What do you think was the better fighter of its time

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please try a little harder on your polls please, I vote for the F20

For it's time, the P-51 was far more important than the F-16 was for it's own time.

So... Your comparing two totally different time eras, I guess I'll go with the P-51

Xdominick97 said:

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A better comparison would have been P-51 vs. F-15, because both were almost pure air superiority fighter designs. The F-16 was a low-cost, 1-engine supplement to the F-15, although it was a terrific plane in its own right.

The F-16 development and design was unique in both its objectives and the role expansion capabilities over time. It was the first USAF air superiority fighter developed for that purpose since the F-86 - a 30 year lag. While the Soviets developed fighters we were developing 'weapon systems'. Even the USN fell into the trap after the F-8.

The F-15 was much bigger simply because the long range, high powered radar required a large dish and ate energy ravenously.

The F-16 (and F-15) comparatively speaking was a very 'hot' climber and turner and energy manueverability hound with both internal 20mm and excellent air to air (finally entering a reliable phase of maturity) missiles.

The P-51 was designed to fly fast, turn and climb - but perhaps never outperforming more specialized fighters. It was an all purpose machine that matured into the long range/high altitude air superiority fighter by virtue of finding the right engine to maximize its inherent aerodynamic performance - while the F-16 was that from the beginning, and it matured into a capable strike fighter.