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What is/was the most important military aircraft?

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Originally posted by: SuperGroove
well, I believe the B-29, in particular the Enola Gay, to be one of the most important military aircraft of all time.

Sucks.
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I agree. Had a terrible purpouse, but was probably the most significant military flight of all time.


 
P-51, sentimental favorite. Before the Brits get here, just be aware that it didn't reach it's true potential until the Allison V12 was replaced; with the excellent Rolls Royce Merlin V12.
That were also made by Packard under license..
Me-109, adapted and modified to do so many operations.

Blackbird [can't remember#] , very sophisticated, good history & difficult to retire.
 
Me-262 Probably the best fighter used in WW2 and the first jet fighter. This model would later lead to all those nice other planes we now have.
 
IL-2 Sturmovik. Most successful ground attack bird of WWII. Most mass produced plane in history.

A flying tank, several german aces write of watching their cannon shells bounce off IL-2's.

IL-2s could carry huge amounts of weapons, and could suffer amazing amounts of damage. An IL-2 pilot writes of having a bomb on his wing explode in flight. . . and the wing remaining attached. Also, meter-sized holes in the wing would not down one.

P-51 was just escort, and its only stellar characteristic was its range.

The 262 was too late and not mass produced enough to seriously affect the outcome.

The IL-2 first saw action in 1941 and remained the mainstay of the soviet bomber force for the duration of the war.

There really is no contest.

without it, the ussr could have fallen, and the other allies would have to face a germany that could concentrate on only one front.
 
The F-16. It's The WORLD's standard fighter.

Also, doesn't the F-15 have a perfect combat record? So that one would be a candidate too.
 
Originally posted by: Justin218
Maybe the spitfire. It helped win the battle of britain. If hitler took britain things would have been drastically different.
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the hurricane did so much more in the BoB than the spitfire.

Heh, when they had the big airshow at the end of the war, the Hurricanes got to lead it . . . which PO'd the spitfire pilots because the Spitfire was about 100000 times faster than a hurricane.
 
Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
IL-2 Sturmovik. Most successful ground attack bird of WWII. Most mass produced plane in history.

A flying tank, several german aces write of watching their cannon shells bounce off IL-2's.

IL-2s could carry huge amounts of weapons, and could suffer amazing amounts of damage. An IL-2 pilot writes of having a bomb on his wing explode in flight. . . and the wing remaining attached. Also, meter-sized holes in the wing would not down one.

P-51 was just escort, and its only stellar characteristic was its range.

The 262 was too late and not mass produced enough to seriously affect the outcome.

The IL-2 first saw action in 1941 and remained the mainstay of the soviet bomber force for the duration of the war.

There really is no contest.

without it, the ussr could have fallen, and the other allies would have to face a germany that could concentrate on only one front.
Click to expand...

Jesus christ you are stupid.
 
Originally posted by: CFster
I agree. Had a terrible purpouse, but was probably the most significant military flight of all time.
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My dad's friend was the pilot. He said he went insane after he saw pics of what happened.
 
Originally posted by: Chaotic42

B-52 Stratofortress: Nuclear capable, huge, built like a tank, and fast. It was far superior to anything the Soviet Union had, it's still in service and will be until at least 2040.
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It wasn't "far superior'. it was a little faster than the bear, with slightly larger payload and slightly higher ceiling.. and probably 20x the price 😉

Tu-95

but, i guess that doesn't really matter anyways, because the Tu-160 owns them both. (although.. it is from a later era..)
Tu-160
 
Originally posted by: Excelsior
Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
IL-2 Sturmovik. Most successful ground attack bird of WWII. Most mass produced plane in history.

A flying tank, several german aces write of watching their cannon shells bounce off IL-2's.

IL-2s could carry huge amounts of weapons, and could suffer amazing amounts of damage. An IL-2 pilot writes of having a bomb on his wing explode in flight. . . and the wing remaining attached. Also, meter-sized holes in the wing would not down one.

P-51 was just escort, and its only stellar characteristic was its range.

The 262 was too late and not mass produced enough to seriously affect the outcome.

