What's your favorite WWII era fighter (plane)? Bomber?

Question

Why did you choose what you did?

Thanks!

Answer 1

FW-190

B-17

Answer 2

P-40 Warhawk or P-38 Lightning for the fighter

B-17 Superfortress for the bomber

The flying tigers made a good name for themselves with the P-410 and they looked cool with the teeth

My aunt was a "Rosie the riveter" and helped assemble the P-38's

The B-17 had a great service history and I just like the looks.

Answer 3

Being a Brit. I am biased

A plane designed as a point defence fighter

Modified to carry cameras and enough fuel to range as far as Eastern Europe to find out what the enemy was up to

Modified again to carry bombs and work as a mud mover

Capable of being designed for a 950Hp engine yet could have one of up to 2400Hp without serious modification apart from the size of the tail.

A work of art in design and genius engineering.

A symbol of freedom across the world.

Used by every allied nation in the fight for freedom in every theatre of war

In front line service on the first and last days of the war

If anyone can find more a more beautiful aircraft than a Spitfire please send me a link to the picture.

A bomber designed for two underdeveloped and fire prone engines.

When they didn`t work the threw them away, lengthened the wings and nailed 2 Merlins on each side. We Brits are nothing if not resourceful

Capable of carrying 14,000 pounds of bombs to Berlin in Standard form

In modified form capable of carrying a 22 foot long 22,000 pound (Thats not a typo. Near as dammit ten tons) the only WW2 bomber capable of doing so, including the B29.

A beaut to fly and a queen to all the men who flew her.

The Lancaster gets my vote.

I fully expect to get shouted down but let me point out I am not a Yank hating Brit. I give thanks to all for the help we received before and after Pearl Harbour.

Just as a bit of propaganda though.

P-51 Needed the Merlin to make it great. I had a friend who was part of the team at Rolls Royce who "borrowed" one to fit the first Merlin

The Corsair at first was a ***** known as the bent wing b*****d from Stratford Conecticut due to landing problems. The people who sorted it out were the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy

P-38 excelled at Low Level in the Pacific. Over Europe there were myriad failures of the cooling systems. The Rolls Royce team borrowed a P-38 too but there was political pressure to stop the experiment. Apparently the one they did convert was a revelation.

Answer 4

Fighter - P-51 Mustang.

Bomber - B-17 Flying Fortress.

I chose the Mustang because they were versatile enough to shoot down MiG 15s in Korea, and I chose the B-17 because it is one of the safest planes ever built.

Answer 5

P- 51 mustang and B-25 mitchell

Answer 6

The P-51 Mustang!  Although it wasn't quite as fast as the Spitfires, it still had speed.  Plus it was able to climb at 30,000 ft!  Not even the Japanese Zeroes were able to climb that high without stalling.  The P-51 acted as a bomber too.  A very maneuverable plane, agile!  

Answer 7

As much as I love Allied planes, the plane I love most is the ME109. It is the perfect marriage of form and function.

Answer 8

The Australian built P-51 Mustang. This is an American designed aircraft but made in Australia under licence with several minor modifications that made it quicker and more manoeuvrable than the US version.

Answer 9

The P-51 Mustang favorite fighter, with the British Spitfire coming in second.  Being a late comer to WWII meant the Mustang was at the cutting edge when it showed up in the skys of Euorpe.  

I'll say the B-24 Liberator as favoritte bomber.  Sentimental resasons, my Father was a B-24 gunner.  It was a bear to fly, but carried more ordance then the aged B-17.  The B-29 Super Fortress is close second it was a better Aircraft than the B-24 and two of the B-29 effectivly endded the war with the Japan with the help of Fat Man and Little Boy.

Answer 10

Fighter.... The F4U Corsair

Bomber.... The B-24 Liberator  

Answer 11

mustang

it was a great plane for the era

Answer 12

P-51 mustang. It was over all the best fighter, and a pilot even shot down a German jet fighter.