Best War Planes Ever
The best plane ever used by the Armed forces of any country.
The Spitfire was actually of all metal monocoque construction and was designed as a point defense fighter. This was a role which it accomplished with ease. I have looked at the comments made for the Mustang and some of them are fundamentally untrue. The Spitfire was more maneuverable, had a much better rate of climb and a much tighter turn. All round it was a much better dogfighter. The Mustang (and lets not forget it was originally built for our friends across the pond)had radically different design criteria and was pretty much the world's first MRCA. It was a fantastic airplane but not an out and out fighter.
Hmm.. best war planes of all time? Definitely the mustang over the ship fire. Why don't we look at facts, the p51 has been in serious much longer than the spitfire, has much more variants, has greater range, is much faster, could dive better, could climb better, was much more durable (but it wasn't extremely durable). Overall, the P-51 was much better in combat, yet you people think that the spicier is better just because of maneuverability? Laugh out loud, I am not saying that the s pitfire is a bad plane because it was great. But it was definitely not as good as the mustang.
The f-14 Tomcat with TF-30 was tested at about Mach 2.44-2.46. The f-15 eagle has rarely gone that fast, and is limited to mach 2.3 due to safety concerns with the wings and airframe. The tomcat, because of it's variable geometry wings, even with the older tf-30 engines is theoretically capable of the same top speed as the F-111, Mach 2.5+, due to it's variable geometry wings, but about 10,000 pounds lighter weight than the F-111.
With the new GE-F110 engines that provided the tomcat with 30% increase in thrust certainly surpassed it's theoretical limit of Mach 2.4, but due to lack of funding for testing and other upgrades that were planned for the simplification of maintenance, no one knows the top speed of the F-14B and F-14D tomcats. I would imagine Mach 2.65?
An engineering marvel. Everything but the engines was built from scratch. Also, they never lost a plane or a crew member on a mission. No other aircraft can claim that.
Sorry guys, but it's not a fighter. It was a reconnaissance plane.
Fastest fighter ever and stealth technolagy make it the best.
F-22 was in simulated actual maneuvers against a ratio of six to one The F-22 took all others out some without even knowing the Raptor was there. This plane is cutting edge and will most likely be the last fighter jet to be manned as it can fly past what a human can endure in G forces. Its capability and stealth and ability's are way above what any other country has or can produce in numbers
Downfall to a very great plane-price. 150 million dollars per unit. F15s are only 35 million. Yeah they are stealth, but the f-15 is faster and cheaper. If your plane is fast enough you don't even need stealth. Sorry Lockheed-Martin but Boing did a better job.
The introduction of this plane in 1942 changed the bombing campaign for the RAF. The bombsights fitted were far superior to anything that went before. All the best bombing accuracy figures in WW" were obtained using the SABS bombsight in the Lanc. This was a semi-computerised electromechanical sight that was developed because the Americans wouldn't give the RAF their Norden bombsight (which was highly overrated). Think of Peenemunde, The St. Nazaire submarine pens, The Renault factory, Tirpitz, The Coupole, The viaducts after D-Day. The list goes on and on. The bomb carrying capacity was also far greater than any other allied bomber.
Stanley Winfield "Swede" Vejtasa shot down Zeros by dogfighting them in a Dauntless dive bomber! He could out turn the Zeros because anything over a six G turn would rip Zeros' wings off. So would a high speed dive. See the Dogfights episode "Long Odds" on YouTube for Swede's dogfight.
Zeros sucked at everything except rolling fights because of their high roll rate. Stay in high G turns and they'd lose.
When this was built it was far ahead of any other fighter around, it could outmaneuver anything it went up against even at the end of WWII, it achieved an amazing kill ratio of 12 - 1 over China, and it was the first ideal superiority fighter, the Mitsubishi A6M Reisen should most definitely be in the top ten.
Different eras spurred different favorites. I was surprised there was no love for the P-38 here at all. All in all, the record speaks across all eras: never shot down is an amazing stat! And must be acknowledged. That is what superiority is all about!
Yes the other guy's have stealth, super maneuverability, all the best gadgets and gizmos, but when it comes down to getting in a knife fight with the other guy, the Eagle will always come out on top, it's record speaks for its self.
The best figter jet ever. Never lost in air to air combat, has the ability to fly with only one wing after an accident (I'm not kidding, it actually can fly and land after that), and looks really really great.
