Coolest aircraft made during WW2


  • Actually I do stand corrected. My WWII mag says between 9 to 14 aircraft shot down. All that from 279 Komets? Not the most impressive combat record.


  • Komets were great!!! 4 the allies…


  • I think De Havilland’s Mosquito deserves some mention; the amazing twin engine wooden bomber with no armament. As fast as anything else in the skys at the time and incredibly versitale; it was developed into everthing from a night fighter into a reconnaissance plane.


    • Delete this post -

    [ This Message was edited by: TG Moses VI on 2002-03-24 19:36 ]


  • I agree, the Mosquito was used for all sorts roles: night fighter, bomber, ground attack aircraft, photo reconnaissance plane, transport, and ship killer. Heck it even served as a trainer.


    Never before have we had so little time in which to do so much

    [ This Message was edited by: TG Moses VI on 2002-03-24 19:40 ]


  • My 1st choice: Naval-refitted JU-87 “Stuka”

    http://members.tripod.com/EFaust/aircraft.htm

    I’m sorry, that is just so cooool…

    2nd choice: P-40 “Warhawk”: no frills, just “chug-a-lug”–what can I say, I like the old clunkers! :grin:

    3rd choice: Me 410 “Hornisse”. Brutal firepower, plus the forward-mounted engines make it look intimidating…

    My picks…

    Oh wait! Runner-up would be the Focke-Wulf 190–best Axis fighter of the war, hands-down…

    Ozone27

    [ This Message was edited by: Ozone27 on 2002-03-25 20:12 ]


  • didn’t Hans Rudel use a Stuka with a 30mm cannon to kill tanks? He was a tank ace, and he even sunk a russian battleship…with a Stuka!


  • Yes…twin 30mm cannons mounted on the wings. This was a common conversion later in the war for use against Armor on the Eastern Front. I think each cannon could only fire about 20 rounds apeice–'cuz that’s all the Stuka could carry!

    Ozone27


  • Stukas sound the coolest. I like the Jap Zeros as well, the white ones. Its a tight little aircraft.


  • Yeah, the zeros were amazing aircraft. The Nakajima Ki-84 was probably one of the finest all-around aircraft of the war. The only problem was that most Japanese pilots (after 1943) were inexperienced and unable to effectively pilot such an aircraft.


  • Well thats what you gey for raming your planes into amarican ships.

    i like the RAF hurrican, good bomber killer and better handling then the spitfire


  • Of all the things about WW2 that ive read or watch, never once had i heard anything about Russain aircraft.


  • The russians had some very excellent designs, although generally inferior to German aircraft. They were often much cruder machines although German pilots generally respected the flying characteristics of such outstanding aircraft as Yaks and La-5/La-7s


  • On 2002-03-26 16:46, mini_phreek wrote:
    Well thats what you gey for raming your planes into amarican ships.

    i like the RAF hurrican, good bomber killer and better handling then the spitfire

    it is “American”, and i believe the kamikaze attacks (organized ones) started in 44.

    the spitfire was 100 MPH faster (well,later ones…)


  • i said better handling that means it has better stall recovery and the turn and bank is smoother.


  • A big problem with Western Historians is that they tended to regard the the reason why Germans aces were able to amount such an amazing kill rate on the Eastern War as due to “inferior” Russian design and pilots. But the Yakovlev Yak 9 and La-7 was one of the best fighters of the war and Herman suggested that the Germans avoid dogfighting with the La-7 at altitudes below 5,000 meters.


  • On 2002-03-26 17:18, Soon_U_Die wrote:
    For its role…hands down the Russkie Sturmovik ground assault aircraft.

    Joseph Stalin…promptly ordered that production of the Sturmovik was to take priority over production of all other weapon systems, ground or air.

    SUD

    Yes, the Ilyushin 2 was an awesome aircraft–nicknamed the flying tank (much like the American P-47 “Thunderbolt”) because of its ability to take incredible damage and still bring one home–definitely a plus for the pilot…

    I, too think ground-attack planes deserve more of the limelight…

    Ozone27


  • A lot of the german aces shot a good deal of aircraft down before Russia.
    Still, by statistics, the Russian planes were inferior (well, maybe equal to a crappy Me 109.)


  • The ME 109 was not a “crappy” aircraft.


  • Actually at lower altitudes (where most of the fighting on the Eastern Front took place) Russian planes had the advantage. The only exception I can think of to this are the MiGs; they were fairly poor below 16,500 ft but they were great above that, being a full 30 mi/hr faster than a Bf 109 at altitude. Since there were no Bf 109s (or other German aircraft) at that altitude MiGs were used as high altitude recon craft.
    I believe that most German aces on the Eastern Front got a large number of their kills when strafing the virtually unprotected airfields in the early days of the invasion when an unholy percentage of the VVS was destroy.

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