Best Multi-Purpose Aircraft ?

New question. What single engined aircraft was used and peformed in more roles then it was originally designed for? And what roles? Not Best LOL. But used for.

 

May I ask you wait for other responses before you change the question, there is no doubt that the Ju 88 and Mossie performed brilliantly in many roles but so did other a/c from both sides

 

No Prob. Erich. And Ill restate my question too . I wasn't looking for the best or the one that performed brilliantly per se but the one aircraft that served in more roles then was intended when it was designed. . We have had answers for just twin engined aircraft so far. Any Others from other countries?
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I had forgotten the Beaufighter too. Heavy fighter Long range escort,night fighter, intruder, anti-shipping aircraft, torpedo bomber and ground attack aircraft and target tow.

 

Everyone is talking about combat planes, but what about the DC-3? Not only far exceeded the expectations for a cargo plane, it also was used as a gun ship, tow plane, and many other roles. It was found to be a perfect glider, but the need for it in its primary role, denied its use for that role. And how many Mossies and Ju88s are still in service around the world today.

 

interesting viewpoint but still think not top over the Ju 88 or the Mossie in mulitiple variants and roles......

 

Most of the roles that the C-47 like the AC-47 were fufilled were post war though. During the war it was used mainly as a cargo and transport aircraft by various countries.

 

Role for role the Ju 88 pretty much matches the Mosquito for those roles both performed in. Both made excellent nightfighers and one can excuse the quality of equipment the Germans often had more on shortages of electronics than some shortfall of aircraft design. Both made good bombers and in this respect the Mosquito might have the edge. The Ju 88 made a good torpedo bomber and was also used quite well in maritime patrol, two roles the Mosquito saw little or no service in.
Both made decent daytime attack aircraft but only the Ju 88 had an anti-tank version, however poor it might have been. The closest Mosquito variant was one mounting a 57mm Mollins Gun for anti-shipping strikes made in small numbers and not particularly successful.
Both made excellent reconnissance aircraft.
There is no four engined Mosquito variant nor an ultra long range variant like the Ju 88H and Ju 488.
In terms of service the Ju 88 was far more important to the Luftwaffe than the Mosquito was to the RAF. Taking the Ju 88 out of service would have left the Luftwaffe with a huge gap in its capacity. Taking the Mosquito out of RAF service would have simply led to other aircraft filling its role. Maybe not quite as well, but still the Mosquito was replacable while the Ju 88 was indispensable to the Luftwaffe.

 

The C-47 had many interesting uses. It was armed with various weapons in the pacific and used in the gunship mode. In some areas, the Japanese would only shoot at the Dakotas doing cargo runs, so they started arming several and sending them on the runs.

The Japanese also had a fleet in use during the war, and several unauthorized copies were developed for use by the Japanese, including models armed with a turret gun.

The Russians also installed turrets on many of their Li-2 license copies. They also had a bomber variant, the Li-2VV. The Germans had a small fleet of them that were used for commando air drops and for two years were used for dropping their spies into England.

While not real suited to bombing, there is several known cases where they were used to drop bombs and explosives. And my favorite story is about the DC-2.5, an amazing case where a DC-3 in China doing civilian evacuations, got damaged by gunfire. The airfield was unable to repair the wings to make it flightworthy, but an old DC-2 that was scrap, still had its wing intact. They were able to mate the DC-2 wing to the DC-3 and make it fly. It required a bit more left rudder to my recollection, but it still made a lot of flights and evacuated a lot of refugees.

 

My favorite story is of a soldier in New Guinea wounded by shrapnel in his lower back region LOL While knocked out and on his stomach and being operated on by medics, A C-47 flies over paradropping supplies. One of the boxes lands on him and breaks both his arms. The medics finish up and put his arms in casts. When he wakes up he cant figure out how the heck his arms got broken when he was hit in the butt LOL!! I wonder how they wrote that up LOL?

 

You say the Ju88 was a good bomber but in 1940 it needed fighter escort as it was to slow
The Mosquito in 1945 was still a great bomber .
The Mosquito was used maritime patrol with Coastal command on anti shipping patrols & using eight rockets
You say they had Ju88H & Ju 488 but what impacted did they have on the war , how many were made & how much action did they see ?

 

Do you know how much shipping was sunk the Mossie as opposed to the JU-88?

 

Can we ask which ones ?

 

Fairey Swordfish. They didn't call it the stringbag for nothing.

 

Astonishing aircraft though it was, the Swordfish couldn't adapt to a large variety of roles.....

 

The Ju-88 and Mosquito were great aircraft but I will throw anouther type that I thought of. The B-25. In the Pacific it sank tons of shipping and straffed alot of airfields and unlike the Mosquito and Ju-88, it flew off an aircraft carrier.

It was used to drop agents, train crews, a medium bomber, ground attack, anti-shipping and was used many years after the war was over.

 

You're right, TA - the B-25 is a bit overlooked ( it was another aircraft to carry a 75-mm gun, for instance ). Maybe it's overshadowed a bit in studies of the European airwar where I think a lack of outright speed made it vulnerable to the Luftwaffe.....?

 

That's not really true. It was a dive-bomber, torpedo-bomber, long range strike aircraft, mine-layer, recon, etc. etc. The only things that the Swordfish couldn't do that the Ju-88 could do would be the fighter role. Which the Ju-88 wasn't particularly good at, anyway.

 

If you look at the list there are a few more things that the Swordfish couldn't do.The JU-88 still performed more rolesthen it was designed for.
Bomber,Dive bomber,Nightfighter,Recon,Torpedo bomber,Flying bomb (mistel),Heavy dayfighter,Train-buster in Russia,Long-Range ocean patroller,Long-range Pathfinder,Panzerjager/anti-tank, Night intruder, Weapons Test platform aircraft,mine layer ,radio communication aircraft,liason transport,Research aircraft,Missile launcher,Close air support, trainer.

 

While the Ju-88 was a versatile aircraft, the only reason why it was used in so many roles was more a matter of time and availabilty. It may have done more functions, but how many did it do well? It was obsolete as a bomber early on, and most of the uses that followed were to try and continue reasons for its production/usage.