The IL-2 first saw action in 1941 and remained the mainstay of the soviet bomber force for the duration of the war.

There really is no contest.

without it, the ussr could have fallen, and the other allies would have to face a germany that could concentrate on only one front.
Click to expand...

Jesus christ you are stupid.
Click to expand...

And you are smart? Do you know anything about WWII aircraft other than the classic american dogma (Mustang won the war!)?

I think, perhaps, that you should bother to know something before you post it.

The P-51 was a good aircraft. It was no stellar. At altitude, the Me-262 is much better. The P-51 stalled very easily and viciously, due to the new laminar flow airefoil. It was absolutely worthless at a turnfight. In addition, it could hardly take any damage before its engine quite. the 6 50's it carried were good, but the 190's the Germans flew could withstand a hail of machine gun fire and generally keep flying. A single Mk. 108 cannon round, however, would rip a P-51 to shreds. Most late-war FW-190's carried two Mk. 108 cannons. The Me-262 had four Mk. 108's.

In addition, the 51's only duty was to escort B-17's and other assorted bombers. If either of the two wins 'most important,' it is the fortress. The P-51 was not so terrible to the german pilots, the only problem was that there were so damn many of them.


I'm saying that I think the Sturmovik was the most influential aircraft in the most infleuntial war of modern times, and I think I have evidence on my side. I could go look up production figures for you . . .

It was a tank, it outdid the Stuka in every way. They were nearly impossible to shoot down. They were fast for a bomber. They had enough range to get to a target and back. They could weather direct AA shell hits. There were thousands and thousands of them. They helped the Soveits turn the ground war back on the Germans.

I can't think of any other A/C that influenced history as much as the IL-2.

So, to retaliate in kind: No, YOU'RE stupid!

troll.
 
Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Originally posted by: Excelsior
Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
IL-2 Sturmovik. Most successful ground attack bird of WWII. Most mass produced plane in history.

A flying tank, several german aces write of watching their cannon shells bounce off IL-2's.

IL-2s could carry huge amounts of weapons, and could suffer amazing amounts of damage. An IL-2 pilot writes of having a bomb on his wing explode in flight. . . and the wing remaining attached. Also, meter-sized holes in the wing would not down one.

P-51 was just escort, and its only stellar characteristic was its range.

The 262 was too late and not mass produced enough to seriously affect the outcome.

The IL-2 first saw action in 1941 and remained the mainstay of the soviet bomber force for the duration of the war.

There really is no contest.

without it, the ussr could have fallen, and the other allies would have to face a germany that could concentrate on only one front.
Click to expand...

Jesus christ you are stupid.
Click to expand...

And you are smart? Do you know anything about WWII aircraft other than the classic american dogma (Mustang won the war!)?

I think, perhaps, that you should bother to know something before you post it.

The P-51 was a good aircraft. It was no stellar. At altitude, the Me-262 is much better. The P-51 stalled very easily and viciously, due to the new laminar flow airefoil. It was absolutely worthless at a turnfight. In addition, it could hardly take any damage before its engine quite. the 6 50's it carried were good, but the 190's the Germans flew could withstand a hail of machine gun fire and generally keep flying. A single Mk. 108 cannon round, however, would rip a P-51 to shreds. Most late-war FW-190's carried two Mk. 108 cannons. The Me-262 had four Mk. 108's.

In addition, the 51's only duty was to escort B-17's and other assorted bombers. If either of the two wins 'most important,' it is the fortress. The P-51 was not so terrible to the german pilots, the only problem was that there were so damn many of them.


I'm saying that I think the Sturmovik was the most influential aircraft in the most infleuntial war of modern times, and I think I have evidence on my side. I could go look up production figures for you . . .

It was a tank, it outdid the Stuka in every way. They were nearly impossible to shoot down. They were fast for a bomber. They had enough range to get to a target and back. They could weather direct AA shell hits. There were thousands and thousands of them. They helped the Soveits turn the ground war back on the Germans.

I can't think of any other A/C that influenced history as much as the IL-2.

So, to retaliate in kind: No, YOU'RE stupid!

troll.
Click to expand...

