 years Greg?

DerAdlerIstGelandet · Jan 16, 2016

Might be time to see how our membership's opinion has changed over the years?

The Forum's Favorite WW2 Aircraft?

What is it?

North American P-51 Mustang

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Grumman F4F Wildcat

Boeing P-26 Peashooter

Curtis P-36 Hawk

Lockheed P-38 Lightning

Bell P-39 Airacobra

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

Douglas SBD Dauntless

Douglas A-20 Havoc

Consolidated B-24 Liberator

North American B-25 Mitchell

TBD Devastator

Martin PBM Mariner

Lockheed Hudson

Consolidated PBY Catalina

Vought OS2U Kingfisher

North American T-6 Texan

Douglas C-47 Skytrain

Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver

Douglas A-26 Invader

Boeing B-29 Super Fortress

Consolidated B-32 Dominator

Grumman F6F Hellcat

Chance Vought F4U Corsair

Northrop P-61 Black Widow

Bell P-63 Kingcobra

Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star

Taylorcraft L-2 Grasshopper

Douglas C-54 Skymaster

Sikorsky R-4

Avia B-135

Avia B.534

Amiot 143

Amiot 354

Bloch MB.131

Bloch MB.210

Bloch MB.200

Breguet 693

Lioré et Olivier LeO 45

Potez 630

Potez 540

Bloch MB.150

Caudron C.714

Dewoitine D.520

Morane-Saulnier M.S.406

Morane-Saulnier MS.230

Henschel Hs 123

Henschel Hs 129

Dornier Do 17

Dornier Do 215

Heinkel He 111

Heinkel He 115

Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

Junkers Ju 88

Focke-Wulf Fw 190

Messerschmitt Bf 109

Messerschmitt Bf 110

Dornier Do 18

Dornier Do 24

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Kondor

Arado Ar 196

Blohm Voss BV 141

Blohm Voss BV 138

Focke-Wulf Fw 189

Bücker Bü 133 Jungmeister

Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann

Junkers Ju 52

Junkers Ju 90

Fieseler Fi 156 Storch

Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun

Arado Ar 234 Blitz

Dornier Do 217

Heinkel He 177 Greif

Junkers Ju 188

Junkers Ju 288