Most Overrated aircraft of WWII?

the P-38. actually it was a good plane had it come out early, like during guadalcanal or midway. instead, it come out when the tide already turned and americans already had other better aircraft.

 

At the time of its first delivery to the USAAF in the fall of 1941, the Lightning was the fastest fighter in the American inventory. Then it entered into large scale operations in late 1942. And the P-38F was the first one to engage in extensive combat, primarily in North Africa, New Guinea and the Solomons. It was also being used by the 11th Air Force in the Aleutians in August of 1942 flying escort missions.

 

The Swordfish was slow, but it was loved by its crews (never discount that), was responsible for setting up the Bismarck for destruction and for knocking out most of the Italian battlefleet. Not a bad record for a warplane.

And later in the war, it acquired a new and extremely valuable life in convoy protection against U-boats. The very low landing speeds meant that it could operate from small merchant aircraft carriers in weather which would have made operations impossible for higher-performance warplanes. The Swordfish proved to be very good value for money.

No argument about reliability or engine life (but these of course affected the He 162 just as much - and that had its own problems, like coming unglued). It would also be a nonsense to argue that the Me 262 (or any plane) could have saved the war for the Germans: if they'd had enough of them to stop the USAAF bombers, they still would have been useless once the Allied ground forces had overrun their bases. WW2 was primarily won on the ground (mainly by the Soviets), not in the air.

Having said that, the Me 262 was a formidable opponent in the air. The choice of Mk 108 was carefully made, and the right one for the role: the rate of fire was high for the calibre at 600-650 rpm, the big M-Geschoss shells extremely destructive. For the same armament weight, the plane could only have carried two of the big, high-velocity MK 103 which would have fired only one-third the number of shells - and its shells were no more destructive.

 

I would vote for the P-40. Curtiss aircraft put out lots of publicity on it's use in the Flying Tigers but it really was outdated even though they kept building them through 1944. Most were used as advanced trainers.

 

Although the Me262 has been over-rated in some quarters, I can't agree that it was 'totally over-rated'. As a bomber-destroyer, it was rightly feared. I'd go with the Me163 Komet as more over-rated - it was certainly more lethal to its pilots.....

 

I will probably cop some flamage for this, considering its my first post and that so many people seem to be quite bias and defensive.

I think the most overated plane of the war was the P51 Mustang, I agree that it was an excellent plane however it wasn't as special as everyone makes it out to be. It did not solely win the war as many people like to claim. The effectiveness of strategic bombing is questioned and other planes in the US arsenal could of been effective in protecting the bombers, most namely the P47 and P38 and yes the later versions did have the range!

It is also a misconception that the P51 was the best dogfighter of the war, once again this isn't true many Axis and Allie fighers could outperform the Mustang. The beauty of the P51 was the fact that it could be pumped out in so many numbers. Its hard to put up a decent fight when you are hopeless outnumbered. It was a very good planes yes, but it wasn't as special or important as everyone makes it out to be. There are many better planes that saw service in WW2.

Also laughing at whoever classed the ME109 as overated, its of opinion that after the introduction of the Spitfire that the 109 was obsolete, in the hands of a well skilled pilot the ME109 was more than a handful for Allied fighters throughout the war, even in the later stages. The P38 (a plane i didnt even like) is i believe underated rather than overated, it doesnt get the credit that it deserves for the role it played!

 

First of all welcome to the forum mate

Ok this is untrue what you have here everyone here has there own opinions on different aspects and are intitled to these opinions.

So how many other planes were actually use on these long range escort duties compared to the mustang? It is not a matter of other planes being effective at the same role as to what wins the war, and in this case I'd say numbers and mustangs well, there were just more of them for this role, and how many P-38 or P-40 went against the Me109 and ruled over it compared to the Mustang?

You are right but where in this thread have never been all equal on the p51 being the best dog fighter of the war, every fighter was best in its own roles until it was classed obsolete by newer models, if anything it would have to be the spitfire and the Me109 if we are comparing this to the european threatre

Where is the post about the Me109 being overrated?
The spitfire and the Me109 were virtually all but equal at around 15000 ft which is generally where bombers would fly during the BoB and higher the Me109 was better and lower then it the spitfire and hurricanes manouverbility won over it. HOwever don't in anyway think that anyone here underestimates to abilities that the 109 held over the allied planes such as the more powerful engine and swoop and shoot tatics, in my opinion in the hands of equal skilled aces all these planes were just as lethal as each other.

 

Hello Butts, and welcome to the Forum !

Yes - a bold first post, but I sincerely hope you won't feel 'flamed'....

We all feel a certain amount of National pride about these aircraft which is only natural, and I'd agree that some people tend to denigrate other fine aircraft by 'over-egging' the P-51D.

But I'll repeat one story which I'm sure I've used here before. I had the privilege to converse many years ago with a highly-decorated RAF 'ace' who had flown just about every Allied aircraft - Spits, Mossies, Hurricanes, Thunderbolts, even Gloster Gladiators....