Without a doubt the greatest feared by many countries in Afghanistan they call it the "Death Machine" and they say "When you see it, don't bother running away or else you'll die tired." This plane is also "The most survivable plane ever built" It's beautiful and tanks are more scared of this weapon of destruction than anything else. This thing did phenomenal in the first gulf war. Go on Google and search "23 tanks destroyed in one day" and guess which plane did that, oh the A-10 Thunderbolt II and it was just one of them not multiple cause everyone knows it would take multiple F 22 Raptors to destroy that much. If this plane was designed for shooting other jets it would be the number one on this list. This jet is the best additional 30 mm cannon too so yeah NUMBER 1!
Gravity defying multi purpose aircraft, with the ability to take off from anywhere.
It can hover making it one of the most manoeuvrable planes ever.
This was the plane that the Red Baron flew!
IL2 STURMOVIK experience
ME 109 G2 - The best climb rate (except probably Spitfire - 9). The incredibly low stall speed (the best ever). The low speed turning. The canon was good against Bombers and in the hand of an expert it was good against fighters too, but I would like the wing mounted machine guns with no canon against fighters. Its high speed performance seems to be bad although later models corrected this to some extent but not incorporated in G2 ( I can always turn G6 as good as P51 above 500 km speed but not with G2). That was an easy fix and could have been incorporated in G2. In IL2 Sturmovik, I (ME 109 G2) outclimbed and outstalled P51B at 12 km Altitude, what is more to say. G2s redline was also lower than the later models.
A beautiful soaring bird. The noise those engines make is amazing.
British nuclear bomber used as a deterrant against the USSR in the cold war.
Su30 mki is best
The fling birds have most skilled pilots in world. Ie Indian pilots
This warrior stood up to the Axis powers when later fighters were still on the drawing board and not in combat. The P-40 is thought to have been obsolescent from its inception. Its naval contemporary, the F4F Wildcat (which is described as being a better opponent for the Zero by World War II magazine) was based on a biplane design! Of course, few authorities mention that. The P-36 airframe wasn't obsolete, merely proven successful. It was actually very sturdy. Secondly, newer fighters, including the P-38, P-47, and P-51 overshadowed it. Finally, its faults (and it had some--all aircraft do) were exaggerated to the point that it seemed impossible for the P-40 to succeed against any enemy aircraft. Although it couldn't out maneuver the Zero (the Warhawk's main foe in the Pacific Theater), neither could the Spitfire, Hurricane, Lighting, Thunderbolt, Mustang, Wildcat. It had an excellent kill ratio. Enough said about its effectiveness.
It is a travesty of justice that it is ranked this low.
If I was in a close sir dogfight, that's the plane I want to be in.
The Tomcat at #2? It doesn't have near the record of the F-15, or near the capabilities. It's the oldest fighter in service and the most expensive to keep flying. (It'll be retired next year)
The P-40 Warhawk at #8? That plane was crap and was barely used once the P-51, P-47 and Corsair entered the war.
The Harrier at #9? Other than the Falkland Islands, it's never done anything and is going to be surpassed by the F-35 soon.
The Blackbird wasn't a "war plane. " It was a reconnisense airplane. It was a camera that could fly at Mach 3. 5.
The A-10, the F-15 Eagle, the BF-109, the Camel, F117 and the F-22 should all replace the Blackbird, P-47, Vulcan, Harrier, Tomcat and Fokker in the top ten.
The Spitfire was a great plane. Would have been greater if it wasn't made of wood...
The "Jug" did more damage and had more kills than any other planes in WWII combined. (Air and ground targets combined)
It had 8-12. 7 wing mounted machine guns.
It carried up to 2500lbs of mounted bombs, rockets and other ordinance.
It had a massive 2535HP radial engine and top speed of 433 MPH. (fast for its size) And great range at 1900 miles.
Most of all, it could take a lot of damage and bring the pilot home. If I had to chose, I would pass on the Spitfire (made of wood) and the P-51D Mustang and take the Thunderbolt.
I can't believe it's not on the list. But it is now!
All the people hating on this for it being outdated just stop. People don't like this because of the bomb load or the speed. They like it because of the name. It's name is what makes it iconic. Have you ever heard a name like the Flying Fortress? I don't think so. Like take the mosquito for instance. Mosquito is the most irritating bug of all time and they named a plane after it. Flying Fortress sounds big and grand like an indestructible (It was rather durable) plane. That's why people like it.
The most well built and strongest plane of all time. You can cry all you want that the Avro lancaster is better (the bomb load was better) but the B17 had 13.50 BMGs all over in all directions and and an undying armor. I think it should find work as a gunship even in modern days.
Last plane in service to score an "Ace". Brought in a new era of jet powered fighters