COMMENTS:
Playing Il-2 I come to realize there is no such thing as "the best fighter". All fighter must be analysed according to what you want them to do and they are fighting with. So:
P-51 had a decent maneouvrability, high speed and good armament. His best feature was the long range. However the engine wasn't protected, so just one lucky shot and the 51 was dead. The Bf-109 could outmaneuver the 51 quite easy, while the 51, even if it was able to outmanoever the FW, had a hard time to bring the german fighter down, because of the FW's excellent armor. As a conclusion the P-51 could fight the german fighter, but the results really depend on the pilots skills.
The Corsair: good maneouvrability, high speed, good armament but still couldn't outmanoeuver the japanese fighters. However, due to the weak protection of the early jap fighters and of speed advantage, the Corsair could easily bring down any jap fighter.
Spitfire: exelent manoeuvrability, good armament, but low speed and not enough ammunition. He could bring down the Bf-109, but his limited ammo made the fighter inadequate to fight with the FW-190 (to bring down the FW you would've need to deal great damage).
About Tempest I don'tknow much except that he didn't have too much maneouvrability.
Bf-109: excelent maneouvrability, good speed, but: short range, week armament and, compared to FW, not enough armor. Overall it was a good fighter, but I wouldn't say it was the best.
FW-190: high speed, extraordinary armament (on the first versions) and decent maneouvrability (the latest version D9 had low maneouvrability). Trouble is that he was rapidly losing speed when turning, although he was also rapidly recovering that speed . He was far better then any russian fighter (except for the latest versions of Yak, no russian fighters had the armament to bring the FW down). But against allied fighters, the german pilots' skills were decisive. They were also excelent against bombers .
Me-262? You just can't compare him to any propeller-driven fighter of the WWII.
The Zero: excelent maneouvrability (could outmaneouver any american fighter) and good armament, but: low speed, low protection, troubles with the engine due to overheating and also in the early carburator versions, the engine stopped when diving. Later in war as the Corsair and Wildcat appeared and the japs lost most of their experienced pilots, the Zero really didn't stand a chance in a meeting with american fighters.
Ki-84: very good armament, good speed (but still inferiour to P-51, Corsair or Wildcat), excelent maneouvrability. It was the best jap fighter, didn't had any troubble in bringing down any american fighter. Excelent against american bombers (he was specially built for that), but only a small number of such fighters was built (so not enough numbers...).
Yak 3 or 9: excelent maneouvrability, good speed, but poor armament in the early versions: one machinegun and one 13,5 mm gun. Had his chance in a meeting with a Bf-109, but almost none against a FW-190 or a bomber. The latest Yak 9 versions were equiped with a 30 or 40 mm nose cannon. However the fire rate was low and only a short burst was posible before losing the enemy fighter from it's sight, because of the recoil of the gun. Those 30 and 40 mm Yak versions were suited against bombers and had a chance against the FW-190. But I would say the best russian fighter was the Lag-5: good maneouvrability, good speed, good armament. Both suited against the Bf-109 or FW-190. But that doesn't mean the Lag-5 was better than the german counterparts.
The ultimate, best fighter plane of WW2 is the Messerschmitt Me 262. Without a doubt if Germany had it earlier in the war it would've dominated the skies.
Germany DID have the ME-262 "earlier" - by 1942, in fact. Me-262 was fast, but that's all. It was so unreliable that more of them crashed than were shot down, and Germany was never able to have more than a few dozen flyable at any one time. Like the Spitfire, the Me-262 had good performance but did not deserve its legendary mystique.
The overall best the P-51. Other planes could match its speed and maneuverability but no other fighter did so many different things so well as P-51.
It never ceases to amaze me how little many of you Americans actually know. All you're interested in is whether it has a US flag on it or not. Pricks.
the british raf used hurricanes and spitfires and they shot down the german planes. which won the british the battle of britain.
no american planes were involved in this most crucial part of ww2
the doodlebug was the safest for the Germans ...
the yak?? hahahahah, okay, where is someone getting all the votes for that pile of a plane?
A6M Zerio
the P-51 mustang was crap until they put the engine in which was taken out of britains spitfire and hurricane,rolls royce engine
you could say if the germans had the Me 262 in larger numbers and earlier then things could have been different, but the same could be said of the RAF's Gloster Meteor.
oh come on now, the gloster meteor??? that wasn't even half the plane the ME262 was, the 262 was an amazing accomplishment, and had hitler not continually insisted that the plane be made into a bomber (because late in the war he refused to let go of the idea that he could STILL bomb britain and win the war through strategic bombing) the war would have most certainly been extended, but I don't think the outcome would have been any different.
I'm not saying it was a better plane, i'm just saying that there are plenty of things the allies could have done differently in the war aswell
Voted : Supermarine Spitfire
hey johan its a game, its means nothing. BTW Spitfire Mk9 beats all other piston fighters
Voted : Supermarine Spitfire
won the battle of britain with the huricane
Yak 3 for sure! Boeing 737?
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