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Hard Sarge -> RE: Best fighter in WW2??? (11/25/2007 11:30:53 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: hawker
I know that this is probably chewed million times but this topic should be interesting.
Which is the best fighter in WW2?
Let jets stay aside in this.
For me:
1. Lavochkin La-7 (think the Yak Series was more importent, very good plane, but the model most people know from Flight sims, was a very small production run, and over all, I do not think shooting down a 262 should mean anything, all that is, is being in the right place, at the right time)
2. P-51 "Mustang" (outstanding plane, great range, great speed, could out run the bad guys, or with in reason, mix it up, once it was freed from the bombers, there was no place the LW could hide, there was a statement made about the engine, the A,I,II,A-36 and the tac Recon model, had the Allison, the B,C,D,K,H, III,IV had the Merlin, along with the recon model)
3. FW-190 (another outstanding plane, only trouble was the engine lost power as it got over 20K, if they would of been able to work out the metal troubles with the Turbo Charger on the C model, it would of been a monster (a 190 with the belly of a 51)
4. Ki-84 "Hayate" (more of a what could of been plane, if it had been built by the Allies, it may of been the best plane of the war, most JP pilots didn't know if they were going to be able to land, once they took off, major HT Trouble with the landing gear, after war testing, the test pilots were always worried about landing, plus it was the fuel that made the plane great, it was very good, one hassle with the statements about how good it was, is suppost to be a fight towards the end of the war, with one pliot taking on, take your pick, P-51s, F4Us or Hellcats (the story changes) also, the model does also, with the George and the Ki-100 being named, most of what is not told, is the same pilot (Muto most times, which if it was Muto, it wasn't a Frank or a 100 he was flying) was later killed by a 51 that he never seen, the Stang pilot even thought he had run into a rookie)
5. Me-109k (again, a great plane, getting pretty long in the tooth by mid 44, the K was more a lead slead, then a fighter, good climb, good speed, boom and zoom and it was great, just don't turn, the Spitfire may of "grown" better then the 109 did, but the Spit wasn't being made to do what the 109 had to, so not really fair to say it was better, the Spit didn't have to go again massed waves of B-17s, the F and very early G models were the best and even later, in the hands of a Experten, deadly, but airwar is not about single pilots, and just to nitpick, it should be the Bf 109)
6. Vickers supermarine Spitfire (another of the greats, only downfall was range, funny, it is always pointed out that it was a great turner, but since the LW didn't turn much, big deal, from WWI, the Germans felt that Roll Rate was more importent then Turn Rate was, really odd, it was a plane later on, that was set up for the roll it was to perform, so a Spit LF IX was not the same as the Spit HF IX, outstanding plane, but the Cane won the BoB, and the Stang won the Battle for the Reich)
7.P-38 "Lightning" (a odd one, outstanding plane, but depends on where it was, in the PTO, a monster, in the MED very good, in the ETO, poor, cold, fog and rain didn't agree with the plane, once all the changes were made, it was over shadowed by the Stang, when flown right, nothing could beat it, one yank, used to fly to GB AFs and put on a show, then land and start making bets with the Spit pilots saying he could out dogfight them in it, he never lost, but not many pilots could work the engines and controls like he could, in the PTO, it could control the fight, fight when it wanted to, disengage when it didn't, in the ETO, the speeds were closer)
8. F4U "Corsair" (a mother, one of my Favs, power, speed, could take lot of damage, and as long as the speed was kept up, could turn with Zero, and if in trouble could outdive anything the JP had (other then the Tony), little known fact, the F4u put the Hellcat out of production, and every CV had at least one Squadron of F4us on it by the time the war ended)
9. A6M2 "Zero" (don't need to say anything about this plane, for it's time, and for what it was designed for, it was outstanding, once the weaknesses were found, it was deadmeat, but, that shouldn't be held against it, as it wasn't suppost to be in front use for as long as it was, the replacements never worked out or were ready, a light weight plane, that was designed and flown, to hit and not be hit, it was outstanding, but once it was found out, it couldn't dive, or turn at high speed, so much for the edge it had)
Yak 3 (trouble is the Yak got to be looked at, as the series, more importent then the La, also, depends on which model, different planes, the 9 could be made into a ground attack, AS fighter, High (for them) Alt fighter, or a long range fighter (which made the 51 look like it had short legs, and it didn't use droptanks) the 3 was maybe the best pure dogfighter of the bunch, but was mid to low level, and the best model of the 3 may of only seen limited action, the 3 came off of the Yak 1 line, while the 9 came from the Yak 7 (which we hear very little about the 7, but a very importent model)
P-47 (again, another monster, great at high alt, and with later changes good at low level)
don't really think any of them can be said to really be better then the rest, all were good and all had areas that they were better then the others
we left off the Hellcat, another Outstanding plane, but it was replaced by the F4u because of the need for better climb and better top speed, the father away the JP planes were fought from the Fleet the better
from some statements that were made
got to remember, almost all of the US planes were pre war models (the Stang and Hellcat being 2nd Gen planes) the F4u, the P-47 and the P-38 were already being designed, worked on, when the war started
if the 47 had the range, the 51 wouldn't of been needed, but funny, as the war was ending, the 51 pilots were being crossed trained on the 47, because when they were sent to the PTO, they were going to be assigned the 47, the 51 didn't have the range needed (of course, almost a trick statement, as the P-47N was nothing like the C or D models)
That is the top nine,from best to worse[;)]
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