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Thread: Best Fighter Aircraft ever built. Top 5

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by chuckman View Post
    I will throw out the F-14, not so much because of what it can do (as a marvelous aircraft), but because of what it was built to do. Just as the A-10 was built around the gun, the F-14 was built around the Phoenix, and once operational it totally changed Warsaw Pact naval doctrine in fleet defense and naval offensive strategy.

    Oh yeah, also because Top Gun...(cue Kenny Loggins)...
    The F-14 is one of my favorite aircraft although I don't think it would make the top 5 because we will never truly know how effective it was in combat. The Iranians claim well over 100 kills with the Tomcat for minimal losses in air combat but getting the 100% truth about that is difficult.

  2. #12
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    There has never been anything airborne on this planet like the Raptor. Nothing has ever come close to its capabilities. There is nothing in existence right now that can touch it.

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by crusader377 View Post
    The F-14 is one of my favorite aircraft although I don't think it would make the top 5 because we will never truly know how effective it was in combat. The Iranians claim well over 100 kills with the Tomcat for minimal losses in air combat but getting the 100% truth about that is difficult.
    Heretic! Heretic!!

    I kid. It is one my fave, too. The US is 4-0 with the F-14 though (Libya 1981, 1989). I agree re: Iran, I trust 0% of what the Iranians say.

    The only reason I could put on a list of superlatives is because it caused the USSR/Warsaw Pact to entirely rewrite it's doctrine.

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by chuckman View Post
    Heretic! Heretic!!

    I kid. It is one my fave, too. The US is 4-0 with the F-14 though (Libya 1981, 1989). I agree re: Iran, I trust 0% of what the Iranians say.

    The only reason I could put on a list of superlatives is because it caused the USSR/Warsaw Pact to entirely rewrite it's doctrine.

    The F-14 was never really given the development opportunities to prove what it could really do. Remember the F-14A which accounted for nearly 90% of the F-14 production, the F-14A was initially intended as an interium aircraft. It had the TF30 engines which gave the plane problems throughout its career. The F-14D and to a lesser extent the F-14B with new engines changed the F-14 into the plane it was meant to be all along.

    F-14A> F-14 B/D

    In contrast the F-15 went through 4 generations of development changes.

    F-15A > F-15C > F-15E > Advanced F-15 (F-15SA, F-15QA, and F-15EX)

    If you evaluated the F-15 solely on the F-15A, it probably wouldn't make the top 5 plane list either.
    Last edited by crusader377; 06-23-21 at 12:10.

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by CPM View Post
    There has never been anything airborne on this planet like the Raptor. Nothing has ever come close to its capabilities. There is nothing in existence right now that can touch it.
    The F-22 by raw performance and capabilities is the most capable air to air fighter ever built. However, it will probably never see real combat and in many ways is a developmental dead end although to be fair that was largely due to political reasons by both the Bush and Obama administrations which capped F-22 production to under 200 aircraft. Ironically the cost of the F-22 was dropping when the program was cut. If the Airforce was allowed to buy several hundred more like it wanted and if they exported it to a few select nations, the F-22 probably would have been a successful repeat of the F-15 but now it looks like the F-15 will probably outlast its replacement the F-22 in service.

  6. #16
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    There's probably a few that, while not the best, deserve honorable mention:

    Japanese A6M Zero

    Focke-Wulf 190D (and Ta-152 series)

    Eurofighter Typhoon

    Vought F4U Corsair

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by crusader377 View Post
    The F-14 was never really given the development opportunities to prove what it could really do. Remember the F-14A which accounted for nearly 90% of the F-14A was initially intended as an interium aircraft. It had the TF30 engines which gave the plane problems throughout its career. The F-14D and to a lesser extent the F-14B with new engines changed the F-14 into the plane it was meant to be all along.

    F-14A> F-14 B/D

    In contrast the F-15 went through 4 generations of development changes.

    F-15A > F-15C > F-15E > Advanced F-15 (F-15SA, F-15QA, and F-15EX)

    If you evaluated the F-15 solely on the F-15A, it probably wouldn't make the top 5 plane list either.
    Yep.

    Check Ward Carroll's F-14 vids on YouTube. Former RIO and author, he has many videos about aviation in general but also the F-14 specifically.

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by crusader377 View Post
    The F-14 was never really given the development opportunities to prove what it could really do. Remember the F-14A which accounted for nearly 90% of the F-14A was initially intended as an interium aircraft. It had the TF30 engines which gave the plane problems throughout its career. The F-14D and to a lesser extent the F-14B with new engines changed the F-14 into the plane it was meant to be all along.

    F-14A> F-14 B/D

    In contrast the F-15 went through 4 generations of development changes.

    F-15A > F-15C > F-15E > Advanced F-15 (F-15SA, F-15QA, and F-15EX)

    If you evaluated the F-15 solely on the F-15A, it probably wouldn't make the top 5 plane list either.
    But then again, the F-14 never evolved (or was never evolved) like the rest of the Teen series. You think about where the -15, -16 and -18 series started and what they became over the long run even before the F-14 was "replaced."

    The crazy thing is, the F-14 and A-10 are a lot alike in many ways. Both were designed around a specific weapon system and for a singular purpose. The A-10 around the GAU-8 and smashing the hell out of Soviet armor and the F-14 around the AWG-9 and the AIM-54 system to smash the hell out of Soviet bombers coming after our fleet.

    The main difference was after the Soviet threat went away, the A-10 was still needed for CAS while the F-14 didn't have a clear purpose any more and they'd already developed the F/A-18 into what they needed. Oh, sure, the F-14s dropped a few bombs in Desert Storm, but what was the F-14 doing that the -18 couldn't do just as well or better in regards to moving mud?

    It really was overtaken by world events and left without a clear purpose. It was a remarkable fighter for it's time especially in regards to how far out it could shoot, but the design itself wasn't easily adapted and that's why they are currently sitting at Davis-Monthan gathering dust.
    Experience is a cruel teacher, gives the exam first and then the lesson.

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    Well, the F-14 did go back in time and splash a couple Japanese Zeroes.

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slater View Post
    Well, the F-14 did go back in time and splash a couple Japanese Zeroes.
    Certainly not Captain Sulu's finest moment. He was way better in a Huey.
    Experience is a cruel teacher, gives the exam first and then the lesson.

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