I pretty much agree with you. Also, one of the most revolutionary aircraft of all time was the Me-163. First rocket powered aircraft, and all modern aircraft owe certain deign cues to it (swept wings anyone?).
 
Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Originally posted by: Excelsior
Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
IL-2 Sturmovik. Most successful ground attack bird of WWII. Most mass produced plane in history.

A flying tank, several german aces write of watching their cannon shells bounce off IL-2's.

IL-2s could carry huge amounts of weapons, and could suffer amazing amounts of damage. An IL-2 pilot writes of having a bomb on his wing explode in flight. . . and the wing remaining attached. Also, meter-sized holes in the wing would not down one.

P-51 was just escort, and its only stellar characteristic was its range.

The 262 was too late and not mass produced enough to seriously affect the outcome.

The IL-2 first saw action in 1941 and remained the mainstay of the soviet bomber force for the duration of the war.

There really is no contest.

without it, the ussr could have fallen, and the other allies would have to face a germany that could concentrate on only one front.
Click to expand...

Jesus christ you are stupid.
Click to expand...

And you are smart? Do you know anything about WWII aircraft other than the classic american dogma (Mustang won the war!)?

I think, perhaps, that you should bother to know something before you post it.

The P-51 was a good aircraft. It was no stellar. At altitude, the Me-262 is much better. The P-51 stalled very easily and viciously, due to the new laminar flow airefoil. It was absolutely worthless at a turnfight. In addition, it could hardly take any damage before its engine quite. the 6 50's it carried were good, but the 190's the Germans flew could withstand a hail of machine gun fire and generally keep flying. A single Mk. 108 cannon round, however, would rip a P-51 to shreds. Most late-war FW-190's carried two Mk. 108 cannons. The Me-262 had four Mk. 108's.

In addition, the 51's only duty was to escort B-17's and other assorted bombers. If either of the two wins 'most important,' it is the fortress. The P-51 was not so terrible to the german pilots, the only problem was that there were so damn many of them.


I'm saying that I think the Sturmovik was the most influential aircraft in the most infleuntial war of modern times, and I think I have evidence on my side. I could go look up production figures for you . . .

It was a tank, it outdid the Stuka in every way. They were nearly impossible to shoot down. They were fast for a bomber. They had enough range to get to a target and back. They could weather direct AA shell hits. There were thousands and thousands of them. They helped the Soveits turn the ground war back on the Germans.

I can't think of any other A/C that influenced history as much as the IL-2.

So, to retaliate in kind: No, YOU'RE stupid!

troll.
Click to expand...

No, I just wanted you to respond exactly like you did. Thanks.

 
Probably the Spitfire, without it there was no way the British could have won the Battle of Britain.

Edit: Hurricanes bore the brunt of German attacks, but, if it wasn't for the Spitfire, which was all around a pretty excellent plane, I don't believe the British would have had enough aircraft to succesfully fend off the Germans. Hurricanes dropped like flies against German attacks.
 
I still don't see why you wanted me to respond like that . . . I makes no sense.

Anywho, we seem to have lots of interest here, so I will say it:

And WWII Aviation buffs, go buy IL-2 Sturmovik: The Forgotten Battles (www.il2sturmovik.com)

You will quickly learn that yes, German aircraft were superior early in the war, although the sides more or less evened out later. You will see Hurricanes dropping like flies against Messerschmidts, and Fockke-Wolfs. You will get to fly escort to B-17's in the classic P-51. You will get to go tank-busting in the IL-2. And everything. They have a list of flyable planes over at the site, and I don't even remember them all. The coolest part is that they have the whole Finnland vs. USSR front modeled, bit the B-239's flying againts Soviet I-16's . . classic old school warplane fun. You also see flukes like american and british planes flying next to german A/C to beat out the soviets, who are also using some American aircraft.

Its a rush. Especially online.
 
the b17 was great. the P-51 was an amazing aircraft also one of the coolest looking around.

i have a great fascination for the A-10. that is an amazing aircraft. can fly with a wing partially blown off. heh. ugly but useful.
 
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