what was the best aircraft of ww2

what was the best aircraft of ww2

 

I would say, Po-2.
I am aware it´s a risky proposition, but if one has to decide, it will be my bet. The plane was produced in 33-40 000 exemplars. It was extremely cheap, easy in use and maintenance, reliable, fantastic as a trainer and recon, ground attack and transport, it had some characteristics of stealth technology, particularly at dusk or night.

I was also considerig Storch is also very high on my list, but the role, qualities and range of possible applications favor Po-2. Also it´s survivability as combat worthy craft was an extremely favorable point: from 1928 -50s.

Luftwaffe fighters found it extremely hard to shoot Po-2 down, because the stall speed of both the Bf 109 and the Fw 190 exceeded the Po´s maximum speed.

A black horse. Yes?

 

Mustang P51

 

I'd vote for a tactical transport aircraft. Without one, such a mobile war fighting couldn't be possible in ww2.

The original question should be more specific. There's no single plane that's best at everything.

 

Depends upon what role.

all round fighter .. P-51
general ground attack.. P-47
close air support .. F-4u..or Typhoon
Long range bomber..B-29
med range bomber .. B-26
transport .. C-47

 

I agree entirely with Greig, it depends on role and in all honesty is probably too broad a question since it also depends on which part of the war. For example the B-29 is unarguably the best bomber of the war, however in 1940 even the humble Wellington was a better bomber since the B-29 didn't exist even on paper then!

Here's my list...

Best Fighter - Supermarine Spitfire
Best Escort Fighter - North American Mustang, closely followed by Escort versions of the Yak-9
Best Carrier Fighter - Chance-Vought F4U Corsair
Best Interceptor - Technical and logistical problems aside, the Me262
Best Ground Attack fighter - Tempest.
Best Night-fighter - Mosquito closely followed by P-61 Blackwidow

Best Heavy Bomber - B-29, runner up the Lancaster.
Best Medium Bomber - B-26 Marauder
Best Light Bomber - A-26 Invader
Best Attack Bomber - Petlyakov Pe2
Best Torpedo Bomber - Savoia Marchetti SM79
Best Dive Bomber - not much to chose between really, but I'd go for the USAAF's version of the Dauntless (The A-26 I think)
Best ASW - Probably the PB2Y Privateer.

Best Carrier Torpedo Bomber - Grumman Avenger
Best Carrier Dive Bomber - The Dauntless, perhaps not the best in terms of performance, but certainly better liked by its crews than the replacement!

Best Flying Boat - Kawanishi H8K "Emily"
Best Floatplane fighter - Nakajima A6M2-N "Rufe"
Best Floatplane patrol - Heinkel He115

Best Transport - a 3-way tie between the Ju52/3m, C-47, and C-46.
Best Observation/Army Co-operation - Tie between Fiesler Storch and Po2

 

Here's my list...

Best Fighter - TA-152H-1
Best Escort Fighter - P-51H
Best Naval Fighter - Kawanishi N1K2 Shiden-Kai
Best Interceptor - Me-262
Best Ground Attack fighter - Typhoon/FW190G
Best Night-fighter - He-219A-7

Best Heavy Bomber - Ju-390
Best Medium Bomber - Ju-188
Best Light Bomber - P-38 Droop-Snoot or Me-262A-2a/U-2 (you know why!)
Best Attack Bomber - A-26 Invader (Became B-26 and afterwards A-26 again...served even during NAM)
Best Torpedo Bomber - Ju-88 and then SM.79
Best Dive Bomber - Ju-87 legendary
Best ASW - PV-2 Harpoon.

Best Carrier Torpedo Bomber - B7A Ryusei
Best Carrier Dive Bomber - D4Y Suisei

Best Flying Boat - Kawanishi H8K Emily
Best Floatplane fighter - Kawanishi N1K Kyofu
Best Floatplane patrol - Cant Z.506

Best Transport - Me-323 just look at that cargo space...
Best Observation/Army Co-operation - Storch or Piper L-4

Probable will change a few things later on!?~!

 

changes to lists

a german aircraft as the best bomber either heavy or medium is not realistic. they had some good attack and tactical bombers but not much more and certainly none anywhere near the best.

