"best fighter of ww ii?

[Bill Greenwood]

The current Warbirds mag has an interesting article where John Fredrickson calls the P-51 "the best fighter of WW II." Maybe, but not so fast, the 51s best feature of long range is not the most vital feature of the entire war.
First of all, the 51 was certainly not the best of 1940 nor or 41, it wasnt even in the war. The Spitfires and Hurricanes, with their pilots and radar had won the Battle of Britain and Spitfires finally won the Battle of Malta in 41 and 42, and it wasnt with 51s. In fact the 51 really wasnt in the war the first few years and didnt become a real factor until the end of 43 when the first Merlin powered B models went into ops.They were not there when the alies flew the missions to Regensburg and Schweinfurt and the bombers were decimated by Luftwaffe, with almost 15% shot down and lots returned with damage and wounded. The first A model with its Allison engine was no match for a 109, nor as good as a Spit Mk V. So the war was half over by the time the first effective 51 came to European operations.
The B model had trouble with engines at first, perhaps a result of Packard changing Rolls Royce design somewhat and making problems, and also trouble with guns jamming when fired in a g loaded turn. But the B was fast and very long range and a big step up from a P-40 or an A model. They did their part in the war and if not as good a dogfighter as a Spitfire or ground attack as a P-47 they were good all around.
And in the last part of the war when very long range escort over water in the Pacific was needed they came into their own. So the 51 was the best long range escort fighter of the last part of the war. And by the way, about 15,000 51s were built and 23,000 Spitfires. And the top RAF aces had 38 and maybe 40 kills, thus half again as many as the top 51 pilots.

[Venture92D]

My opinion is the F6F Hellcat was the best fighter of WWII. I think it made more aces than any other aircraft, recorded the most kills as well. The Navy planes are what really won the war so imho the best fighter should be a Navy aircraft.

[Hal Bryan]

My opinion is the F6F Hellcat was the best fighter of WWII. I think it made more aces than any other aircraft, recorded the most kills as well. The Navy planes are what really won the war so imho the best fighter should be a Navy aircraft.

Interesting topic, and one that depends entirely on the criteria you use to define "best". If you're going to go with the airplane that made the most aces, then it has to be the Bf 109 by a long shot, doesn't it?

[martymayes]

Interesting topic, and one that depends entirely on the criteria you use to define "best". If you're going to go with the airplane that made the most aces, then it has to be the Bf 109 by a long shot, doesn't it?

ha ha, I see what you did there.....




More serious note, being on the Russian front, wouldn't that be like shooting fish in a barrel? The kind of gun used is somewhat irrelevant.

[Zack Baughman]

I've interviewed plenty of WWII fighter pilots for the Timeless Voices program. I think the consensus by far is that the best fighter in the war was the one that brought you home.

[Joda]

I've interviewed plenty of WWII fighter pilots for the Timeless Voices program. I think the consensus by far is that the best fighter in the war was the one that brought you home.

Amen to that!

[Floatsflyer]

While I completely agree with Hal that it depends on the criteria used to define "best", in the absence of the foregoing, it absolutely has to be without reservation the Spitfire because it literally and figuratively saved an entire country from invasion, defeat and occupation. And that led to an entire continent not being forever overrun, defeated and occupied.

[rwanttaja]

While I completely agree with Hal that it depends on the criteria used to define "best", in the absence of the foregoing, it absolutely has to be without reservation the Spitfire because it literally and figuratively saved an entire country from invasion, defeat and occupation. And that led to an entire continent not being forever overrun, defeated and occupied.
Weren't there a one or two Hawker Hurricanes in that battle?

Ron "Flying a Sterling Sarcasm " Wanttaja

[Floatsflyer]

Weren't there a one or two Hawker Hurricanes in that battle?

Ron "Flying a Sterling Sarcasm " Wanttaja

Yup, and shot down more German aircraft than the Spitfire during the BofB but I'm a Spitfire esthetic snob.

[choppergirl]

Really depends in what theatre you were in... and at what time in the war.

At the very end, the Mustang was probably the best all around air superiority fighter in Europe... but in the Pacific, the P-38 had the long range and two engines to get you home over that vast Pacific ocean. But if you were on the English or German or Japanese or Russian side, you would say the best fighter was the one you racked up kills in and fit you like a glove.

[Bob Dingley]

My opinion is the F6F Hellcat was the best fighter of WWII. I think it made more aces than any other aircraft, recorded the most kills as well. The Navy planes are what really won the war so imho the best fighter should be a Navy aircraft.
About 20 years ago, there was a memorable volunteer tour guide at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola. He was a short, cocky gent with a big handlebar mustache. Said that he flew SBD's in the big one. He had a group visiting from Japan among his crowd. He pointed to one of the F6F's and said "This plane shot down 9 for each F6F that YOU guys shot down." Then he pointed to the F4U and said "That one got 11 for each one that you got.

The visitors took it stoicly and politely.

[cluttonfred]

I agree that there is no one "best," you need to define the mission, place and time in order to answer this. The best dogfighter was not the best bomber destroyer and the plane with the highest performance did not necessarily have the biggest impact on the course of the war. "Favorites" I can give you: Hawker Hurricane Mk IIC, Bell P-39, Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Oscar), Grumman/GM Eastern FM-2 Wildcat, Yakovlev Yak-3 are some that come to mind.

[Bill Greenwood]

There are better if not one best, a Spitfire or a P-51 is obviously better than marginal P-39 and better than a Hurricane or Wildcat in practically every way, except carrier landings.
A Canadian Spitfire ace from Malta when I asked about landings told me that if you could not do 3 point landings the RAF sent you to fly P-40s and your life expectancy was shorter.


A P-51 can do most everything pretty well and excels in range. A Spitfire is equal or better than a 51 in most everything but range. Neither are as good for gound attack as a P-47.

[Bob Dingley]

Can we include the ME 262?

[Mike M]

Agreed, Mr Baughman! The one that gets you home!

Many people have asked what's my favorite type aircraft. It depends on the task. A Phillips head or Reed&Prince screwdriver may be more elegant than a straight slot to some people, but if it doesn't fit the task it's not my favorite right then.

[Floatsflyer]

Can we include the ME 262?

Not IMO, not nearly enough airtime and operational experience.....thankfully for the white hats.