What Is Your All Time Favorite Fighter Airplane?

[cmort666]

Then you should stay away from all high performance fighters, since virtually everyone had teething problems in the beginning resulting in the loss of airframes and life. Especially, those hurriedly developed, rushed to production, and built entirely during war time.

I've got the Squadron-Signal "In Action" book on the Typhoon and as I recall, they make quite a big deal over it, and I recall it never actually being completely resolved.

 

[the ringo kid]

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.

Rare Hans-Ulrich Rudel Tribute - YouTube

Great video, and only two things wrong with it. 1) At the beginning, they showed a Japanese plane with meatball. 2) The Rudel quote is slightly incorrect. It actually is: "Lost are those who abandon themselves." Other than that--and I got no sound--those are the only two mistakes I saw.

 

[the ringo kid]

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

The German's too-used Sharks Teeth-and Mickey Mouse.

 

[the ringo kid]

Is this is a Polikarpov I-15? It's on display at the CAF msuuem in Midland, TX.

Those too were tough birds to shoot down.

 

[cmort666]

Those too were tough birds to shoot down.

When they were introduced, they were one of, if not the only four gun fighters in service.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

I've got the Squadron-Signal "In Action" book on the Typhoon and as I recall, they make quite a big deal over it, and I recall it never actually being completely resolved....

25 tail separations out of 3,300 Typhoons during war time conditions. Add to that the 1,700 Tempests and 800 Furys (which remained in armed service for over 20 years). Including direct derivatives, it's over 5,800 airframes. It was a problem identified early in service, they took measures to fix it, and moved on. It's just a fact high performance aircraft will come apart when flown at, and beyond, their structural boundaries.

Consider the Lockheed F-16 . One of the greatest planes ever made. That plane lost about 25 airframes PER YEAR during the '80's and '90's. And today it's safety record is considered better than average. Nobody that flies the F-16 thinks it was, or is, an unsafe plane.

The Century Series fighters (the F-102 was particularly awful), and planes like the F-4, the Harrier, the F-111, they all had issues that resulted in a multitude of airframe losses and crew losses.... hundreds.

WWII planes weren't exempt, either. Think of the Martin B-26 Marauder. Remember, "One a day in Tampa Bay"? It went on to have one of the best safety records of any bomber in the ETO. I've lost track of how many planes over the years, from many nations, that have had the nickname "The Widow Maker". It's just the nature of cutting edge flight technology.

Wallpaper suitable artwork of a Hawker Tempest.....

click to enlarge​

 

[cmort666]

25 tail separations out of 3,300 Typhoons during war time conditions.

That's twenty five KNOWN. How many just never came back? I think they touched on that in the book as well.

The Japanese had similar problems with the J2M Raiden "Jack". There was excessive vibration in the long prop shaft, causing engine mount failures. If I remember correctly, they introduced more flexible mounts that failed less often, although I don't think they ever completely resolved the issue.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

That's twenty five KNOWN. How many just never came back?...

Good point. Those old generation of planes didn't have flight data recorders like they do today. Unlike today, during war time they didn't have the luxury of grounding a fleet, or taking months and years to analyse a single accident. 2,200 raging ponies in the nose can put a lot of torque on a tail unit.

 

[mrchuck]

The pilot flying a Douglas A-1 Skyraider saved me and my MACV-SOG team in 1964.
His close to the ground cannon fire allowed the Huey "slicks" to drop in and get us aboard and outta there.

 

[cmort666]

Good point. Those old generation of planes didn't have flight data recorders like they do today. Unlike today, during war time they didn't have the luxury of grounding a fleet, or taking months and years to analyse a single accident. 2,200 raging ponies in the nose can put a lot of torque on a tail unit.

You run into the same sorts of questions with the Martin Mariner flying boat and the C-46 Commando. Both of them were subject to in-flight explosions without warning. How do you tell if a plane disappeared because it was shot down by a Japanese plane or because it just blew up spontaneously?

There'd be a Japanese record of a plane downed... unless the pilot who shot it down didn't return from the mission... or the records were destroyed during or after the war.

Obviously there'd be no record of a lone plane exploding, except under extraordinary circumstances, like the disappearance of Flight 19. But even then, it's just speculation as only an explosion was described, not WHAT exploded.

 

[Old TexMex]

P-39 Bell Aircobra Uncle flew one in the Pacific, and the Russians loved it on the eastern front to pound the Germans. Unique; rear engine with drive shaft (pilot sat on it ) to the prop, nose cannon, tricycle gear, "car door", nearly 400 MPH, over built for incredible strength, etc.

In 1988 I observed the wreckage of a P39 Airacobra in a bay (Mission Bay as I recall) in far north Queensland. One of a number lost on the flight south from PNG.
An Allison engine from another sat sadly in weeds alongside the Cooktown RSL, a victim of the same fate. Out of fuel and lost in the rainforest of Australia.

 

[tlawler]

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.

That is a bada** picture!

Here are my faves: piston/prop era: P-38 Lightning; honorable mention: P-51 Mustang
jet era: F-4 Phantom; honorable mention: A-10 Thunderbolt

When I was a kid, my dad was stationed at Kaneohe MCAS, then at Laurel Bay MCAS. I fondly remember living in base housing(which always seemed to be in the direct flight path of the runways)and watching the Phantoms take off and land. They seemed to pass less than 100 feet over the house at times. The other planes on my list I know only from movies and air shows, but to me, the Phantom is as iconic to Vietnam as the Huey is.

