Best Fighter Aircraft of WW2

[crusader377]

Since we had a good discussion on the best tank of WW2. I wanted to make a post on what in your opinion is the best fighter aircraft of WW2. I will have ten choices again and you can make two votes. Here are my thoughts:


1) Spitfire: Won the Battle of Britain, excellent dogfighter, good speed and climb rate, maintained its status as a top fighter throughout the war from 1939 to 1945. Widely built, served worldwide.


2) P-51 Mustang: Was able to escort allied bombers deep into the heart of Germany allowing the allies to substanially damage the German war effort and shorten the war. Also used in the the Pacific to escort B-29s into Japan. Good to excellent all-round performance, widely produced.


Honorable mention: ME-262. First operational jet fighter, pointed the way forward in aviation design, most innovative fighter, however too little to late.

Sorry is mispelled Spitfire in post.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

The amazing thing is how much these models changed (spitfire, 190, P51, P47 especially) and their relative advantage over contemporary aircraft.

Hard not to go with the P51 as the best and most influential- and served all over- but if it is my ass in the cockpit and I want to maximize my ability to put the smack down AND bring my but home? P47N- all day everyday.

[crusader377]

The amazing thing is how much these models changed (spitfire, 190, P51, P47 especially) and their relative advantage over contemporary aircraft.

Hard not to go with the P51 as the best and most influential- and served all over- but if it is my ass in the cockpit and I want to maximize my ability to put the smack down AND bring my but home? P47N- all day everyday.

Although my vote was P-51 and Spitfire, if I had to pick which aircraft to fly it would probably be a P-47N with a Spitfire Mark XIV a close second.


This is an interesting read from someone who flew 400 different planes including most if not all of the WW2 fighters as a test pilot.

https://www.historynet.com/incredible-winkle-brown.htm

[Alex V]

FW190, versatile, rugger, well armed and armored.

[chuckman]

Man, these are tough superlatives. The F4U I think was the all-around fastest (yes, a wee bit slower overall than the P-47, but the P-47 could only be fast at high altitudes); the war's top ace had 352 kills in a BF-109, and it did all-service roles (recon, attack, fighter, etc.).; the A6M was super light and very maneuverable; the Spitfire was probably the most rugged; P-38 had the top 2 US kill records, was fast, had the fastest climb record, and had a crazy range; the P-51 with the Rolls Royce engine had a ceiling of 40,000 feet and nearly 500 mph.

Oh...choices, choices....

[crusader377]

Man, these are tough superlatives. The F4U I think was the all-around fastest (yes, a wee bit slower overall than the P-47, but the P-47 could only be fast at high altitudes); the war's top ace had 352 kills in a BF-109, and it did all-service roles (recon, attack, fighter, etc.).; the A6M was super light and very maneuverable; the Spitfire was probably the most rugged; P-38 had the top 2 US kill records, was fast, had the fastest climb record, and had a crazy range; the P-51 with the Rolls Royce engine had a ceiling of 40,000 feet and nearly 500 mph.

Oh...choices, choices....

There were at least 5 or 6 other historically or performance significant aircraft I wanted to add in the list but couldn't so I had to narrow it down to 10. Plus I wanted to have at least 1 aircraft from each of the 5 major powers. USA, Britain, USSR, Germany, and Japan. Off the top of my head the runner ups were the following:

P-38
F4U Corsair
La-5 and La-7
Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Tempest
J2M Raiden
P-40

[titsonritz]

Lockheed P-38 Lighting, the fork-tailed devil. It avenged Pearl Harbor and took out Yamamoto, also gave Charles Lindbergh, a civilian, his combat kill.

[gunnerblue]

P38 Lightning because of its versatility. Fighter plane that was also used for bombing, escort and recon

FW 190 was a pretty formidable fighter on its own.

Surprised no one has mentioned the Zero yet and it's maneuverability

[crusader377]

Another interesting thing was the relative costs between each aircraft. I did a quick google search for the American fighters of WW2 and here are the prices. Some numbers are ranges.

P-40: $44,000-$53,000
P-39: $51,000 in 1944
P-51: $51,000-$55,000
F6F Hellcat: $50K-$60K Estimate (Navy could buy 5 Hellcats for the price of 3 Corsairs)
P-47: $85,000
F4U: Corsair $88,000
P-38: $100,000 to 110,0000

When you look at costs, you can see why the P-51 and the F6F Hellcat were so widely fielded and how the P-40 stayed around for so long even though the P-38 was available from 1942 and the P-47 from 1943. Also why the P-39 was a popular lend-lease aircraft throughout the war particularly with the Soviet Union.

[soulezoo]

A lot of myths I see here perpetuated.

Anyway, what's the mission? What altitude? What's the opposition? What version of aircraft?

These sorts of polls can be maddening.

Do I choose the P-51? Which one? A,B,C,D or H? Mustang I, II, or III? How about an Apache?

Corsair? Before or after canvas ailerons and elevator? With MG or cannon? -1, -4 or FG?

P-38... before or after cockpit heat, boosted ailerons and 2nd generator? And that "fork tailed devil"... gtfo with that crap. That was made up by author Martin Caiden to help sell his books. Germans just called it a Lightning.

FW-190... radial (A-8 for instance) or long nose? (D-9, D-13)

Spitfire? I, V, IX, XIV, XIX, and every other Roman number known to man? Which engine? Merlin or Griffin? And who the hell said it was rugged? It was demonstrably one of the more fragile aircraft made. Like the Zero, lightly constructed (not to the degree of the Zero though). The aircraft first built in 1936 bore scant resemblance to the one built in 1945. Different engine, different armament, completely different wing, modified fuselage... and etc.

Bf-109? Had a similar career path as the Spitfire. Both the 109 and Spitfire had horrible range.

The Hellcat had the best kill ratio and was very easy to fly and a stable gun platform.

Here's my take- a lot of these aircraft are pretty close and the difference is the skill of the pilot who can take advantage of his opponents weaknesses. A P39 was a decent aircraft until you went above 12000 ft. A FW 190A good to about 20000. Spitfire? Which model? One that flew well from 15-25000 ft was not good above that. The one that were good above that weren't as good below. Fighting conditions in the Pacific were very different than that of Europe which were quite different again in the Eastern Front and that differed from the tropics or N. Africa.

Pick your poison.

If I had a choice, it'd be a PBY traipsing around Key West carrying passengers.