The Age Old Question
I am curious as to how people around the world answer this question. There a lot of room for debate when you look at a few angles never covered by the History Channel.
First I want to narrow it down a bit. Jets don't count. No jets. Otherwise the Me-262 would win hands down.
Also, lets not try to count the late model rare stuff. That would be like the Ta-152, F7F, F8F. If it really didn't play a part in the war, it doesn't count.
They were awesome machines, but to late.
Also when rating them, use the standard of equally matched pilots and in good working order.
Last, as I see it there are three categories:
Offensive
Defensive
Best Overall
I'll start things off. I won't bore you my reason until we get into this a bit. My list looks like this:
Offensive - P-51 Mustang (range and performance)
Defensive - Japanese KI-84 (performance and firepower)
Overall - Spitfire MkXIV (all of the above with less range)
I am curious as to how people around the world answer this question. There a lot of room for debate when you look at a few angles never covered by the History Channel.
First I want to narrow it down a bit. Jets don't count. No jets. Otherwise the Me-262 would win hands down.
Also, lets not try to count the late model rare stuff. That would be like the Ta-152, F7F, F8F. If it really didn't play a part in the war, it doesn't count.
They were awesome machines, but to late.
Also when rating them, use the standard of equally matched pilots and in good working order.
Last, as I see it there are three categories:
Offensive
Defensive
Best Overall
I'll start things off. I won't bore you my reason until we get into this a bit. My list looks like this:
Offensive - P-51 Mustang (range and performance)
Defensive - Japanese KI-84 (performance and firepower)
Overall - Spitfire MkXIV (all of the above with less range)