What Is Your All Time Favorite Fighter Airplane?

[Texas Star]

....one of these 'What's the best' things without filling up a page.

Too many factors, time, theater. adversary, tactics. The P-39 did VERY poorly in Europe but it was loved by pilots in the Pacific.

Even another factor. Chuck Yeager waxed an opponent with clearly superior plane then traded planes and did the same with the inferior plane. Pilot skills matter. A lot.

I don't think the P-39 was liked by any but the Russians, who used it mainly for ground attack. Why do you think it was admired in in the Pacific? From all I've read, it was pretty easy meat for Japanese fighters. Could you be thinking of the P-38, a VERY differed plane? The P-38 wasn't liked in Europe, where its lack of a cockpit heater half froze pilots at the high altitudes usually involved in air combat. In the Pacific, battle was usually lower.

Late P-38's with heaters, combat flaps and dive brakes that let them pull out of previously unrecoverable high speed dives let them perform better. Our top pilots in late P-38's could even turn inside a Zero! Both leading US aces flew P-38's. And both fought only against Japan. But late P-38's were probably deadly, even against FW-190's.

I have read Yeager's books, but can't at once recall the incident that you cited. Can you elaborate? I remember him surprising a Polish or Czech pilot in a MiG when he flew an improved F-86 and could come right up alongside the previously better climbing MiG. No actual combat was involved, just bluster. I do agree that a better pilot will often save the day, even against a better enemy plane. And I think that's all that will save us from the present Russian planes if we ever go to war. The F-22 is the bright spot, but the F-35 seems lacking. And the latest Chinese planes, modelled on Russian, are probably serious threats. I think our pilots are better. I hope... Australia operates Hornets, and I think their pilots are also probably better than most Chinese opponents. I'm deeply concerned that we may someday see war with China.

 

[ParadiseRoad]

Hans-Ulrich Rudel. The only German soldier to earn the: Knights Cross w/ golden oaks, swords and diamonds:

 

[Texas Star]

Thanks! I've never before seen that medal close up.

When Rudel surrendered after the war ended, a RAF officer saw that in the officers mess and asked, "My god, how many lives must that have cost?!"

Unlike some Luftwaffe pilots, Rudel was a fervent Nazi and I don't think he ever changed his views. He was nevertheless a very valiant man.

I believe he carried a .25 auto, but don't know the make and model. Does anyone here know for sure? I suppose that he must have relied on precise bullet placement if he ever had to use the pistol, and it was convenient to wear. Most of their pilots had .32's. (7.65mm)

 

[Texas Star]

Re the A -7:

My son built me a detailed plastic model of an A-7 in his early teens. I still have it, take good care of it. I suppose that he'll get it back one day, and maybe his son, due this fall, will eventually own it.

 

[two-bit cowboy]

Re the A -7:

My son built me a detailed plastic model of an A-7 in his early teens. I still have it, take good care of it. I suppose that he'll get it back one day, and maybe his son, due this fall, will eventually own it.

The Corsair II was a great bird. Had the pleasure of handling many of them in the pattern at Nellis AFB through the years, including the 'Force's last A-7 unit that was actually a ruse for the now-venerable "stink bug" or "wobbly goblin" (F-117 Nighthawk, which -- with no disrespect intended -- should aptly be named the A-117 because it's not at all a fighter jet, but then, neither was the A-7).

 

[Gulfecho]

The Fokker Eindecker...the first production fighter airplane designed to fire while the propeller was only horizontal to the machine gun. In other words, developed to fire through the rotating propeller. Prior to this, everybody was just taking pot shots from the side or firing over the propeller. Due to the successful union of a synchronized machine gun to a fighter, tactics evolved and the dogfight evolved.

 

[Gulfecho]

One of my all time favorite paintings of a Spitfire emerging from the clouds. My cousin painted an exact replica of this piece for me in watercolor. It hangs proudly in my office now that I got married.

 

[cmort666]

The Fokker Eindecker...the first production fighter airplane designed to fire while the propeller was only horizontal to the machine gun. In other words, developed to fire through the rotating propeller. Prior to this, everybody was just taking pot shots from the side or firing over the propeller. Due to its success as a fighter, tactics evolved and the dogfight evolved.

It wasn't a very good plane, being both underpowered and relatively unmaneuverable with its wing warping controls.

On the other hand, until the DH1, it was the only real "fighter" as we understand it today.

 

[Gulfecho]

It wasn't a very good plane, being both underpowered and relatively unmaneuverable with its wing warping controls.

On the other hand, until the DH1, it was the only real "fighter" as we understand it today.

cmort666-please see the last edited sentence in post 147. It is most accurate. Thanks.

 

[hoosierone]

Spitfire

One of my all time favorite paintings of a Spitfire emerging from the clouds. My cousin painted an exact replica of this piece for me in watercolor. It hangs proudly in my office now that I got married.

This print hung in my office for many years. I had many positive comments on it and it startted many a conversation with ex-military pilots.

 

[Roberto Renauld]

North American P-51D, and North American F-86 Saber!!!!, Excellent Fighters and fighter bombers too!!!!...
Regards
Roberto

 

[REM 3200]

Several have brought up the F-4. Here is a German AF F-4 turnin' and burnin'.

