Best Fighter Aircraft of WW2

What do you think? The P-51 gets a lot of attention...

I left off the jets because I feel they need their own category and I was really aiming at a comparison of the classic prop fighters of the war.

This seems far less obvious than the typical T-34 Vs Panther tank polls. All the major combatants fielded strong, comparable fighters.

Also, fighters like the BF109 and the Zero were clearly outclassed, but had a huge contribution during the war. The definition of "best" is debatable as well.

I suppose it depends on the definition of "best." This is a lot like similar debates we've had here (and identical ones on any other WW2 history board I've ever seen) about what the best tank was. If you're talking about sheer technical ability in a 1 on 1 contest, the general consensus on tanks was that the Panther or Tiger I would be the leader. If you base it on other factors, such as production costs, ease of replacement parts, etc. the T-34 or Sherman start looking like better contendors for the title.

If you apply that same analysis to WW2, I think you get a similarly split result. The Me-262 was clearly the technical champion. It was simply unmatched in the sky through the end of the war and it only failed to win the air war because of a lack of pilots and machines. However, the 262s were good for only one thing: short to medium-range air defense. That was fine, since that was what Germany needed it for (despite Hitler's demands that it be used as a bomber early on). However, it was totally useless as an escort since it was too fast for any bombers to keep up with and had a relatively short range. Compare that to the P-51, which had a totally unmatched range, very decent handling, and relatively low production costs.

So... pick you definition of best. If you want to go for a "1 on 1 dogfight" definition, I choose the Me-262. If you want to go for a true "overal achievement" definition, I choose the P-51. One other possible contendor would be the P-38 simply because it excelled at so many different roles. It could serve pretty much any need with the right outfit. Jack-of-all-trades aircraft are very useful in war, as reflected by most modern air forces switching over to multi-role aircraft instead of single-purpose machines.

[edit]Doh, was replying before you nixed the jets.

Tha's a hard one to say best. Who wouldn't want a P-47 loaded to knock off some ground targets and the P-38 with it's design. The top two would be the P-51 or the FW-190 and under the circumstances at the time I would go for the FW-190 as the best on the list for me.

I chose the FW - 190 as well. Although my decision included some measure of nationalism, the 190 was truly a great machine, and its ability to be upgraded and stay potent throughout the war was impressive. Not many fighters introduced in 1941 were just as viable in 1945.

wiki:

The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger ("shrike"), often called Butcher-bird, was a single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft of Germany's Luftwaffe, and one of the best fighters of its generation. Used extensively during the Second World War, over 20,000 were manufactured, including around 6,000 fighter-bomber models. Production ran from 1941 to the end of hostilities, during which time the aircraft was continually updated. Its final incarnations retained qualitative parity with Allied fighter planes, although Fw 190s lagged far behind in production numbers.

The Fw 190 was well liked by its pilots, and widely regarded as superior to the front line Supermarine Spitfire Mk V on its combat debut in 1941 [1]. Compared to the Bf 109, the Fw 190 was a "workhorse," employed in and proved suitable for a wide variety of roles, including ground attack, long-range bomber escort, night-fighter and (especially in the "D" version) high-altitude interceptor.

Where is Messerschmidt 262 - they were undefeated into sky

My favorites:

In the European theater is definitely the Fw-190. Those are beautiful planes and could generally go toe to toe with anything the USAF or RAF had until the Mustang, which had an edge on everything. The Me-262 is a jet which PJ disqualified, even if he hadn't, I still wouldn't list it as tops. It had insane speed and power, but it was also incredibly cantakerous mechanically and prone to runaway engines and then-poorly understood Mach tuck.

In the Japanese theater, I'd have to say the F-4U Corsair. Step 1. take insanely high output powerplant. Step 2. build an airframe around it. Step 3. go like hell. It was pretty mean looking, faster 'n snot, and packed some good firepower, but it couldn't turn well. Playing some of the more realistic modern WWII flight sims really made me appreciate how much power that thing had and why the "hit and run" slashing tactics won the US navy the air war, instead of trying to turn with the A6M Zeroes which could turn on a dime, but do maybe 90-100 kts airspeed tops.

