What is your best WW2 AirCraft?

[DTS]

My top 5 would be..
1.North American P-51(USA)
2.Yak-9(USSR)
3.Fw-190D-(GER)
4.SpitFire(BRIT)
5.Bf-109(GER)

 

[Electric Amish]

Gotta go with the F4U Corsair, myself.

Also gotta love the P38 Lightning.

amish

 

[StageLeft]

I don't actually own one

 

[NFS4]

P-51, no contest

 

[chansen]

Depends what you call "best".

For overall design, with variants in most every stage of the European and North African theatres of the war and some even making it to the Pacific, I would argue heavily in favour of the Spitfire. It also wins hands-down in the aesthetics department. A prettier plane has never been produced. Ever.

Regards,
Craig

 

[Windogg]

P-47N. Not as maneuverable as the P-51 but IMHO its one of the best all around aircraft and my favorite. The "N" version had very long range (which is what make the P-51 famous). It could hold its own in a dogfight and when it couldn't, the ole Jug would just dive it way to safety. Any ememy unfortunate enough to get in the front of the 8 .50 Browning would be instantly shredded.

As a ground pounder it huge air cooled engine could take punisment and then some. I read in a Time-Life piecw about a P-47 with its engine cowl shot away along with a chunk of the engine. Those big cylinders were still running like there was nothing wrong. One little nick in the coolant hose of a P-51 and the plane was a goner. If its 2000lb of bombs or 8 rockets didn't take out the target. They would have to face the angry machine guns. If they couldn't take out the tank, they just shot the ground around it until the Panzer rolled into a newly created ditch.

P-47 Thunderbolt for me.

Windogg

 

[thebestMAX]

Favorites are:

P-38 Lightning
Corsair
P-51 Mustang
Spitfire

Not necessarily in order or the best aircraft, just my favorites. Which one do I want to fly? Spitfire.

Have you ever seen any of these up close or sat in the cockpit? Those people were real heros. And dont tell me they just didnt know any better!!!

 

[JoeBaD]

2nd the P-47 Thunderbolt.

My dad drove a Hellcat Tank Destroyer during the war and he says there was no plane the ground troops liked more than the Thunderbolts.

 

[dennilfloss]

1. P47-M 'Hot-Rod' Thunderbolt. The fastest piston-engined fighter and the only one able to reach over 500mph (in fact 504mph/811kph) in level flight. Also nimble for its size, with excellent range, heavily armed and capable of taking tremendous punishment. My choice.

2.Focke-Wulf Ta-152H-1.

3.Vought F4U-4 Corsair. (I'd prefer the postwar definitive F4U-7)

4. Supermarine Spitfire F. 22 (actually, I'd prefer the definitive version, the Seafire Fr. Mk.47 but it's postwar)

5. Hawker Sea Fury Mk. 10

6. Nakajima Ki-84-III Hayate

Why Can't We Be friends? (War)

 

[thebestMAX]

Yeah, Yeah,

The Thunderbolt, how could I leave that one out.

Too much scotch, if that is possible.

 

[DaBoneHead]

European side,

P-38 is my all time favorite... 'Twin-tailed devil' as the germans called it.

Strange we didn't use them that much in the tank destroying role, the Russians used a good number of them in that very role with great success.

The mosquito was cool, esecially with the 39mm gun in the nose

The B25 Mitchell has so many variants, including one with a 75mm gun in the nose! that I have to give it honorable mention here. That was one cool plane.


Pacific side, I like the Vought F-4U Corsair... A.K.A. 'The Ensign Eliminator'. So dubbed because it was tricky to fly, and so tended to be tough on the new guys. Hellcats were cool too.

 

[Czar]

Spitfire without doubt.

 

[tom3]

B-17 Flying fortress

 

[Windogg]

The P-38s were not successful in Eurpoe because of the maintainace problems associated with their turbosuperchargers. They didn't like the cold, damp Europeon weather. The Pacific was a different story where they totally outclassed the Japanese. The twin engine are a pretty reassuring thing when you are hundreds of miles from land.

Windogg

 

[gregshin]

always like the Dauntless SBD's....Slow But Deadly...or was it silent but deadly? for reals tho

F4U Corsair

 

[Windogg]

The SBDs are "Slow But Deadlies" which was better than being a "Son of A Bitch, Second Class" or SBC Helldiver.

Windogg

 

[Ian Cunningham]

Supermarine Spitfire, no contest at all Eyecandy and an ass kicker, all in one

 

[dan-o]

me-262 by far. Of course the engines only lasted 25 hours or so. Good thing for the rest of the world it came to late into the war to do any good for the nazis.

Of course, Chuck Yeager was able to blast one out of the sky in his slow p-51.

 

[DaBoneHead]

Interesting stat...

An F-4U Corsair shot down a MIG-15 during the Korean war... Not that the Chinese or Koreans were very good pilots. I read that tidbit of info while reading a book on WWII aircraft...

 

[kami]

P51 and P38 of course...

anyone ever play Jane's WWII Fighters? You get to fly all of these. Machinegun dogfights are damn fun

 

[Ausm]

I would have to say the P-51 mustang was the Best fighter followed Closely by the FW-190

 

[gregshin]

hmm i thought the russkies we're flying the MIGs in Corea...which by the way is the orignal spelling for my country =) just my 2 cents

 

[Wangel]

Japanese Zero

 

[pen^2]

didnt zero have best manuverability amongst all of them? of course that says nothing about their armor plating...

 

[Pacfanweb]

Chuck Yeager flew all the fighters after the war, and says the P-51 was the best; the only one even close was the Focke-Wolfe(sp?Wulf 190.
My personal favorite since I was a kid was the F4U Corsair. Anyone ever watch Baa-Baa Black Sheep?
You can't disregard the P-38 since the top scoring American ace of all time, Dick Bong, flew one.
Spitfires are pretty, and famous because of the Battle of Britain, but are outclassed by the Mustang.

The F8F Bearcat was probably the ultimate in piston engine fighter development, it broke all the performance records as I recall, but unfortunately came out at the end of the war and didn't see combat.