 

[ParadiseRoad]

...not a fighter...but worthy of mention here due to it's Mach 2 performance...the B-58 Hustler was a cold war strategic bomber operational between 1960 and 1970...

"The B-58 set 19 world speed records, including coast-to-coast records, and one for the longest supersonic flight in history. In 1963, it went from Tokyo to London (via Alaska), a distance of 8,028 miles (12,920 km) in 8 hours, 35 minutes, 20.4 seconds, averaging 938 miles per hour (1,510 kilometres per hour). As of 2016, this record still stands."

...General Jimmy Stewart became a member of the "Mach 2 Club" in one...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYvsjGroa78[/ame]

 

[BillyMagg]

Over 3,300 Typhoons were made. They think 25 were lost due to the tail failure.

Pulling up out of a power dive (common for a ground attack airplane) with a 2,200 hp engine in your nose, will structurally test every component.

After the war the Hawker Typhoon evolved into the Sea Fury. It was a successful design after the war, and made in large numbers (by British post-war standards). It flew in Korea and had a long service career with a dozen foreign Air Forces. Soldiering on into the 1960's.

The Sea Fury had the excellent Bristol Centaurus 2,500 hp 18-cylinder twin-row radial sleeve value engine. It's round shape gave the Sea Fury a slightly different profile as compared to the Typhoon. The Typhoon had a H-24 engine, which was basically four inline 6-cylinder banks in a cross shape.

There are at least a couple of Hawker Sea Furys still flying today.....

click to enlarge​

As a pilot, one in-flight separation is way to many, just bad for business, and no pilot should have to worry about his ride "coming apart", so just bad JU-JU bwana!

Now as to the very lovely Hawker Sea Fury with its contra-rotating props, now THAT is aero=nautic loveliness all rolled into a kool sounding ride. In the old days, the in-imitable Frank Saunders, with his Hawker Sea Fury, equipped with wing tip vortex smoke generators put on an airshow that made the whole of Oshkosh sit up and take notice. In fact, the Sea Fury gives the lovely Mustang a real challenge for first place in WW-II era aircraft, though I have a very soft spot in my heart for the Spitfire??

 

[Gamecock]

F-104 Starfighter. Another of Kelly Johnson's brilliant designs.

 

[the ringo kid]

I wanted to make another thread with just cool factor so I could point out the Stuka. They are like Lugers, easily recognizable even at distance. They had an auto recovery system in case the pilot blacked out. Just the appearance and those 'Jericho Trunpet' sirens they put on the landing gear shrouds made it a true 'terror weapon'. Something that you would not want to see coming in your direction.

They are in the cool factor. They were out-dated early on but, many pilots stayed with them. Rudel lost a leg, but kept flying. Ive 4-5 original pics of these birds-some in action. I no longer have them online but--one snapshot pic shows a "Rotte +1" just coming out of a dive attack and were maybe about 100 feet off the ground.

 

[Will Carry]

Hans-Ulrich Rudel, the Stuka Pilot, was able to escape capture by the Russians at the end of the war. He and a small group of pilots, with their planes stuffed with personnel, flew to an American air base and crash landed their planes to keep them out of American hands. Rudel was furious that some GIs stole his medals. He was being so arrogant and demanding that one of his interrogators snapped back at him saying "You know the Russians would love to get their hands on you. Maybe we should just turn you over to them!" Rudel didn't miss a beat and said "Yes and I will tell the Russians how I destroyed 500 tanks." Within and hour he had all his medals back.
Rudel was an unrepentant die hard Nazi until he died but he did tell the US Army Air Corp how he destroyed all those tanks. During the Cold War he wrote the book "Stuka Pilot" that was required reading for A-10 pilots.
Here is some rare footage of a Stuka JU87-G. They mounted a 37mm Flak antiaircraft cannon under each wing using Wolfram armor piercing rounds. Rudel would pick targets carefully (Russian tanks that were ahead of the main force) and come in at nape of the earth. The Russian fighters were too high to see him and the Russian Ack Ack crews were looking up and didn't see him until it was too late.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xggnWIamn0Q[/ame]

There used to be a video of just raw footage of a JU-87G without the hoopla. I couldn't find it.

 

[BUFF]

"We heard the high speed run of an engine driven aircraft but could not see it until he came out of his dive and levelled off flying away from us. He came out of the sun, and after levelling off gave us a friendly wag of his wings flying off to parts unknown. It was unmistakably a P51 and one of the guys on the boat speculated that it could be Prime Minister Ki as he was an airforce pilot with a ton of money and influence. Its possible that we were one of the last military boats in a war zone to be buzzed by a P-51."

I don't think that the South Vietnamese Air Force ever operated the P-51. They had the Grumman F-8 Bearcat and then the Douglas A-1 Skyraider.

 

[Freischütz]

Bf-109F series. But I must admit liking the P40 with the shark's teeth.

 

[Cardboard_killer]

Prior to this, everybody was just taking pot shots from the side or firing over the propeller.

Well, technically Roland Garros was firing through the propeller, but that was not a production plane, but a field modification. He was the first to be called an ace.