Planes

[SleepTrgt]

I see thats the german version of the ohka?

[Soviet Ace]

Originally Posted by yanks12025

The P-38 is the second greatest war plane of WW2 behind the P-51 mustang.

You've obviously never heard that kill ratio between P-38's and Me-109's. Unless it was piloted by a good well trained and knew how to handle the plane well pilot, the Me-109's tore through P-38s. That's why most were transfered to the Pacific theatre.

If you want to know the best planes in WW2, it would have to be the Yak-3 which could take on a FW-190 in an even fight at low to mid-altitudes. And for a plane that could take on a Me-109 in a fare fight would be the Spitfire Mk 9.

[chacal49]

All i want is the Yak 3

[butterfield]

Originally Posted by yanks12025

The P-38 is the second greatest war plane of WW2 behind the P-51 mustang.

In what respects are you referring ? fighter vs fighter ? ground attack? bomber attack? I hate to say it but the P-38 was not the "greatest" in any of these categories

[corvettefan]

I want to see a P40.

[HauptmannMolders]

Ah yes the old "What plane is Best" argument. Basically there is no such thing as the best plane. There are those that are specialized and therefore better than most in one specific area and there those that were decent in all areas but not spectacular in any one area. Depending on the amount of money available to any given airforce to devolop and manufacture aircraft the big money forces like the USAAF could develop multiple spceialized aricraft whereas the Germans were somewhat limited espcially towards the end and would therefore find more value in a good all around ship. The FW190 would be a good example, a good fighter that also worked well as a ground attack aircraft. It could easily out turn a 109 but could not climb as well. Therefore the 109 worked well for guys like Hartmann who would use the dive, attack and flee tactic that the 109 excelled at, 352 kills, hard to deny it worked. The FW190 worked well for guys like Nowotny who didnt do anything spectacular in the 109 but blossomed in the 190 as he was more of a true dogfighter, 205 kills in a 190, hard to deny this works as well!

I have "favourites" as well, the Fw 190D9, the Ta 152 and pretty much any Spit but I wouldn't say anything was the best just different!

[Riccster09]

I for one would like to see the B-25. Such an awesome plane especially when they slapped the 75mm(correct me if i'm wrong) cannon underneath it. Another plane that i'd like to see is the mosquito. Really neat plane, and made out of wood.

[David603]

Originally Posted by yanks12025

The P-38 is the second greatest war plane of WW2 behind the P-51 mustang.

Purely if you want the best dogfighters, a late model Corsair or a Spitfire XIV would walk all over either of those planes, and the Corsair had a pretty good range too. Even the older Merlin engined Spitfires like the VIII, IX and XVI could outclass either plane in a dogfight, even if the P51 is faster by around 30mph. The later Russian fighters like the Yak 3 and La7 would be all over a P38 and more than a match for a P51 once the fight slowed down slightly.

The P38 was withdrawn from Europe because it could not hold its own against the Bf109 and Fw190, and sent to the Pacific where its speed advantage over the slow Japanese fighters allowed safe use of BnZ tactics all day long and ensured a good kill/death ratio.

Edit: I see a lot of other people have also responded to this post. Should have checked the next page of posts before I replied.

[manintrees]

It's blowing my mind that none of you have mentioned the P-47 Thunderbolt or the ass-whoopin' F6F Hellcat from the PTO.
Both of these planes have insane kill ratios and are well known for their effectivness versus the FW 190's/Me 109's and the Zeroes respectively.

[David603]

Originally Posted by manintrees

It's blowing my mind that none of you have mentioned the P-47 Thunderbolt or the ass-whoopin' F6F Hellcat from the PTO.
Both of these planes have insane kill ratios and are well known for their effectivness versus the FW 190's/Me 109's and the Zeroes respectively.

P47 is quite good, but only at high altitude and it suffered from having the manoeuvrability of a barge, and the F6F worked well against Zeros but would be too slow to see effective use in Europe.

If I'm flying a Bf109 in Il2 1946 and I see a P47, the only part of the combat I'm worried about is getting past the 8 .50cals if the pilot tries a head on pass. Once I'm past these the only way a P47 is going to survive is either having a pilot far better than me or by using its weight to dive for the deck, and if I can spare the time and don't have to fight anyone else I will get him when he starts to climb back up to altitude again.

The F6F was certainly a good plane in its place and time, but it isn't even a contender for best fighter.