Hey Guys!

I just wanted to find out what peoples views where on the WWII front. Here's a quick poll -


Cheers

Okay, I'll modify it

I voted for the Spit, youve just gotta love it
I always thought the most sucsessful aerican fighter was the Hellcat, must just have been pacific I suppose.
As to the most sucsessful fighter of the war I think it was the hurricane but I ain't sure.

don't forget the raid on Taranto or was it Tarantino ???

Gotta be the Hawker Hurricane. Because, to put it simply, it won the war. If it wasn't for the Hurricane then Europe would have fallen well before Germany declared war on America. The Russians also would have had an airforce of out dated Bi-planes if we didn't lend lease them hurricanes also it served in EVERY theatre of war and shot down more aircraft than any other in history. That reason enough?

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I don't know the statistics but i think there in the high 40,000's. Please don't quote me on that though. The figure only rings a bell.

    Gotta tell ya it was a tough decisision between the
    Spitfire and the P-51D.  I don't  think a P-47 will
    out turn a  Zero.  Anyone out there know any P-47's
    that have Zero kills to their credit?

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There were P-47s early in the war in the PTO.  The P-47N built for service in the Pacific saw plenty of action- 5,222 were lost.  Despite this, the loss rate per sortie was very low, only seven tenths of one percent.    A Jug could probably turn with a Zero at high altitutes.  Early models could hold their own up high against 190s and 109s.  The later models were much more manerverable (spelled wrong   ) so it might do well up high.  Down low they'd probably boom and zoom.  Just like the P-40s.  Why wasn't that on the list?    

Spitfire, no ifs, no buts!
Or else I'll marmalade you..........

Ozzy

You haven't heard what I put in my marmalade.......

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I know first hand. Here is what he did to my house!!



Yummy...............orange marmelade

Dave  8)

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Is a La-5 a Biplane??
The last biplanes which made a difference were the Po-2's of the "Night Witches" and the I-153 which served only in the beginning months of the war.
Except for a few obsolete bombers, not much biplanes.

Yes, they got spitfires, P-40's, Hurricanes and Airacobra's, but had good aircraft too (Yak-3, Il-2, Pe-2)

The idea about dedicated tank-killer aircraft was invented by the russians, with the Airacobra

hey dave are you still cleaning up that marmalade? at least your gonna have something to put on your toast every morning for a while:)
as for what was best, it was def spitfire,

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I was talking about the 47 in the PTO because someone asked if any P-47 pilot had kills in the Pacific.  No the Corsair didn't fight the whole war in the Pacific, the Wildcat came first.

If you divide the list in theatre and role, it would be a better poll

OK! Everyone sit down and be quite!!
And hear what I have to say!!!

P-51

That's IT!!!


Brad

They all had their place in history! No one plane
did it all, Hurricanes were the unsung heros of the
Battle of Britian! The P-51s made the B-17s great!
The P-47s were so tough, they just won by staying
in the fight! The Spits were the "Babes", Show Girls of
the air!! Even the 'bad' planes did a part!! The Jets
changed history more than any others!! The B-24s
dropped the most bombs, the B-17s shot down the
most planes! One B-29 changed history for all times!!
One U-2 almost did it agin!! The F-117 has flown
thousands of missions and never have a mark on
one of them yet!!

Brad

PS the comment about the Spits was given in
the highest sense of praise, appearance and
preformance!!   

Brad I think you'll find that an F117 was shot down over Serbia when it was being bombed by NATO?

Mark

I don't think that this debate is ever going to get resolved.  It's a bit like arguing whether apples or oranges are best, if you want an apple, have an apple.  If not, go for the orange.

I will use the Spitfire/Hurricane aspect to highlight my point.  During the BoB fighter command mostly target the Hurri's at the bombers and the Spit's at the escorts.  The 1940 Hurricane was best for an anti bomber role and the 1940 Spitfire was ideal as an anti fighter aircraft.

By 1944/1945 the P-51 D had come in and it is argued that it was the best WW2 fighter.  I have spoken to a number of pilots who flew these aircraft and the common thread seems to be that in their opinion the last fighter that they flew operationally was the best, with one exception.  All who flew the Spitfire say it was the best of the lot.  I have heard the P51 described as a beautiful plane to fly, a real pilots aircraft but in a fight it was apparently better to be in a Spit'.

Now remember that this is all second hand annecdotal evidence from men who are now in their 80's.  In most cases they are sick with something nasty and many actively dying.  Also remember that my vote lies with the Hurricane and always will as ultimately this is an aesthetic choice often made along nationality lines.  Most of our American members will choose the American warbirds, and the Brit's will go with British planes.

I think we can safely say that there are a number of WW2 aircraft that made a significant contribution to the development of the aeroplane and the list above highlights some of the most popular and well known.

For example:

Spitfire: Enduring British fighter, seemingly infinitely upgradeable.

FW 190. Massively succesful german fighter, heavily armed and armoured.  Superb climb and dive capabilities.

ME 109: Arguably the first modern fighter aircraft.  Was flying in combat when the spitfire was a collection of drawings.

Hurricane: One the BoB for the RAF( ).  Succesful as a fighter, a bomber killer and a ground attack aircraft.

Zero: Best japenese fighter (ever?)  Deadly down low in the right hands

Mosquito: Fantastic light bomber/recconaisance aircraft.  Fastest machine in the air for a while.  Early plywood and glue job.

P-51 Greatest long range fighter of the war.  Took the war to the Luftwaffe and helped to acheive what the Luftwaffe failed to do in 1940.

p47 "Jug" could take a huge amount of punishment and get you home alive.

Sorry for the length of the post.

Will

Edit:  I've just seen what X has written a few post's up.  I seem to have echoed him a little.  Sorry Brad.

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My info, was based on a 'WingsTV' show and may
well be outdated!!

Brad

Well.........a quick glance at the poll results seems to put the P51 (D, I presume) well ahead, over twice as many as the Spitfire.

Funny thing that everyone seems to have gone for fighters, when the question was clearly "which plane".
No-one asked for a bomber to be added to the poll.

There are bombers that made hefty contributions to the war. Let's face it, for the most part of the war, the purpose of the fighters was to protect or destroy the bombers, which were the real threat to war production, troops, equipment and population (although we all know of the debate regarding their efectiveness).

I am surprised at the low score for the Mosquito. I'm told that it could carry the same load of bombs to Berlin, faster and using less fuel. Also, for at least, the first 4 years, could outrun the German fighters, or give them a good fight.

I wonder why the British didn't make more use of this capability. They were certainly used as often as possible and to great effect in the Pacific, especially by the RAAF.

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The reason for this is that there are more americans voting than from other nations. Also people are choosing there favorite plane and not the best. If no one was biased in anyway at all then i'm sure that the Spitfire would we way ahead of anything else with the Hurricane not far behind.

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it's hard to admit it was shot down by a combination of planing error (took the same route too often) and a outdated Anti-air installation which had a lucky night that day

Mitchell strafers... are that the ones with the huge cannons in the nose?

i don't think a zero would survive a burst from that cannon collection they fitted those things with