The most important Aircraft for any given country!

[Amsel]

US P-47: All the US needed was air superiority and the Jug achieved that as well as the Jabo role very effectively.

GB Spitfire: Air superiority was very important.

DE Ju-87: Helped the blitzkreig.

 

[Colin1]

France P-36, the only capable fighter

Marcel
Surprised you didn't give the Dewoitine D520 a mention, it could hold its own vs the Bf109E, though slightly slower

 

[Waynos]

Britain- Spitfire, the BOB was not decisive so the Hurricane's success does not outweigh the same type of job the 109 did for Germany.
.

Depends what you mean by decisive. Britian falls in 1940 and the war is over right there, Germany fights Russia on its own terms on a single front.

Everything that came after the BoB came because Britain did not lose.

However I chose Spitfire

 

[Tzaw1]

Well, I'm not Russian but I'm not amused either...

Sorry, but this is not a joke. This is a bitter truth.

 

[michaelmaltby]

Tzaw1 - why the P-63 rather than the P-39 ..?

MM

 

[drgondog]

This is a 'phase' question also. The Hurricane for exapmple may have been the most important Brit weapon in 1940 but the Lancaster was most important 1943-1945.

I think the B-24 was the most important through 1943 for US in overall contribution, then the Mustang starting with very small numbers enabled the battle of Germany to be won.

The IL-2 probably fits my perspective for USSR.

Zero for Japan but this was toughest for me.

Italy SM-79

Germany - another 'phase' question. Maybe Ju 87 early and 109 through 1944. Me 262 was perhaps Most important but it ultimately failed its role.

 

[vikingBerserker]

US - P-51
Germany - Me 109
USSR - Yak-3
GB - Hurrican
Japan - Ki-84 Frank
Poland - Pzl.11 (always loved that plane)
France - DeWoitine D520

 

[Soren]

Germany - another 'phase' question. Maybe Ju 87 early and 109 through 1944. Me 262 was perhaps Most important but it ultimately failed its role.

The Me-262 certainly didn't fail its' role, there just wasn't enough fuel or trained pilots to operate the a/c as intended. The a/c itself was the best fighter to see service in WW2. The only role in which it failed, and understandably so as it was never designer for it, was the dive bomber role. But perhaps this is what you meant.

 

[drgondog]

The Me-262 certainly didn't fail its' role, there just wasn't enough fuel or trained pilots to operate the a/c as intended. The a/c itself was the best fighter to see service in WW2. The only role in which it failed, and understandably so as it was never designer for it, was the dive bomber role. But perhaps this is what you meant.

Actually I meant 'failed' as in it didn't achieve the results that a heavliy armed fighter that was 100 mph faster than its competition, piloted by the LW top pilots and could engage or withdraw at will - should have been able to accomplish.

That is my opinion only

 

[MikeGazdik]

UK- Spitfire.....in the BoB, the Hurricane could not have lived without the Spitfire, but the Spitfire could have lived without the Hurricane. And without the Spitfire there may have been no Lancaster raids.

Germany- Messerschmitt 109. No explanation needed.

Japan- Zero, kind of like facing your fears. Not as bad as you made them to be.

Russia- IL 2

U.S.A. The Lockheed P-38. I pick this because like mentioned, you want to say Hellcat in the Pacific, and Mustang in Europe. But the P-38 served in all theatres. It was cutting edge. It was present from the start. (yes, in small numbers) It was THE Army fighter in the Pacific. It was very good in Africa and the Mediterranian. Just as it started to shake its bugs and prove its worth as a fighter based from England, the Mustang became the better choice. But in all theatres, the photo recon Lightning contributed greatly. It was a Weapon.

 

[Tzaw1]

Tzaw1 - why the P-63 rather than the P-39 ..?

MM

Good question.
I thought about P-39, but I wrote P-63.
Probably the reason is is somewhere here: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/p-39-vs-p-40-a-19226-6.html#post522087

 

[Marcel]

Marcel
Surprised you didn't give the Dewoitine D520 a mention, it could hold its own vs the Bf109E, though slightly slower

I believe the P36/H75 was there in greater numbers at the start of the German campaign. There were only a few D.520's. Later there were more, but by then, German superiority was too much to handle, so it was too late. The Curtiss was simply there. That's why I choose the H75.

It's a pitty that not more people give a shot at the smaller airforces. The biggerAF's already have been discussed very much, while we can still learn a lot about the smaller ones. For instance which aircraft would you think to be the most important of Hungaria? Is it the Bf109, the He112 or another aircraft I forgot?

 

[Dark Matter]

USA- P-40

USSR- MIG-3

Italy- CR-42

Germany- Bf-109

Japan- A6M

England- Spitfire

 

[Colin1]

England- Spitfire

Or possibly Britain
Unless Scotland, Ireland and Wales had their own most important aircraft

 

[Tzaw1]

which aircraft would you think to be the most important of Hungaria? Is it the Bf109, the He112 or another aircraft I forgot?

Both.

 

[lingo]

Or possibly Britain
Unless Scotland, Ireland and Wales had their own most important aircraft

Quite right! We mustn't forget the Cornish or the Manx either!

 

[Juha]

Now He 112 was not much good for Romanians, they removed it quickly from front line IIRC.

Juha

 

[Watanbe]

The UK point is interesting (at least for me) Hurricane? All the points raised by Watanbe are perfectly valid so I'll give no effort to try to refute them.

Spitfire? Maybe it steals it?

The kill ratio for the Spit in the BoB is roughly the same as the Hurricanes, but more aircraft in service equals more kills overall for the latter, and you can't dismiss that. However the Spitfire, as well as being brilliant and being the most developed fighter of the entire war etc etc also provided something less tangible. It was a rallying point for the British, in a way that no other aeroplane has ever been for any country. It was a symbol of hope and survival and ultimate victory. The plane itself became a national hero, in the way that The Duke of Wellington or Francis Drake had been in the past. That Inspiration it gave to the nation probably makes it Britain's most vital ever aeroplane, not just in WW2.

Excellent point, a wrote about that same point in an essay once. I think as well, the British took great pride in having the best fighter in the air when everything else was going wrong.

 

[Watanbe]

I've been mulling over the UK entry for most of the afternoon too

The Hurricane certainly got the lion's share of the kills, more than all other means put together including AA defences/balloons/rocket-launched cables/whatever. Unfortunately, it didn't secure our survival on its own and I doubt it could have done - Hurricanes trying to intercept Bf109 raiding parties? They'd have had a torrid time going at the bombers too, Bf109s again.

The Spitfire wasn't around in sufficient numbers to carry the fight on its own so I doubt that would have secured our survival either.

The Hurricane and Spitfire were a tag team, extraordinarily difficult to give it to one, over the other.

It's hard to argue with that. The Hurricane did the bulk of the work, but needed the Spitfire's help to perform it effectively. People tend to considered the Hurricane redundant after the BOB but it made an excellent ground attack aircraft in North Africa and once again was present in most numbers and performed the bulk of the work. (together with the P-40).

 

[Soren]

Actually I meant 'failed' as in it didn't achieve the results that a heavliy armed fighter that was 100 mph faster than its competition, piloted by the LW top pilots and could engage or withdraw at will - should have been able to accomplish.

That is my opinion only

Bill the Me-262's were mostly flown by rookies, so the result is understandable. There were few experten flying the Me-262, and they were limited to Nowotny's squadron.

Also aren't you forgetting the fact that they hardly got to fly because of fuel shortages ? I'd say that nomatter how superior your a/c might be then it aint gonna do much good just sitting on the ground

That however still doesn't change the fact that the Me-262 was the best fighter to see service during WW2.