IIRC the A-36 was the P-51 in the dive bomber role before it got the merlin a good plane but again not the best dive bonber of the war.

the spit was a very good fighter but given its range limitations not the best
the 51, 47, and others were its match with better ranges

F4U, F6F, or the zero all have a strong claim as the best carrier fighter but perhaps for different reasons

i have to go with the TBM [ TBF ] for best naval torp plane by far

much of the JU87s legend is overated. the A-36 was at least as good and others better

 

Sturmovik Il 2 for 'tank buster'

oooops

Did I say something wrong? lol

THIS IS A TANKER FORUM


my bad

 

Best all-round, for its sheer versatility, the Mosquito. No other plane excelled in so many different roles: night fighter, almost uninterceptable high-speed bomber, recce, ground attack plane, anti-ship/sub plane, even a transport!

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum

 

I have to agree with Issac. Show me a airplane type on which one crew survived 1000+ combat missions.
Some of the ''ace'' bomber pilots of 46. ''Tamanski'' GNBAP (all HSU holders):
lt. Irina Sebrova ( 1008 missions)
capt. Nataliya Meklin ( 980 missions)
capt. Yevgenia Zhigulenko ( 968 missions)
capt. Mariya Smirnova ( 950 missions)

From:
http://www.aerodrome-gruyere.ch/hommage/sorcieres.htm - french version
http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/raskov/raskov.htm- english version

 

good point

and it was a pathfinder 'E bird'

 

Re: changes to lists

??

You are telling me (and the rest of the world) that the Ju-87 was not the best dive bomber....?
Even so you are telling us that the A-36 (the attack version of the P-51) is better at dive bombing than the Ju-87....?

Oh boy!

The A-36 had mojor problems with their Dive brakes....many times those were welded shut.....you need those things on a Dive Bomber...

The Ju-87 was the only aircraft that could do almost 90 degree dives wich resulted in unequiled precision....

Now You tell me what dive bomber during WWII could dive and bomb more precisly than u Ju-87??

Why on earth can't a German bomber not be the Best Medium or Heavy Bomber??
You tell me!
I can tell you that The Ju-88 and it's followers were among the best medium bombers...they had the range, they had the speed, the were versitile.... you can say the had almost everything (what a medium bomber needs)!
I thought we were talking about the aircraft themselves not there performance during actual war conditions (wich wre for the luftwaffe not that favourable in the later part of the war), but that does say anything about the airframes themselves...coz those were top of the bill!

The Ju390 had range, rader and could carry a good bombload wich are needed for a heavy bomber...not only that it was enormous and probable more advanced than it's us counterpart/contester the B-29!

 

OK lets go

first of all to be the best there has to be more that a handful of the type. name 1 type of heavy german bomber that saw anywhere near the service of any number of allied types. sure they had prototypes and trials models of aircraft the might have become good craft but none of them ever got used in any way the effected the wars outcome. second the JU-88 was a fine plane but no better than the B-25 B-26 mozzie Betty and many others. third have you ever heard of the SBD Dauntless. the 87 was basicly outdated by the start of the war. yes it could hit a target but it was also slow and easy to shoot down. in truth its rep is one earned by its crews more that by the plane.

 

SBD stands for Slow But Deadly...i rest my case it had better protection but was not so precise as the Ju-87!

Look, numbers have nothing to do with how good an aircraft is....
Just because germany had no need for long range heavy bombers, could not produce those in sufficient numbers and the fact that production should have shifted to fighters does not mean that the little numbers of produced bombers were bad....

BTW what do numbers of built aircraft say about how well an aircraft is :roll:

The Ju-(1)88 is just in a different (better) class than the B-25 and more equall to the mossie (Ju-88 and mossie are on top of the list!)!

The Betty was just crap(it only had long range) was called a heavy bomber by the japanese and better could be called a twin engined light bomber or a heavy convoy fighter (BTW Japan had much better bomber like the P1Y Frances or the Ki-67 Peggy)!

B-26 was not as versitile as the b-25/mossie/Ju-88

 

Might as well ask "who's the best looking woman over the last 6 years?"

 

In my local, none of them :lol:
Oli
Unless I've had far too much to drink

 

o I have seen some crackers in Italy, norway and Holland over the last couple of years. Which was the best.... they all have plus and minus points. Is a goodlooking woman better than one that cooks, or brings you refills.

 

AFAIK the Ju 390 had a bombload of 1800 kg (Versuchs 3). The Mossie could carry that, at a greater speed.
Oli

 

Didn't ask if she is better at doing specific tasks ... just whether she's the best looking during the last 6 years. Reminds me of an old joke: Old mountain man decides he finally needs a woman in his lonely hermitic life, so he decides to post an ad in the village down in the valley. The notice says: Looking for woman to live with old man in his cabin in mountains. Must cook, clean, wash, mend, chop wood, and fish. Must have own boat. Send picture of boat.