Edit - Voted Gah! because I refuse to pick between the two.

Originally Posted by KrooK

Where is Messerschmidt 262 - they were undefeated into sky

Ummm they actually had really bad engines which accelerated extremely slowly, meaning that if they were taking off or landing they were sitting ducks, and if they lost speed for some reason they were doomed as well. If they had a good bit of speed behind them they would outrun, out-climb and out-dive just about anything out there, but maneuvering with that much speed is pretty tricky, and the engines had a really short lifespan and tended to burn or explode....Let's just say they could be extremely effective but I'd never want to fly one.

Whacker: I'd also have to go with the FW-190 or F4U. I think a 190 could go toe to toe with a P-51, and was even better in some ways, especially when it comes to armament, there's no comparison between fighters armed with machine guns and those armed with cannon despite US doctrine at the time. The only major disadvantage the 190 had was range, but in the war Germany was fighting at the time the P-51 started rolling off assembly lines range wasn't their main concern anymore.

As for the F4U it is one of the few US planes that I have ever really enjoyed flying in IL2, but that's mostly because the F4U-1C carried four 20mm cannon instead of puny .50 cal's. When it comes to power the Corsair had all you needed and more, and despite some annoying stall/spin issues at times due to the massive torque of the engine the plane was quite capable of dogfighting and though very few of them carried the 20mm cannon having a heavy armament wasn't a huge concern over the Pacific because the Japanese perennially underestimated the importance of self-sealing fuel tanks, armor and other safety/survivability related components of an aircraft.

Between the 190 and the Corsair I'd probably have to pick the 190 just because it was almost always far better armed than the Corsair and didn't suffer from torque issues that made the Corsair quite difficult for some pilots to master. The 190 was also produced in larger numbers iirc and I may be wrong but I think the late-war long nosed "Doras" were pretty much as powerful as the Corsair, but again I could be wrong.

The p-51D ruled the skies and looked really pretty doing. Speed, range, and firepower all outclassed everything the Axis had, even the dreaded Butcher-Bird. If Hitler hadn't screwed around with the plans for the ME 262, it would have been a whole differant ball-game...

A close second for the Nakajima Raiden, which arrived too late to save the Japanese. It was just as powerful as most of the allied fighters in the Pacific, but literally ran out of gas...

Performance wise, you can't compare them because although they are all fighters they have different roles and/or are from a different period (technology evolves very fast during a war).

For instance, you can't compare allied fighters from the pacific theatre with those from the European theatrre as they had different specifications they had to fullfill.

This is a really tough one - there is no clear winner on this, every fighter has their advantages and disadvantages, and of course, one has to make a distinction bewteen different variants. Take the Spitfire, so many variants, upgrades etc, yet its pilots regarded the Mk.IX as the best even though it didn't have the greater speed and firepower of Griffon engined variants.

If I had to choose just one, then I would go for the P-51. I can really only think of 2 "weaknesses" and they are minor - its liquid cooled engine (one hit to the coolant lines and its done) and its lack of cannon, although given that it was up against fighters in the main 8 x 50cals was enough Apart from that, fast, agile, good visibilty, and incredible range. No other aircraft did more to destroy the Luftwaffe (didn't Eisenhower have it in his 5 war winning weapons?)

For the best technicity, clearly the Me 262 was the best fighter ever. Nothing could match it, absolutely nothing. The usefulness overall, I would say the Hurricane or the Spitfire / Focke Wulf 190.

Every nation had great planes.

The Me 109 was, overall, an extremely good plane, even only in terms of lasting power. It could compete with other Allied aircraft right up past the Battle of Britain, and had excellent turning, climb, and speed. While there is no doubt that Allied aircraft surpassed it by '44 or so, it was a competitive aircraft all through the war.

P38 is the one and only plane for me

I put the Fw 190. It was between it or the P51 and I think the armament gives it the edge over the P51. Also the power that the Dora version gave make it a fantastic plane.

