Gloster Gladiator is the greatest WWII fighter plane. Do you agree ?

Question

I think the Gloster Gladiator is the best WWII fighter. Only 6 of them were based on Malta and they were able to stop the Luftwaffe and the Regina Aeronautica on their tracks. It was the airplane that won the Dessert war for General Montgomery. It served the RAF well during the Norwegian Campaign. It also helped its two lesser capable stable mates Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire defeated the Luftwaffe over England during Battle of Britian. With the Gladiator super agile ability it will eat the Me 262 for breakfast, P 51 for brunch, Yak 9 for lunch, A6M for dinner , and the de Havilland Mosquito for midnight snack.

Answer 1

Nope sorry i don't.The P-51 was probably the greatest fighter produced during the war.The Gladiator isn't even close to being in the same league.Spitfire was a lesser stable mate?You better go do a little research!

Answer 2

Sorry ................ but military experts around the world have already bestowed the honour to the German ME-262.

Answer 3

In each arena of aerial warfare during the WW2, several fighters stood out as being outstanding. Some due to the machines themselves and some due to their pilots. To put a finger on a particular aircraft and classify it as the best, is not doing justice to all the other fighters.

The Gladiator was certainly a great aircraft, the last of the fighting bi-planes. In both the air and naval versions it stood out for its various capabilities and potential. Plus, it was widely used the world over. They did a fine job as far as fighting machines for that era are concerned. Its capabilities were further augmented by some fine pilots. They were, however, a bit early in coming for the impending WW2, when the newer and more modern monoplanes became operational and stole the show. The records, nonetheless, will show that the Gloster Gladiator was a great aircraft and performed splendidly in all the theatres of WW2 in which these fine aircraft were deployed.

Answer 4

they were practically prototypes for after the war, having no serious effect DURING the war. they come 2 late to be of any effect

Answer 5

While the three Gladiators of Malta pulled off some heroic fights they didn't stop the Luftwaffe or the aeronautica. the plane that won the battle of Britain was the spitfire-hurricane combination.  in the desert it was used in putting down a Iranian-Iraqi uprising during the war but that was about the extent of it's glory days as for it's agility I can only say you have got to be kidding me. The gladiator was demolished over Singapore by the zero. In Norway it was slaughtered by the ME-109. In Finland it was beaten by the I-16 a Russian monoplane in short the plane was hopelessly out of date and it's main contribution was to pilot training.

Answer 6

i guess for the results they achieved proportionally, given the resources available, they are the best :)

Answer 7

Hardly the best. Superior piloting kept the THREE Gladiators in the air...up to the end, anyway. At the most three, since there were actually four, but only three were air-worthy.

The BEST WWII fighter plane had to have been the P-51 Mustang.

Answer 8

The Gloster Gladiator was obsolete by 1937.  It's a biplane, for crying out loud!  Have you looked at pictures of the gladiator?  It's a pre-war airplane.

There are numerous fascinating stories of heroic efforts being made by obsolete/obsolescent airplanes in time of war.  But that doesn't make the Glad the "greatest WWII fighter."

No one can call the Hurricane or the Spitfire "lesser capable."  They had much superior performance and maneuverability, and the pilot could see where the %^&* he was going, which the Gladiator pilot can't because of the upper wing.

Make sure you are talking about the airplane you think you are talking about.  The Gladiator was a pre-war biplane.  A fine airplane in its way, no doubt, but no match for the airplanes you mention.

Go back and read more carefully.