I asked him which was the best, and without hesitation he replied 'the Mustang'. I was a lot younger then, and was amazed that he hadn't said 'Spitfire' His own opinion was that the P-51 had the 'edge' because it was very easy to fly ; in combat, you could concentrate fully on shooting down the enemy. A relative novice could look good and fight well in a P-51, but not in a Spitfire.

His comments made a big impression on me and, despite my love of Spitfires and Typhoons, I have to rate the P-51 along with the Fw190 as possibly the best combat fighter of WWII.....

 

I was wondering too. Who mentioned the ME-109 in this thread?

 

Another good possibility was the Me 163 Komet. This was a complete waste as a fighter system. It was dangerous to fly, dangerous to land. It was too fast for its weapons systems making it virtually impossible to actually make successful attacks on targets under power. Without power it was a very vulnerable glider that was almost certain to be shot down if enemy fighters were about. On top of all this, its range was so limited that the only way it was a threat was if the enemy was stupid enough to fly almost directly over its airbase.
In all, the Me 163 could have been better described as an experiment in how best to get the pilot killed rather than a useful fighter aircraft!

 

I think every air force in that era and even today had thier share of aircraft where they had high hopes and then had them dashed when they were actually used in combat. Many believed the hype of the designers and represenatives,ect put out.

 

Sorry guys I thought someone mentioned the Me109 as being overated, I must of been seing things!

P38's and P47's were used quite substantially in long range escort roles. The P47N although arriving later is a fine example of an excellent long range escort that could have been used. The P47 and P38 could hold their own against a ME109 dont worry about. Many German pilots feared a well flown P47 a lot more than a P51. Dont forget the Vought Corsair which could also have been a very very good escort fighter. The Corsair offers better performance than the Mustang and was IMO the best US fighter of the war. My point is that just because there were soo many P51's doesnt make them an excellent plane!


Please guys don't want you to think I'm canning the P51, it used to be my favourite plane and remains one of my favourites, however reading more into WW2 over the last years has opened my mind a bit. It was an excellent plane but I am still of the belief that it has been overated, it was not invincible as many people seem to think! I agree it was one of the best fighters of the war but it didn't single handedly change the war and cream every other fighter as many believe.

For those interested I consider the FW190 and TA152 to be the best overall fighter of WW2!

Gardner while nobody will doubt that the Me-163 was a failure and that Germany shouldnt havent bothered with its production, its in flight performance is absolutely incredible for the time! It really was pretty amazing although it only lated 8mins under power.

 

Somehow I doubt that this Mustang pilot cares whether his plane was overrated or underrated

 

german: me-109G
japanese: raiden
american: p-38
british: spitfire mark V

i think a better way to answer is to name the weapons produced in large numbers, released in a timely fashion, and failed to live up to expectations.

the ju-87 was a sitting duck even to lee enfields but it was used EFFECTIVELY. the me-262 and the ta152 were brought out too few and too late.

 

So your choices here are based on this?

Quote:i think a better way to answer is to name the weapons produced in large numbers, released in a timely fashion, and failed to live up to expectations.

So the spitfire V was overrated as well as the ME109G this I don't understand

 

the britons literally had to wait for the mark IX to finally have something to throw against the focke wulf. the 109G series was a disappointment over the previous F. bad handling, obscured line of sight, shorter range.

 

I have to agree with Pzjgr that the Zero is an overrated aircraft. It's good for it's time but once its opposing pilots develop tactics against the Zero, the Zero was at a disadvantage. Case in point is the P40 over China. Once the Flying Tigers learned to use the P40 in diving against the Zero, it was downhill for the Japanese pilots.

As for the P-51, I have to agree that there are a lot better planes. But an aviation expert explained why the P-51 is considered as one of the best overall fighters of all time. "The P-51," he said, "was good enough." In other words, the P-51 was efficient. That was its edge. Other planes may fly faster or higher but the P-51 was a pilot's airplane.
How many World War II era fighters went on to the 1950s to dogfight a Mig and shoot it down?
I know that some German WWII aircraft remained in service in the Spanish air force after WWII but these didn't go toe to toe with a Mig.

 

I have to disagree with the Me109G although it did have its problems its shorter range was not one of them. The Me109G was designed to take a 66Gal drop tank under the fuselage during bomber interceptions, and being underguned was not an issue being that the Me109G was ussually equipped with 2 13mm MGs on the engine and three 20mm cannons one in the nose and one each on the wings giving it one hell of a punch, as well as 210mm rockets under each wing. Also the powerful engine gave the Me109G great power in a climb, and plus the plane was not designed to have what was being done to it, to put it simply the 'G' model was too heavy with a far to powerful engine for the the small wings and tail surfaces for the 109.

However with the overladen aircraft with all these extra 'kits' involved with the plane came with a price such as lower dog fighting ability but we must remember that during the time this model came out the war for the Germans was on the verge of turning so reduced performace for power and shooting down bombers was all that was needed. The biggest problem with the Me109 overall was the fact that it's models were pushed too far.

 

Oh and to this how many British rifles brought down Ju87's during the war? you do know it is not easy to shot down a plane even if you are in another plane?

 

Come on, Terry, I'm drooling already