What are the top three fighters of WWII?

[kernowpaul]

Guys guys guys

You are forgetting the Hawker Tempest, which out performed the current Spitfires, everthing the luftewaffe could chuck at them and the stang.

But I am biased of course, that saying it was a credible air superiooty fighter and fast. It Tempset's knocked down more V1's, which is why they were held back for UK ops to counter the doddle bugs, instead of Rangers and rodeos over Europe.

Kernow

[dcunning30]

The Soviet Union made good use of the P-39 Airacobra; a comparitively small plane, it was a bit underpowered but still served in ground attack.

Yea, that was all it was good for.  Some genius decided it didn't need superchargers, ruined the plane.

[dcunning30]

[quote]Corsair Freak,

Oops, my bad!

[dcunning30]

james007,

You bring up some good points regarding the Spit.  I would also add this.  American fighter doctrine largely surrounded it's bomber doctrine.  Fighters escorted it's bombers, went on free ranging missions to kill the LW where it was found.....for what reason?  To sweep the skies so the bombers could pass through unmolested.  

The RAF chose night bombing missions for protection for it's bombers.  The spits were pretty useless in that role, though the RAF used Beaufighters later in the war as night fighters, but that was pretty much for bomber interceptor roles, not escort.  So there was little need to develop long range Spits.

[HawkerTempest5]

Guys guys guys

You are forgetting the Hawker Tempest, which out performed the current Spitfires, everthing the luftewaffe could chuck at them and the stang.

But I am biased of course, that saying it was a credible air superiooty fighter and fast. It Tempset's knocked down more V1's, which is why they were held back for UK ops to counter the doddle bugs, instead of Rangers and rodeos over Europe.

Kernow

The Tempest was an outstanding fighter that had it not been for the fact it was held in ADGB untill September '44 would have had a bigger impact on the air war over mainland Europe no doubt. BUT, the Tempest was best at low to medium altitude and could not out perform the Mustang or Spitfire at higher altitudes. The Tempest was complemented by the Spitfire XIV that arrived at about the same time and together they gave Second Tactical Air Force a real cutting edge with the Spitfire taking on the role of medium to hight altitude air superiority fighter and the Tempest in the medium to low level role.

[Hagar]

Kraftwerk hasn't seen fit to reply since posting this topic. I assume that by American fighters he means US manufactured aircraft. [quote]Just wondering what you think the three best, overall American fighters of WWII were.

[dcunning30]

Ohhh, 3 AMERICAN fighters?

My bad.  It's still kinda hard.  I'd say these are my picks:

P47 Thunderbolt - nothing better for ground attack
P51 Mustang - Air superiority
F4U Corsair - Can you say, Whistling Death?

[james007]

Lets not forgget people that the P51 was in reality a American and British Airplane flown mainly American pilots.

Its Airframe was American but its engine was the same as the Spitfire Merlin used but modified for the P51.

Just a Historical point.

James007

[Corsair Freak]

Also the same for the Corsair... flown by the Fleet Air Arm, and New Zealand

[H]

Lets not forget, people, that the P51 was in reality a American and British Airplane flown mainly American pilots.
Its Airframe was American but its engine was the same as the Spitfire Merlin used but modified for the P51. James007

[H]

Lets not forget, people, that the P51 was in reality a American and British Airplane flown mainly [by] American pilots*. Its airframe was American but its engine was the same as the Spitfire Merlin used but modified for the P51. James007

Sorry, I wasn't so explicit in my July 21st mini-booklet with the following reference, "Then you have the fact that many designs would have been more proficient had a better power plant -- or other factors -- been applied to them (the first P-51s did not perform so well with the Allison engine)."
It was reiterated by dcunning30, particularly in relation to the P39, that many acft weren't given the most effective power plant. This was rectified for some, the P51* with a Merlin refit. Now, how many of these engines were actually made in Britain rather than under license Stateside? And does the "British design" affect the "American made" aspect?
*It was flown by many of the Allied air forces (many more nations used it well past the Korean War), as were many others flown by pilots foreign to a plane's manufacture; General Thyng, who died in New Hampshire last year, flew a Spitfire V with U.S. insignia.

[H]

Kraftwerk hasn't seen fit to reply since posting this topic. I assume that by American fighters he means US manufactured aircraft.

I think part of the problem is that the entry title is "What are the top three fighters of WWII?" whereas the actual question posed in his entry is, "Just wondering what you think the three best, overall American fighters of WWII were."

[Hagar]

Now, how many of these engines were actually made in Britain rather than under license Stateside? And does the "British design" affect the "American made" aspect?

I think this is being unecessarily pedantic. Most Mustangs were fitted with the Packard Merlin that was produced under licence in the US. Packard Merlins were also fitted to some marks of Spitfire (Mk XVI), the Avro Lancaster B Mk III & some Canadian-built Mosquitos. (I believe a derated version was also used to power boats & tanks.) Like most people I've always regarded the Mustang as being 'as American as apple pie'. It was originally rejected for front-line service with the RAF because it was not required for its original purpose. The foreseen shortage of home-produced fighters had not happened & in late 1940 the shortage was of experienced pilots rather than aircraft. The BoB was over by the time the P-51 would have been ready for delivery. (The prototype first flew on 26 October 1940). Its high altitude performance did not compare with the Hurricane & Spitfire mainly because of the unsupercharged Allison engine. I'm sure it would still have come in very handy in different circumstances. A supercharged version of the Allison was available but all production was diverted to the P-38 throughout WWII.

The P-38 was also rejected by the RAF. Some say they lost out on one of the best fighters produced during WWII. The version tested by the RAF was an "export model" with unsupercharged engines & both props rotating in the same direction. This obviously affected its performance & it was nothing like the same aircraft that served with the USAAF.

[kraftwerk1976]

Kraftwerk hasn't seen fit to reply since posting this topic. I assume that by American fighters he means US manufactured aircraft..

---Hmm, well I am fit to reply now.  I have been in another town with no computer access.  Anyway, yeah, I meant US manufactured aircraft.

[Biggles125]

In my opinion the best amarican fighter was the P51, the best british fighter the Spitfire and the best german fighter the FW190. This opinion is based not just on the combat records of these fighters but also on their ground handling.  An important factor for novice pilots or even tired pilots returning from a sortie. That is why I've ruled out such excelent planes as the Corsair or the BF109.