Favourite WWII Fighter?

Balkan-MiG

Balkan-MiG

Active member
Was just curious, seeing as there was such a wide and vast array of fighters during the war, i was wondering what your favourite fighters were [Including dive bombers, night bombers and interceptors]? And if you decide to put one down, could you PLEASE give a sentence or two on why you like it? Just so i dont have to search the web for a while ;)

Personally, i think the Luftwaffe had the most tip-top aircraft, followed by the Brittish.

Well, heres my list of favourite aircraft:

1. Messerschmit Bf110 [A exceptional night-figher plane. It lacked a bit of agility, though. Most of the German night-fighter aces flew the Bf 110 at some point during their combat careers.]

2.Junkers Ju 87 'Stuka' [Maybe the best dive bomber, and the siren makes me crap myself]

3.Supermarine Spitfire [A classic, through and through. it ALWAYS gave German fighters a run for their money]
 
I think I would go for:
1) Me262 - because of its shear technical leap in aircraft design, construction and ability and it looked phenomenal.

2) Would be a dead heat between 4 aircraft.
a) Supermarine Spitfire, an excellent aircraft.
b) P51-D, Awesome performance and an excellent indication of what can be made when the best of two countries are combined.
c) FW-190, very functional and just a mean looking aircraft.
d) The de Havilland Mosquito, awesome performance and an excellent all round aircraft especially given that it was made from wood.

It is hard to leave out other aircraft such as the Hurricane, P-38, P-47, Me-109, Lancaster or B-17 as they were all excellent aircraft but those 5 would have been my favourite aircraft of WW2.
 
If we're limiting to fighters, I'd have to say:

P-38
P-51
P-61
P-63
Spitfire
Hurricane
Fw-187

I know the 63 and 187 weren't used much, but I just love how they look.
P63Chino2006.jpg

That's a Kingcobra.
 
The Mosquito was one the great planes of WW2, it was not only an excellent fighter, but was great medium fast bomber, and as photo resonance it had few equals at the time.

The Mustang. Was another great plane a huge range, fast and with great hitting power, a real war winner.

The Spitfire was great plane, fast and very manoeuvrable, it's greatest draw back was it's lack of a very long range. There again it had been designed to defend Britain and not to roam all over Europe.

The American Corsair.....Great fighter with a good punch to it and one of the fastest prop planes of WW2.

German planes then I would give this to the FW 190 which was rugged plane with an excellent performance. The ME 109 although a good planes had many problems and one of those was restricted vision for the pilot which cost many a German his life.
The 110, well during the BOB with RAF loved it as it was such an easy plane to shoot down.

The Zero....An excellent fighter with a huge range, the main problem was that it could not take much punishment as it had no armour plate or self sealing fuel tanks and after a couple of hits they were in trouble
 
The Spitfire Mk IX was in my opinion the most beautiful fighter ever built. The sight and the sound of her Merlin engine still makes the hair on my arms stand up.
 
The Mosquito

The P-47 (I happen to think this was superior to the P-51D. Faster at low altitude, stronger Armament, could take a hell of a beating). Best Fighter of WWII in my opinion.

P-61 Black Widow (A very wicked looking Night-Fighter)

The HS-129 with the 75mm Tank Buster (sort of an early A-10 Thunderbolt II)

The FW-190D
 
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For me they are:

1. The Mosquito, beautiful looking aircraft and a nice punch to boot.
2. ME 262 - same as above only faster.
3. Spitfire - just got to love the sound of the Merlin, and its agility.

I don't know if it fits in the category, but I'd also like to add in the:

4. B-25J, a flying gun if ever there was one and the precursor to the A10
5. The IL 2 Sturmovik, the most produced aircraft or WWII, of course that doesn't rate it high for its survivablity, but I like the cut of its jib.
 
Balkan-MIG......The 110 during the Battle of Britain became a easy target for the RAF and they were eventually dropped for use over the UK. As a night fighter it was very good as it had the capacity to stay in the air for long periods of time and was well armed and even had a 30 mm cannon that fired all most vertically so that it could get under the bombers and rake them from below.
 
I know, they werent much good in the BOB, but still a exceptional night fighter. I think that almost all of the German night-fighter aces flew the Bf110 once
 
Balkan-MiG said:
I know, they werent much good in the BOB, but still a exceptional night fighter. I think that almost all of the German night-fighter aces flew the Bf110 once
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The Bf 110 was a very good design.
It suffered in the BOB due to the fact the leadership of the Luftwaffe foolishly thought a heavy twin engined aircraft could mix it with single engined fighters of similar performance.
 
well cplor me strange...but i liked the Brewster Buffalo.

a lot of people really poo pooed the tiny fighter. the japaneese ate it alive. the british wouldnt fly them, as they really thought they were death traps.

everyone thought they sucked.

everyone, that is, except the Finns. for some reason, the Finns actually used these fighters against more advanced models...and scored some truly amazing victorys w ith it. one air frame was credited with 42 1/2 kills.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_Buffalo#Finland

this is the wiki link...more at the end of the article.

another favorite..the p-40 series. also in the hands of an underdog force...a suprizing amount of victories.

you can keep the pretty. i like the under dogs...:p
 
Balkan-MiG said:
Personally, i think the Luftwaffe had the most tip-top aircraft, followed by the Brittish.
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Why? Surely the Luftwaffe's piston aircaft were lacking in performance towards the end of the war. The later versions of the Mustang had the best all round performance; range, speed, manoeuvrability, resistance to damage and was practical. However the Spitfire maintained competitive nearly throughout the war and was probably the most distinctive and aesthetically pleasing aircraft.
 
perseus said:
Why? Surely the Luftwaffe's piston aircaft were lacking in performance towards the end of the war. The later versions of the Mustang had the best all round performance; range, speed, manoeuvrability, resistance to damage and was practical. However the Spitfire maintained competitive nearly throughout the war and was probably the most distinctive and aesthetically pleasing aircraft.
Click to expand...
Most experts put the Fw 190D-9 and the Spitfire XIV as the top two piston engined fighters at the end of the European war.

The P-51D was an excellent fighter, but the only advantage it had over the Spitfire XIV( which entered service just before the P-51D) was its range.
 
redcoat said:
Most experts put the Fw 190D-9 and the Spitfire XIV as the top two piston engined fighters at the end of the European war.

The P-51D was an excellent fighter, but the only advantage it had over the Spitfire XIV( which entered service just before the P-51D) was its range.
Click to expand...

Other excellent aircrafts had to be the Hawker Typhoon and the Tempest. Hard hitting and fast.
 
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