I'm also partial to the G.55 but I honestly know very little about the Italy or Russian aircraft of WWII.

As for the P38, don't you wish they could have replaced those allison engines with Rolls Royce merlins like they did in the P51?

Originally Posted by spmetla

I put the Fw 190. It was between it or the P51 and I think the armament gives it the edge over the P51. Also the power that the Dora version gave make it a fantastic plane.

I'm also partial to the G.55 but I honestly know very little about the Italy or Russian aircraft of WWII.

As for the P38, don't you wish they could have replaced those allison engines with Rolls Royce merlins like they did in the P51?

Eh, I think the P-38 suffered from bad maneuverability more than a lack of power. I'd bet it suffered against smaller fighters when compared to the P-51 and other single engine planes but performed far better against bombers due to its heavier armament. I don't know much about how good it was against either though, I'm basing most of this off of IL2 because the P-38 never interested me that much.

The p-38's one weakness was it's wide turning radius. Other than that it was big, fast and heavily armed, proving itself effective in both theaters of war.

Nice poll...

This is a tough one. One of my favorite planes of WW2 is the FW-190, the infamous 'Butcher Bird'. It created a quiet panic amongst the Allies when it made its debut in 1941 and was almost single handedly responsible for the creation of the Spitfire Mk IX. Technologically speaking the FW-190 was cutting edge and extremely pilot friendly. It was also tough as nails, had a small compact airframe, possessed excellent all around performance (it had an incredible rate of roll) and was a virtual flying anti-aircraft battery thanks to its four 20mm cannons and two machine guns. The FW-190 was an amazing plane whose performance was handicapped in late-war marks due to the need to carry additional armor and armament packs needed to tackle the allied strategic bomber formations destroying Germany's industry. The FW-190A5 was the last true 'fighter' mark of the series and it wasn't until the appearance of the FW-190 'D' marks that the Butcher Bird returned to its dogfighting roots.

Despite my love for the FW-190 I had to give my vote to the P-51. The P-51 may have been late to the war but once it received the Merlin engine it really did have it all; excellent speed & firepower, impressive climb & dive capabilities, decent turning radius and above all, fantastic range... especially when fitted with drop tanks.

FYI, in the years immediately following the war Chuck Yeager got a chance to pilot all sorts of Allied & Axis aircraft and after much testing he thought the FW-190 was the second best fighter of the war, second only to his beloved P-51.

While certainly not my favorite, the P-51 would have to be it. It had the speed, range, performance at altitude, and firepower to better any other plane.

The most beloved and glorious plane would be the Spitfire.

The coolest plane could be the P-38, the FW-190 D-13, or the F4U Corsair.

You'd need to break this down by year or even less... otherwise you can almost give it to the latest plane that was built and fought in a significant amount of combat.

Fighter on fighter?

P47M -- rugged as only a Jug could be; faster and with a much better cieling than the P51D; 4 Ms deuces with ammo bins for 8 guns ; significantly better range (with tanks) than the Mustang.

2nd choice -- F6F Hellcat. Better range than P51, same hitting power, nearly as rugged as a Jug. Top speed 376mph made it competitive.



Me-262 Schwalbe -- good Interceptor, easily the best at this role in the entire war. NOT as good in air-to-air (though still no slouch).

Originally Posted by Papewaio

You'd need to break this down by year or even less... otherwise you can almost give it to the latest plane that was built and fought in a significant amount of combat.

Yeah, if it was on the list I'd be tempted to go with the Do-335A or B. Those were great planes, faster than a Mustang, better armed and armored and with excellent maneuverability for a twin engine plane, almost able to match single engine fighters in fact. Add a decent bomb load and even a small bomb bay to it and the fact that it was the first production aircraft with an ejection seat and you've got one great plane.

Me-262 Prince of Turbojet! Junkers Jumo 0 0 4!

The BF109 hasn't gotten much love in this poll - probably because of Paps point - but maybe it should get some attention despite being outclassed later on.

