YAFT: Best WWII fighter?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

Shockwave

Banned
Sep 16, 2000
9,059
0
0
Supermarine Spitfire?
Hawker Hurricane?
Focke Wulf FW190?
Messerschmitt ME109?
Mitsubishi A5M Claude (Zero)?
Vought F4U Corsair?
Republic P47 Thunderbolt?
North Amercian P51 Mustang?
Grumman F6F Hellcat?
Other?
 
C

Calin

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2001
3,112
0
0
The limit is "every plane that saw fighting in WW2"?
Can you out the P38 Lightning into the list?

Calin
 
S

Shockwave

Banned
Sep 16, 2000
9,059
0
0
Originally posted by: Calin
The limit is "every plane that saw fighting in WW2"?
Can you out the P38 Lightning into the list? the latest versions (P38-F) was quite a multirole fighter

Calin
Click to expand...

Sure, any prop driven plane that saw action in WWII
 
GasX

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
29,033
6
81
Spitfire

or

P38 Lightning


As sexy as the thought of the ME262 jet fighter is, they were frequently shot down by spitfires. They were too few, too unreliable and their range sucked ass
 
D

Doboji

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
7,912
0
76
Spitfire... Most maneuverable capable fighter plane in WWII, held the battle of britain, and won the war.
 
preslove

preslove

Lifer
Sep 10, 2003
16,754
64
91
The Mustang, of course. If you know anything about the airwar, then you know that when the Mustangs came in and started protecting the bomber convoys, it broke the Luftwaffe's back.
 
GasX

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
29,033
6
81
Originally posted by: preslove
The Mustang, of course. If you know anything about the airwar, then you know that when the Mustangs came in and started protecting the bomber convoys, it broke the Luftwaffe's back.
Click to expand...
If you know anything about the airwar then you know that there was an unending supply of well maintained and fully fueled mustangs and an ever diminishing supply of german planes, parts, pilots and fuel... It wasn't all about the plane (not that it wasn't an awesome piece of machinery...)

somewhat related note: The tuskegee airmen were integral in this part of the war and amassed an exemplary record
 
K

Kenazo

Lifer
Sep 15, 2000
10,429
1
81
good thread. :)

I think, based on very introductory reading that if the Germans had focused more of their energies on developing their jet fighters, the war might have lasted quite a bit longer. The ME-262 had been made already quite early in the war, but hitler wanted it built to be a bomber, iirc. If he had rather insisted on resources being pumped into developing these jet fighters, who knows what might have happened. The Gotha Go229 (there was another name for it, can't remember right now) was quite capable, just never got finished by the end of the war.
 
Amused

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
57,091
18,588
146
Without a doubt, it was the P51-D Mustang. This plane, by far, had the most influence on the outcome of the war and outclassed every prop driven fighter to date. Hell, it's still a favorite among air racers today.

Though the P38 is my fav just because it's cool and unique.
 
T

Taggart

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2001
4,384
0
0
Whatever the best jet fighter was. So probably the ME 262.

I will happily dogfight any of you and your prop planes with an ME 262 :)
 
D

DurocShark

Lifer
Apr 18, 2001
15,708
5
56
The P51-D was the best, but the ME 109 and Spitfire (various versions) had more impact on the war's outcome.

The 262 came too late and in too few numbers to have any effect, and aside from speed, was a piece of sh!t.
 
K

kaizersose

Golden Member
May 15, 2003
1,196
0
76
Originally posted by: Taggart
Whatever the best jet fighter was. So probably the ME 262.

I will happily dogfight any of you and your prop planes with an ME 262 :)
Click to expand...

this plane was far and away the best fighter in the war. the only way the p-51 could keep up with it was in a dive. it also had far more powerful armament than anything else around. if there were enough qaulified pilots to fly them and they had been produced as fighters instead of bombers (as hitler personally ordered), they very likely could have dominated the skies over europe.
 
T

Taggart

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2001
4,384
0
0
Originally posted by: DurocShark

The 262...aside from speed, was a piece of sh!t.
Click to expand...

Right, that's why the Allies used all the captured 262's for developing their jet aircraft programs ;)
 
GagHalfrunt

GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,284
1,997
126
It's hard to quantify "best" as they all had strengths and weaknesses. Which one would win a head-to-head matchup would depend largely on the skills of the pilot rather than the plane itself. The 3 most important planes in order were:

1) Spitfire - No other plane can be credited with saving an entire country and perhaps even a continent. If the Brits had a fighter only slightly less capable they would have lost the Battle of Britain quickly and Germany might have had England crushed before we got involved in the war. No American bases in England = no D-Day. Taking back Europe would have been a major bitch.

2) Grumman F6F Hellcat - In the early days of the war we were getting our butts kicked all over the Pacific because we didn't have a plane that was close to standing up to the Zero. As soon as the Hellcat made it to the fleet the war in the Pacific was essentially over. The Hellcat was as fast as the Zero, almost as agile and it was a flying tank. It could absorb punishment that woyuld have downed a dozen lesser planes and still keep flying. The Japanese had no answer to it. By the time the sexier, better looking planes like the P-38 and the Corsair entered the war the outcome was already determined. The Hellcat is the plane that beat Japan.

3) P-51 Mustang - We would have beat Germany anyway. At that point our manufacturing capabilities were too strong and we could outproduce them 100-1 on planes, tanks and ships. Eventually we would have ground them down in a war of attrition. But the quicker we knocked out their industry deep inside Germany the more lives that would be saved. The Mustang is the plane that made it possible.
 
F

Feldenak

Lifer
Jan 31, 2003
14,090
2
81
The ability of the P-51s to escort the bombers on their deep run raids into German industrial complexes had the most impact on the final result of the ETO...but damn the P-38 was a sexy looking aircraft. :)

Edit: But I have to give credit to the Spitfire....without that aircraft those bombing runs into Germany wouldn't have been possible.
 
D

Doboji

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
7,912
0
76
The P-51 wasnt as good a dogfighter as the Spitfire... the advantage it had was strictly it's range. It was able to escort bombers far further into enemy territory than any other fighter to date. The spitfire was however the better fighter within it's range.

The Corsair was the best carrier based fighter plane. But it wasn't up to par with either the Spitfire or the P-51 otherwise.

the Me 262 was only fast... it wasn't effective. It wasn't very maneuverable, it was more like a prototype... in a few years the Germans could have created the best fighter of the war BASED on the 262... but the 262 itself was not.

-Max
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom