What is the best plane?!

[preb]

I am making a survey of what people think the best plane is in world war 2.
I am also trying to find out which country had the strongest airforce

[Paolo Tagliaferri]

I think that such a question is pretty difficult ... because we should at least divide the question in "best fighter","best bomber" ... or even with more details!

About the strongest AF ... i think USA were numerically and technically the best AF in the WWII in the end, while the Luftwaffe was the best AF in the beginning of the war...

[preb]

I see your point about the americans being the strongest airforce and I agree with you. They would of proved more useful if they came in to the war earlier.

The survey is on fighter planes but i forgot to put that in my message.

Seeya

[simon]

Actually, if you look at the stuff the americans had early on, the result probably would have been a massacre of most of their trained airmen. One reason they entered the war with a strong airforce was that they looked at the results of the early air combats and modified their training and aircraft as appropriate, including seriously up-gunning the B-17s, the early B-17Cs were very poorly armed.

For me, the best prop fighter of the war has to be any of the later Griffon engined Spitfires, like the MkXIV, or the F.24. The best jet fighter was undoubtably the Messerschmitt Me262, and the best experimental fighter probably either the Dornier Do335 Pfiel or Gotha/Horten G0225. The best nightfighter has to be the Heinkel He219.

The problem with rating any one fighter overall as the best is it depends on the intended role, which is why I've sat on the fence a bit and given a list!

I think at the war's end the american's had the strongest overall airforce, although the Russian's definately had the best tactical airforce. Technologically, the luftwaffe was still the most advanced of the airforces at the end.

[preb]

The messerschmitt ME262 was the most developed Jet fighter in world war 2. For a while I have been looking for Information on the messerschmitt 262 but this is the only site which has any info.

If you know about any other websites Which have any info on the messerschmitt ME 262 Please email them to me at microgrizzly@aol.com.

Seeya

[Paolo Tagliaferri]

Hmmm I don't think tgplanes.com is the only website which talks about Me-262 ... I've found a lot just using google ... I'll give you just a sample:

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/air_power/ap11.htm
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/me262.html
http://www.gl.iit.edu/wadc/features/aircraft/ME-262/

And maybe u can find this one useful, there is also a site in it about the Me262 Project (to make it fly again - i tought they've made it in December)
http://www.stormbirds.com

[GregP]

You jet guys forgot about the Lockheed P-80. Faster and more maneuverable than the Me 262.

It has to be the best of WWII. Didn't do too badly in Korea, either, though it was outclassed by the MiG-15. Not bad for a WWII design!

[Michael Monfils]

The question of the "best plane" devolves around the axiom "the right tool for the right job." The specific mission and tactical, operational and strategic factors all influence the decision for the choice of the best fighter.

Still, if I had to fight for my life in one of them, I'd probably go with something like the Spitfire XIV. It has excellent performance at most altitudes, and very good speed and acceleration, maneuverability and climb. Armament is adequate for the pure fighter role. It's about as balanced a design for a dogfighter as one could expect of a 1945 piston-engined monoplane fighter. Sure, some have better armament or protection, and some can dive or roll faster, but the attributes of the late-war Spitfires favor the aggressive pilot. It also doesn't suffer as much the handling flaws that so many high-powered propeller-driven of the era exhibited. The Spitfire's only real fault was its lack of range -- a strategic, rather than tactical weakness.

I think it's pretty obvious that the United States came out of World War Two with the strongest air force. By August 1945 one American B-29 was the equivalent of an ENTIRE air force.