The Bf 109 was the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter force in World War II, although it began to be partially replaced by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 from 1941. The Bf 109 scored more aircraft kills in World War II than any other aircraft. At various times it served as an air superiority fighter, a bomber escort, an interceptor, a ground-attack aircraft and a reconnaissance aircraft. Although the Bf 109 had weaknesses, including a short range, and especially a sometimes difficult to handle narrow, outward-retracting undercarriage, it stayed competitive with Allied fighter aircraft until the end of the war.

The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of World War II: Erich Hartmann, the top scoring fighter ace of all time with 352 official victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories, and Günther Rall with 275 victories. All of them flew with Jagdgeschwader 52, a unit which exclusively flew the Bf 109 and was credited with over 10,000 victories, chiefly on the Eastern Front. Hartmann refused to fly any other aircraft in combat throughout the war. Hans-Joachim Marseille, the highest scoring German ace in the North African Campaign, also scored all of his 158 official victories in the Bf 109, against Western Allied pilots. The Bf 109 was also used with good result by non-German pilots, including Finnish fighter ace Ilmari Juutilainen with 94 victories — the highest scoring non-German fighter ace in history.

wiki

I'm sure someone will probably correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Erich Hartmann, the world's all-time leading ace, stay with the Me-109 all through the war? I do know he turned down an offer to fly Me-262's, but I don't recall him flying with Focke-Wulf's either.

EDIT: Confirmed, his whole Jagdgeschwader flew only the 109, and accounted for over ten thousand victories.

Most of Germany's leading aces cut their teeth in the Bf-109 so it's understandable that they would be reluctant to stop flying a plane that was still deadly effective in their capable hands and one whose abilities and limitations they were quite intimate with. Trading up to a Me-262 was an entirely different experience though, that being a revolutionary step up as opposed to an evolutionary one.

Interestingly enough Japan also 'catered' to its aces, many of whom were also extremely reluctant to give up the Zero even though it, unlike the Bf-109 which remained relatively effective throughout the war, became seriously outclassed by the Hellcat & Corsair less than two years after Pearl Harbor. It wasn't until planes like the N1K1-J Shiden ('George') and Ki-84 Hayate ('Frank') were forced on Japan's pilots that they began to accept the fact that these new planes were far more effective at holding their own against America's fighters than their beloved Zero and Hayabusa (Ki-43).

The Bf-109 may have been loved by the Luftwaffe's top aces but it's a safe bet that the main reason why it was manufactured until the end of the war was because it was cheaper, required less materials to construct and was probably easier to manufacture than the more modern FW-190.

The "best" (as in significant impact over the longest period of time) should be
the Bf 109. Technically the P 51.

Based on my experiences with IL Sturmovik and its derivates (I know, I know...), the Yak 9 has always been my favourite.

I'm amazed that no one, apart from myself, has voted for the A6M.

Also the Mosquito wasn't really a fighter so I don't think that deserves to be measured against the others.

The one "I" would like to fly would be the P-38 in the Pacific theater. A good multi-role aircraft with excellent speed and two engines. The two engines part is critical for me as it not only gives you another lease on life but it allows the firepower to be concentrated from the center of the plane. It also tore through Zeros. I also enjoy it's extended range capabilities which took a bit of research to develop. It was quite revolutionary for it's time. I suppose a better question would be: If you could only have one fighter/pursuit plane from WW II in your air force, which would you choose?

It's really unfair to compare some of these machines from late in the war to the aircraft that served years on end and helped engineers spot the changes to make the late era craft more effective. That being said, all things considered, I took the Hellcat. Excellent range and firepower, very survivable, quite reliable, could take on a very wide range of missions, and adequate speed for an end-of-war aircraft. I would rate it near the top, if not at the top, of every meaningful statistic.

Of course within two years of the end of the war virtually every single one of them had been retired, and the jet age had well and truly begun. Very short term of service, which certainly makes me sympathetic to the other craft mentioned, but if I were heading into a generic large scale WWII engagement (If such a thing can be usefully imagined) I'd bring the Hellcat with me in quantity.