If you could fly a fighter plane in the Pacific, which one would you fly?

I have always felt that God gave us hands so we could operate a rifle, if I was forced into the skies (unnatural) it would be in a '38. Two engines, loads of fire power and you land it on terra firma.

 

The RAF received 830 P-47's during the war, they used them to equip 16 squadrons, all in CBI theater.They were used in the fighter bomber role replacing the Hawker Hurricane.

 

I'm new on the forums but if I had to choose one fighter, it would have to be a P-38. IMHO, it was one of the best overall fighters of the entire war.

 

Without doubt the fighter aircraft I would choose to fly OVER (not in) the pacific would be an F-22 Raptor.

 

This isn’t a sci-fi site, you cannot go back in time to fly the F-22 like some character from the 1980’s movie The Final Countdown. Note the name of the place World War Two forum!

Please try to make a choice from those available before 1945, not after.

 

P-38 Lightning without a doubt. Two engines and one hell of a gun platform. It was good enough for Dick Bong, it'll work for me.

 

But I can go back in time and borrow one of the local boy's crates? Hang on I'M from after 1945 ?

 

You may be, the subject of this thread isn't!

 

Love the Corsair, but this one would definitely get my vote, too.

Last spring I was with my then 8 year-old daughter driving back home from lunch and we passed a local airport and what did I see sitting on teh runway ready to go...a Mustang. It was gorgeous! I actually pulled off the road and sat right next to the fence and she and I got out so she could hear the engine and get a good look at it as it took off.

It was something I had never had the opportunity to see before, and to this day I don't know if it was an authentic albeit refurbished model or if it was a kit plane. But there is no doubt it was a P-51 and there is no doubt it was beautiful to watch. When it took off I called my father-in-law and told him to go out in the back yard, because an angel would be flying overhead in a minute (his dad was a tailgunner).

 

I'd have to go with the P-47 Thunderbolt, with a big power plant and eight 50 cal. guns would make a flyer feel as if he is the king of the sky. The plane could also take alot of punishment and get you home.

ETO Footage of P-47:

YouTube - P-47 strafing ground targets

As a side note, in the book "Avenging Bataan" by B. David Mann, the P-47 was used as close air support for the 38th Inf. Div. & 34th RCT during the battle of Zig Zag Pass. I believe it was the "Razorback" model, and the results were iffy because of terrain and a well dug in enemy.

 

Allied-I would go with a P-47 N
Japanese-Ki-84

Radial Engines, land based, tough and good firepower for both.

 

F4U Corsair... Marines, not Navy....

 

F4U Marines AND Navy. USN used the F4U both land and carrier based, as did the USMC.

 

I would have to go with the F4U-4, 4000 lbs of ordanace, 6 .50 cals or in some 4 20mm. It had speed, manuverability, was know for how strong it was, and it was a very stable flier. In the 1970s, I talked to Greg Boyington at an airshow at NAS Lemoore, CA. He said you could rubberband the stick in place trim it out and take a nap. I doubt they did that much being you want to keep your eyes open for enemy aircraft, but he said he would fly the Corsair over any other aircraft if he had a choice.

 

Biak, I'm going to second your choice but with a qualifier. In the PTO I would go with the Corsair or the Hellcat. That said, in the ETO I would pick the Thunderbolt as well. Not just for its abilities to "haul the mail", but add in the phenomenal ruggedness and that would be my "bring me home alive" choice.

In over 540,000 sorties flown, it lost 0.07% to enemy fire. That is 7 ships lost for every 1000, now that is survivablity to the nth degree.

 

I would be more comfortable Jumping out of a perfectly good plane then Flying one.

The problem lies in that certain Fighters planes were designed for different roles.The P-47N was a long range escort plane, the F4U-4 was a patrol/interceptor Fighter.

The P-47N had 1000 mile greater range. Since the P-47N was a USAAF plane, where the F4U-4 was a USN plane.

The P-47N had more firepower then the F4U-4. In a Dogfight, it would definitely be the Corsair It could climb faster and it was more maneuverable, plus against the P-47 the F4U-4 Corsair had the rare advantage of being able to "out-turn" the P-47.

The P-47 had a high altitude advantage in general performance above 30,000 feet. The F4U-4 had the maneuverability and the climb rate advantage below 30,000 feet.

The SpitFire, P-51 Mustang were also great Fighter planes. The bottom line is, it always depends on who the pilot is. You can have a great plane but if the fighter Pilot can't maneuver the plane or use all it's advantages and compensate for it's desavantages doesn't really matter witch plane you've been Issued.

For me Ba Ba Black Sheep, USMC F4U-4 Corsair!

 

To many choice to pick just one
USN: F6F
USMC: Corsair
USAAF: A-26 or P-61, can't decide which
IJN: N1K2 "George"
IJA: KI-100

Yes, they are all radial engined planes, I was never a fan of the liquid cooled engines.

 

F4U Corsair