Me 163 was the rocket/manned SAM.
We really need another thread for worst/most screwed up fighter to actually get a kill.
Posted on 04/09/2009 2:29:15 PM PDT by mikeus_maximus
I know there are "seasoned" ex-military types on this board. I'd like your and anyone else's opinion on this topic. Every year of WWII saw improvements in aircraft development and performance-- so much so that what was state of the art at the beginning of the war, such as the Me 109 and Supermarine Spitfire, would have been death traps by the end, 6 years later.
For years I'd heard the P-51 Mustang was the ultimate WWII fighter. Then I read a quote from a former FockWulfe 190 pilot who said Mustangs were frail-- one bullet in the aluminum cowling and they went down. No one can deny their service record, though.
Other sources say the FW 190D was the best plane to come out of WWII. It was built on the same concept as the P-51-- take a good fighter, shoehorn in a huge bomber engine, and now you've got a great fighter. Except in this case it was a radial engine, which could lose one or two cyl. and keep on ticking (as opposed to the Mustang's inline engine).
Some say the Japanese "Frank" fighter produced near the end of the war was tops. Other have said the Russian YAK3 was.
Recently I heard that the F8F Bearcat was undoubtedly the best plane. Grumman took apart a captured FW 190 and made it better. The Bearcat was a plane deisgned from scratch around a huge radial engine, rather than vice versa. It was smaller, faster and more agile than any of the above. It had a production speed of 455 mph, a rate of climb twice that of a Mustang, and a ceiling almost as high. Is was delviered to the Navy in the Pacific theatre, but the war ended before it saw action, or it would have made its own legend. A few years later a modifed version set the airspeed record for piston planes at 528+ mph.
It gets my vote. Anyone else have an opinion?
When Goering saw P-51s over Berlin he said then that the war was lost.
American aerodynamics wrapped around a humongous gas tank with a British engine—not to mention the six .50s...
Strategically,the Mustang won hands down.
Here is a good read. My model is a midsize around 1/48, maybe 1/32 scale, I built it back in 1992, I have another thats much smaller at 1/72 scale.
I have yet to put together the ME262 “Swalbe” or a HUGE Fockwolf that can be built with clear body panels so you can see the engine and cannon details.
http://www.starksravings.com/p38/
Ah shucks it was nuttin'...
LOL!
The Spitfire has to be one of the best-looking airplanes ever made. Beautiful.
When P 51s try to either nail you on takeoff or landing, you’re the best.
That's what it was built for.
The Bearcat, would eat it for lunch however....
That was built as an interceptor also but later in the war.
The P-38 was great against Zeros but not good in a dive and had lousy engines.
It has always had my vote for Coolest Plane Ever.
The Lightning, Spitfire and Warhawk were great birds with an undeniable romance about them, The Thunderbolt and Hellcat were bar room brawlers, and the Zero and the 109 were swashbuckling aristocrats. I do love WWII warbirds, but while it doesn’t meet the criteria of this thread (like the Bearcat), the 40’s vintage propeller driven warbird that will forever own my imagination is the A-1D Skyraider.
But bailing out of the tight-fittin’ Spifire cockpit was like getting your girl friend out of her pantyhose—you pretty much had to pull her upside down.
Which points out a basic flaw in Axis pilot rotation: Their best pilots flew until they were killed. An Ace killed in a landing accident or an engine fire is just as dead as one killed in a dogfight.
Our best pilots were regularly rotated into training slots. Either as IP's or tactics or training on the next "hot aircraft". Tactical know-how was imparted to new pilots until our "average pilot" was much better than "their average pilot" -- plus ours were generally better equipped. That's how you win wars in an industrial age.
The lack of pilot protection, and lack of self sealing gas tanks was equally legendary, and enough to take the ‘Zeke’ out of consideration for top spot.
The P-47 didn’t have speed. Better check on your stats. the 47 and Corsair had the best engine—the 18 cylinder Pratt and Whitney.
Actually, it was so good in a dive it would lose lift.
You’re thinking of the crappy engines we gave the brits when superchargers were top secret.
The Japs gave that name to the Corsair (Navy pilots referred to it as an Ensign Eliminator), because of the sound of air going through the wing root oil coolers.
Yes, but it could only fly for a few minutes.
Yes, but it could only fly for a few minutes.
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