Despite my hate of liquid-cooled engined aircraft, I have to give it to the Mustang.  I've seen the typical know-nothing kind of guy who takes no interest in WWII or aviation, upon my saying 'Mustang' he'll say, "Oh, that old airplane?"

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I suppose some DC-3's are still in active military "service" somewhere  ???

But the B-52 has been a front-line heavy bomber for the worlds biggest / most powerful Air Force,  for some 40 years,, (with more to come)

Because of one person, the Red Baron. . . .

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As it's my favourite plane, and the fact that it was the best plane Australia had until the P51 came our way I must agree with my friend here.

It fought from the first day till the last (in the South and South East Pacific) and from pretty much day one in the desert and France. It was truely everywhere.

When you consider that most people and articles are concerned more with it's "shortcomings" than all the accolades which it earnt (I think it was the first American fighter to shoot down an enemy plane in WWII at Pearl Harbour). As my friend said, it held the line against a supposwedly superior plane in the Pacific and China until the States could come up with something better.

Besides all this - it's the best looking fighter there is, including the Spitfire.  

Is it not beautiful?

I've been following this with interest. It seems most people are confusing the issue. The poll is entitled "Most Immortal Warplane". So what does this mean? To me, it's not the best warplane, your own personal favourite or the longest serving military aircraft in history. It's a single aircraft type that had the most impact & is embedded in the memory for eternity.

One type cannot possibly fit the bill as different aircraft will obviously mean more to some nations than others. The Spitfire is the only possible choice for the UK. Although not completely true it's associated with our salvation during our darkest hour. It has a place in history along with Sir Francis Drake & the defeat of the Spanish Armada. There aren't many people in these islands who have never seen or heard of a Spitfire.

The Dr.1 refined the idea of 'dogfighting'
The Spitfire and Hurricane brought victory to England during the Battle of Britain
The Mustang helped the allies advance in the european theater by destroying german facilities and finishing off the Luftwaffe and was used by designers to examine how swept-wings could affect aircraft speed and performance
The P-47 is another plane which helped bring the defeat of the Nazi war machine (i dunno why nobody's said that)
The F-86 revolutionized the airplane by introducing a new type of engine -- the jet engine.
And id have to say that the F-117 and B-2 were the planes that introduced stealth to the world.

So in a way, all planes created in the history of aviation have affected major world events -- be it in the 1900's, 40's, 50's, 60's and so on, therefore making it virtually impossible to name the most immortal one is my opinion

Now wait a sec.

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ATI, hello?? Did you actually analize what i said  ???, i did NOT specify what you said in my sentence. What i said is true, they did bring victory to britain and you cant say otherwise.

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Now look here i was trying to talk about some of the planes mentioned in the poll to get some ideas and give them credit for something, im not dumb, there were many other fine planes that helped the allies. And why did you say "there were many other planes ,like the spitfire,which helped the allies advance." I put down the P-47 there too. I know the Spit and Hurricane did a lot to help the advance but their real glory came in the Battle of Britain.

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No, you're wrong. The 262 however is not the first plane to have a jet engine, according to some sources it was the Meteor and the first German jet was some Heinkel prototype that never entered production. (and lets not forget the komet...but thats rocket powered)

Successful?? The Me-262 did go operational HOWEVER its performance lacked a lot, as a matter of fact i believe only 1 spitfire was shot down by a 262. The F-86 gave stunnning performance and achieved a high kill rate in korea. In a way, The 'American' jet age started out with the F-86 and paved the way for more advanced fighters such as the F4 and F-15. And the Me-262 NEVER optained all the glory that was given to other great fighters in WWII.