 

[Mac!Gettothechoppa'!]

F-86 Sabre! Closely followed by the P-47 Jug...

 

[muddocktor]

Yes, the F-8 Crusader. It had the best victory ratio of the Vietnam War. 3 F-8's lost for 19 Mig's shot down. A rate of 6 to 1 for the Crusader, when the overall rate for the US was only about 3 to 1. The F-8 remained in service as a fighter until the last Essex class carrier, the Oriskany, was withdrawn from service in '75. The last Crusaders in service were the photo recon RF-8's that stayed in service with the reserves until '86.

Actually, the Crusader stayed in service with the French off of their carriers until around 1999-2000 or so. The Crusader was a remarkable aircraft for it's era and was the naval contemporary of the F-100 Super Sabre. But it was a much faster aircraft than the F100 while using the same J-57 engine and like the F-100, was adapted to firing missiles and even bombing. The A-7 Corsair II was a derivative of the F8 and was optimized to be a bomb truck as compared to the F-8 sports car.

 

[muddocktor]

As for my favorite fighter, I would have to classify them by eras because there are too many to have just 1. For WWII, it would be between the P-51 and the ME-262. For Korea, it would definitely be the F-86 Sabre. For Vietnam era, I would have to say the F-4 Phantom. For the 70's through the 90's, it would be a toss up between the F-15 and F-14. Nowadays, it's hard to argue against the F-22 Raptor.

 

[Texas Star]

25 tail separations out of 3,300 Typhoons during war time conditions. Add to that the 1,700 Tempests and 800 Furys (which remained in armed service for over 20 years). Including direct derivatives, it's over 5,800 airframes. It was a problem identified early in service, they took measures to fix it, and moved on. It's just a fact high performance aircraft will come apart when flown at, and beyond, their structural boundaries.

Consider the Lockheed F-16 . One of the greatest planes ever made. That plane lost about 25 airframes PER YEAR during the '80's and '90's. And today it's safety record is considered better than average. Nobody that flies the F-16 thinks it was, or is, an unsafe plane.

The Century Series fighters (the F-102 was particularly awful), and planes like the F-4, the Harrier, the F-111, they all had issues that resulted in a multitude of airframe losses and crew losses.... hundreds.

WWII planes weren't exempt, either. Think of the Martin B-26 Marauder. Remember, "One a day in Tampa Bay"? It went on to have one of the best safety records of any bomber in the ETO. I've lost track of how many planes over the years, from many nations, that have had the nickname "The Widow Maker". It's just the nature of cutting edge flight technology.

Wallpaper suitable artwork of a Hawker Tempest.....

click to enlarge




​

Thanks! No one else has mentioned that good Tempest, the successor at Hawker to the famed Hurricane.

Note the beefed up tail area over the Typhoon and the shorter cannon. The cannon barrel length varied.

Those must have been pretty agile. I read an account of a pilot in one who chased a FW-190 all over the sky and got it. The FW was no slouch in the air.

No one mentioned the Mirage III or the newer Mirage F-1, either. They had good combat records against MiG's. I have a book on the South African Air Force, with a great pic of a Mirage in low, firing rockets. Impressive. The Mirage was evolved into the Kfir in Israel and the Cheetah in South Africa. You can spot them easily, as they have canards.

Anybody like the Swedish Gripen/Gryphon, used also by South Africa and I think, others?

Swiss pilots are said to be very skilled at operating in their mountainous terrain. They've flown Mustangs, Hawker Hunters, Mirages, and Hornets, among others.

The RAF got good results from Jaguars and Tornados over Iraq.

 

[31FordA]

Actually, the Crusader stayed in service with the French off of their carriers until around 1999-2000 or so. The Crusader was a remarkable aircraft for it's era and was the naval contemporary of the F-100 Super Sabre. But it was a much faster aircraft than the F100 while using the same J-57 engine and like the F-100, was adapted to firing missiles and even bombing. The A-7 Corsair II was a derivative of the F8 and was optimized to be a bomb truck as compared to the F-8 sports car.

Yes, I forgot to mention the F-8 in French service, thanks for adding it. The Phillipine Air Force operated a small number for a time also. NASA operated some F-8's as research aircraft until recently I believe. The A-7 stayed in service until after the 1st Gulf War, retiring in the mid '90s.

 

[cmort666]

Swiss pilots are said to be very skilled at operating in their mountainous terrain. They've flown Mustangs, Hawker Hunters, Mirages, and Hornets, among others.

And Bf109s and MS406s.

 

[comtedeloach]

Corsair, P38, Tempest, FW190 those are the class of the litter from WWII. With an honorable mention for the Do-335 Arrow.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[TAROMAN]

Mud Fighters Rule

As a former soldier it has to be the A10 Thunderbolt II:

And for my father's generation, it would be the P47 Thunderbolt:

Especially the "razorback"
The Jug's record against all opposing aircraft is remarkable. The ratio of kills to losses was unmistakably a winner.
Thunderbolt pilots destroyed a total of 11,874 enemy aircraft, over 9,000 trains, and 160,000 vehicles.