WW2 top ten planes

[CurzonDax]

I still think the Mossie XXX for the Allies and the Ju 88G-6 for the Luftwaffe as the best night fighters.

E ~

Agreed. But this in mind my fav is still the P-61 Black Widow. Sometimes I am a sucker for strangely shaped planes and the turret was the bomb. I know they had bad teething problems especially in the ETO but from what I have read they were loved by thier crews. Additionally, while they mostly fought over the Pacific the night fighter versions of the Corsair and Hellcat were pretty successful designs.

:{)

 

[pbfoot]

from a nationlistic point of view aircraft made in canada
hurricane x
mosquito fb26
lancaster x
bristol bolingbroke
noorduyn norseman
at6 harvard
ccf goblin
canadian vickers delta
helldiver

 

[cheddar cheese]

In no particular order, my list is something like this...

• Focke-Wulf Fw-190A
• Focke-Wulf Fw-190D
• Piaggio P.108
• Fiat G.50
• Fiat G.55
• Fiat Br.20
• Reggiane Re-2000
• Reggiane Re-2005
• Lockheed P-38 Lightning
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress

 

[trackend]

FW190
Dakota
Spitfire
ME262
P38
F4U

B29
Hurricane
ME109
JU52
Mossie

 

[cheddar cheese]

He loves the P-38 so much he put it twice.

 

[trackend]

Oh crap Ill take it off, Bleeding hell you dar'nt make a mistake on here it was only posted for 2 mins before I was pounced on.
There you go happy now CC ?

 

[cheddar cheese]

Im never happy.

 

[Gnomey]

So I have noticed...

 

[trackend]

To much Cheese and not enough sleep

 

[Gnomey]

trackend

 

[cheddar cheese]

To much Cheese and not enough sleep

Too much combining the two.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

To much cheese and not eneogh Cheddar.

 

[kleinnak]

I personally cannot decide on a list myself, but with all the talks of the ju 88s versatility, it's a crime to focus on just it and not the mosquito in the same respect. there's not a single role the ju 88 did that the mosquito could not do and did not do, and in fact did more. day and night bomber, day and night fighter/intruder, attack plane, anti-shipping, photo-reconnaissance, list goes on. admittedly it DID NOT get used in a similiar programs as the whack-headed mistel composites...but that was just rather dumb altogether. more desparation than practicality. although the biggest disservice is the lack of mention of the Halifax. true it didn't have the same amount of fame as the Lancaster, and didn't carry the same bomb-load, but it was all around a far more versatile plane. they used it for everything from transport, bomber, paratroops, pathfinding, electronic countermeasures, anti-submarine patrol, again the list goes on. gotta remember that best doesn't necessarily mean the most coverage and fame. afterall the spitfire is remembered as the plane of the "Few" but it was the hurricane that shot down more aircraft in the BoB than all other british fighters and anti-aircraft batteries combined. Just throwing that out there.

 

[P38 Pilot]

Wow... He has a point about the Mosquito.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

although i diassagree with him on the lanc being less versatile than the Halibag, the lanc did perform numerous anti-shipping roles post war, the only reason she didn't do it during the war was because bomber command was getting them all because they were in such high demand, Halibags weren't in such high demand so coastal command got a few...........

and on this site we all realise and regularly speak about the hurricane's achievements during the battle of britain.........

 

[P38 Pilot]

Okay new list: (No order)

1) P38L Lightning
2) B-17G Flying Fortress
3) P51D Mustang
4) Spitfire Mk.V
5) C-47 Dakota
6) ME-109E
7) FW-190D
8 ) Mosquito Mk.VI
9) B-25 Mitchelle
10) ME-262

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

although the biggest disservice is the lack of mention of the Halifax. true it didn't have the same amount of fame as the Lancaster, and didn't carry the same bomb-load, but it was all around a far more versatile plane. they used it for everything from transport, bomber, paratroops, pathfinding, electronic countermeasures, anti-submarine patrol, again the list goes on. gotta remember that best doesn't necessarily mean the most coverage and fame.

And how was the Halibag more versatile than the Lancaster. The Lancaster could do all that the Halibag did and do it better. As a matter of fact it did do more and better.

6) ME-109E

You do know that the ME-109E was actually a Bf-109E. The 109's never actually took the designation Me. I sometimes catch myself typing Me but it really is Bf.

 

[kleinnak]

okay, will concede i was a bit excessive on the halifax. and i wasn't implying the hurricane was being unnoticed on this site, i was just throwing that out as a common one i've seen over the years, shoulda been more specific there. i will admit that a bit of my own personal biases were coming through on that post, as my tastes in aircraft leans towards those that were good yet didn't get the fame. just got carried away from the mosquito part :-S. i'll watch that from now on.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

don't worry we all show bias, i for example think the lanc should win all the best fighter compititions, she's manouverable, carries allot of electronic warfare equiptment, heavy damage tollerance huge ammo count, but whenever i suggest it the big guys laugh at me

 

[kleinnak]

lol! there is merit in that, can't argue that about the lanc, however i personally would discard the .303s in exchange for .50s. my personal favorite plane of all time has to be a tie between the beaufighter and the p-47 (which made me feel really bad playing il-2:fb last night when i came across some while flying the ta 152 campaign :-S, i'd been really looking for some mustangs to blast instead *sad sigh*). though i'm stalwart in my stance that the mosquito should be right at the top of the list. the problem with a best aircraft of ww2 list is that frankly...aircraft roles in ww2 were so diverse, liason, light bombers, heavy bombers, fighters, attack planes, cargo planes, interceptors...and most planes were made to be the best at one to two roles. so for me, to pick a plane to be the "best" should be the planes that were not only extremely adaptable to many different roles, climates, etc, but excelled at many different roles and such. which to me means planes such as the mosquito, ju 88, lancaster, halifax, spitfire (some squadrons used them to ferry kegs of beer for pete's sakes) fw 190, p-47, B-24, the Yak series, and the Pe-2/3 series. although i have to say that hands down the best aircraft built for a specific purpose in the war had to be the fieseler storch for liason/artillery spotting. excellent visibility, decent speed for its size and power, actual defensive armament, incredible take-off/landing capabilities (rumour has it Fieseler himself could land them almost vertically in the right conditions :-S). but i can't count it as one of the best overall, as pretty much that was all it was good at. but it was definitely the best aircraft built to one purpose in my mind.