Greatest aircrat of WWII?

[MaryL]

New found respect for the Hawker Typhoon. Yours?

 

[JGalt]

P-51 Mustang, hands down.

 

[MisterBeale]

P-51 Mustang, hands down.

 

[fncceo]

 

[Ringel05]

Depends on what role they were used for. There is no doubt the Typhoon became an excellent ground support fighter, one of the best just as the Mustang eventually surpassed almost all German fighters except the Messerschmitt ME 262. However the best all purpose plane was the Wooden Wonder, the De Havilland Mosquito. It excelled at everything it was tasked with doing, in fact German fighter pilots were told they would get credit for two kills for every Mosquito they shot down.

 

[Esdraelon]

The F4U Corsair was the most elegant looking plane, IMO

The workhorse that helped win the war in Europe was the B-17

I rode in one of these bad boys at the EAA AirVenture in OshKosh Wisconsin one year. Loudest damn plane ride I ever had...

 

[Ringel05]

The F4U Corsair was the most elegant looking plane, IMO

View attachment 573899
The workhorse that helped win the war in Europe was the B-17

View attachment 573901
I rode in one of these bad boys at the EAA AirVenture in OshKosh Wisconsin one year. Loudest damn plane ride I ever had...

The Corsair's climb to prominence was a rocky one, after testing it at sea the Navy decided it was no good for carrier landings basically because coming in for a landing the pilots completely lost sight of the landing deck and some crashed. It also had oil leakage problems so it was designated as land based fighter aircraft and given to the Marines. At the same time it was also sold to the English who worked out the problems including how to safely land it on a carrier and it eventually made it's way back onto US carriers.

 

[Oddball]

P-51 Mustang, hands down.

Great for its role.

Who brings the most hurt in the most situations?

 

[Oddball]

The Corsair's climb to prominence was a rocky one, after testing it at sea the Navy decided it was no good for carrier landings basically because coming in for a landing the pilots completely lost sight of the landing deck and some crashed. It also had oil leakage problems so it was designated as land based fighter aircraft and given to the Marines. At the same time it was also sold to the English who worked out the problems including how to safely land it on a carrier and it eventually made it's way back onto US carriers.

Like every other obsolete and borderline weapon, it gets tossed to the Marines to make it work.

 

[Ringel05]

Most people focus on the so called famous planes of WWII and forget that it was the workhorse planes that did most of the work. During the Battle of Britain people seem to think everyone flew the Spitfire, in fact the Spitfires were far outnumbered by the Hurricanes. They used quite a few Curtis P-40s which was also one of the primary fighters used in North Africa. The P-47 Thunderbolt (The Jug) was the backbone of our fighter aircraft in Europe. There are so many others that people never hear about.

 

[Oddball]

Most people focus on the so called famous planes of WWII and forget that it was the workhorse planes that did most of the work. During the Battle of Britain people seem to think everyone flew the Spitfire, in fact the Spitfires were far outnumbered by the Hurricanes. They used quite a few Curtis P-40s which was also one of the primary fighters used in North Africa. The P-47 Thunderbolt (The Jug) was the backbone of our fighter aircraft in Europe. There are so many others that people never hear about.

Pretty much what I was getting at....Jugs and Lightnings performed in nearly every role.

Of course, we could ask who sunk four carriers....

 

[Ringel05]

One of my favorite aircraft used during WWII was the Consolidated PBY Catalina. Not only did they perform scouting and rescue missions some were painted flat black, loaded down with 50 cals and 20mm canon then went on nighttime hunting missions looking for enemy ships to sink.
They were slow and somewhat difficult to fly but their pilots loved them. They were called the "Black Cats".

 

[Ringel05]

Pretty much what I was getting at....Jugs and Lightnings performed in nearly every role.

Of course, we could ask who sunk four carriers....

Yup, the Dauntless.

 

[Ringel05]

Another WWII workhorse (built pre-war) that we hated and sold off to the Fins and others was the Brewster Buffalo. The Fins used it to great effect against the Russians and when the Russians got ahold of them they used it to good effect against the Germans. The Buffalo was such a sturdy beast the Russians would ram German aircraft and still be able to fly the Buffalo back to their airbases.

 

[Oddball]

From the Himalayan hump to the early hours of D-Day, no plane delivered more goods to the battlefield.....All without ability to shoot back...

 

[Ringel05]

Everyone thinks the B-17 was perhaps the best heavy bomber of WWII, in actuality it was the British Avro Lancaster.

Also during the first part of the war the two best fighter planes were Axis planes, the Japanese Zero.

And the FW190 which was superior to the Spitfire in everyway except high altitude performance.

The German do all heavy fighter was the excellent Messerschmitt BF 110.

 

[Mushroom]

The Soviet Po-2. It had many names, but the Germans both feared and respected it, calling it the "Sewing Machine". The pilots were deadly and efficient night fighters and bombers, and would fly at treetop level.

It also had a long service life, even destroying a US F-94 jet during the Korean War.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

The F4U Corsair was the most elegant looking plane, IMO

View attachment 573899
The workhorse that helped win the war in Europe was the B-17

View attachment 573901
I rode in one of these bad boys at the EAA AirVenture in OshKosh Wisconsin one year. Loudest damn plane ride I ever had...

I never knew until recently why the wings had that curve.
It was done because the prop was so big the landing gear had to be lower in order to clear the ground on take off and landing.

 

[Ringel05]

Another British unsung hero of the war was the Bristol Beaufighter (heavy fighter). Used in multiple roles and all over the globe it was feared by the Axis powers. The Japanese called it the "whispering death", not to be confused with the other "whispering death" the Corsair. It was used primarily as a night fighter.

 

[Ringel05]

Like every other obsolete and borderline weapon, it gets tossed to the Marines to make it work.

Actually not always. The Marines were given 16 squadrons of B-25 Mitchells, the "Sweetheart of the Services". This medium bomber was adored by all it's crews everywhere they were in us due to it's ability to deliver great destruction, take punishment and get the crews home safely.