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Posted: 7/17/2017 7:18:32 PM EDT
[#1]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
P38 Fast, turned, climbed, flew like a jet before it's time because of to counter rotating props. Had there been more they would have been the fighter with the most kills. The German pilots tended to respect the Spitfire the most. They had the advantage of flying the opposition planes. The P51 was respected because it was flying over Germany. It was a capable plane, flown by capable pilots, made in considerable quantity, and it had the range to escort bombers the whole way. It wasn't an exceptional dogfighter, but it tied together a number of key things that enabled us to dominate the skies of Germany. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 7:20:22 PM EDT
[#2]
Jug, if my life dependend on it.
8 fifty-cals, a big-ass air-cooled radial (not susceptible to coolant damage issues), tougher-than-hell construction, great overall power/weight performance, great handling with the parabolic wing. Sure, i'd wish I flew a Mustang when i got home. You know..., to impress the girls. But damn, the jug was a tough son of a bitch, which would make sure i actually did get home. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 7:24:50 PM EDT
[#3]
Watch this. WWII double ace who commanded an F-4 Squadron later in Vietnam. One of the most awesome stories you'll see.
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Posted: 7/17/2017 7:26:20 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote History@Whamo |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 7:27:08 PM EDT
[#5]
Corsair, because having MARINES on the side is better.
P-38s are badass but I never really liked them. Hellcats and Jugs are tanks, I would take either depending on theater. P-51s just look like Merica. P-40s are sexy but outclassed. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 7:30:30 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Guess I'm the only person that likes the p-40 It's my favorite plane  
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Posted: 7/17/2017 7:34:52 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Count me in as a member of the F6F cult. :) Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
I've always loved the F6F Hellcat. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/96423/F6F-warbirds-tw-256235.JPG |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 8:15:39 PM EDT
[#8]
I would have to fly the P-47. It was more durable than the Mustang, had longer legs than the carrier birds, had a wide tail dragger carriage that would be better suited for non paved runways, and it had quite an impressive bomb load. The P-47 also had a very roomy cockpit (I wouldn't fit in a P-51).
Then there are the guns, P-47s came standard with 8 .50 caliber M2s, and some P-47Ns in the Pacific were fitted with 8 .50 caliber M3s and could spit out 9600rpm of hate. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 8:37:20 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Um, not even close dude. Maj. Jesse Fulmar downed a Mig-15 in his Corsair. He nailed it with his 20mm Cannon flying off the USS Bataan, a light carrier. His was the first ever jet kill by a piston engined fighter. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
The only piston engined plane to shoot down a MiG jet. Developed during WW2 so it counts. Its not it's fault if the war ended early. 
http://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/7/3/7/0306737.jpg?v=v40 
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Posted: 7/17/2017 8:39:50 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I've always loved the F6F Hellcat. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/96423/F6F-warbirds-tw-256235.JPG Best fighter of the war, hands down. It just came around too late to be as famous as the P-47/51/38 |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 8:49:10 PM EDT
[#11]
I voted Jug, as it was my Dad's favorite escort plane.
I always thought the P-38 was the shit. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 8:53:03 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Watch this. WWII double ace who commanded an F-4 Squadron later in Vietnam. One of the most awesome stories you'll see.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E85VbXDNVE
http://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-it-became-the-middle-finger-i-couldn-t-raise-in-pr-photographs-the-mustache-became-my-robin-olds-91-71-38.jpg 
His book is a great read.... https://www.amazon.com/Fighter-Pilot-Memoirs-Legendary-Robin/dp/0312569513?tag=vglnk-c102-20 
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Posted: 7/17/2017 8:56:15 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Uhhhh.... there were dozens of jets killed by piston aircraft in WWII years before the MiG-15 ever flew Chuck Yeager 3, Me-262 0 |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 9:08:51 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Ok if we're going there (aircraft that were developed during WWII but didn't enter service until the very end or soon after) I'll take a P-80 Shooting Star. At least it was in the air doing fighter shit before the end of the war. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 9:30:38 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuote HistoryQuoted:
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Poll question specified 'US Fighters.' If not I would have voted for the Spitfire. Lacked range and compared to the P-51, but it was a consummate dogfighter in the hands of a pilot who knew how to use it. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 9:38:11 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Ok if we're going there (aircraft that were developed during WWII but didn't enter service until the very end or soon after) I'll take a P-80 Shooting Star. At least it was in the air doing fighter shit before the end of the war. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
F8F Bearcat would kick all the OP's listed aircraft's ass in a 1v1. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 9:42:39 PM EDT
[#17]
Poll fail.
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Posted: 7/17/2017 10:05:34 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Logic says F4U , family history says P51. Either would be effective with someone who actually knew how to fight in one. I don't know how to run any of them. Figured the 47 would be the easiest to fly, so that's what I picked |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 10:10:05 PM EDT
[#19]
F8F Bearcat
I've played enough War Thunder to know this is the obvious answer. Version 1B, becuase .50 cals fucking suck |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 10:19:27 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
America's top ace, Richard Bong, flew a P-38. I'll go with his choice. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 10:24:07 PM EDT
[#21]
I know and agree that the P-51 was/is the 'sweetheart' of WWll fighters, and I don't disagree.
But if I had my choice - I want the P-47! |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 10:30:23 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
P-47N Thunderbolt http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/P47N-Thunderbolt.jpg you can't go wrong with eight .50s, a damn near bullet prof P&W R2800 Double Wasp, and the N model's longer range |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 10:48:39 PM EDT
[#23]
Lots of bronies here apparently.
Fuck the rustang. Thunderbolt hands down. Though if I had an option for any WW2 fighter, it'd be the Dora-9. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 10:50:47 PM EDT
[#24]
P-38 gives me a hard on. Just hopefully not freezing my balls off fighting Nazis.
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Posted: 7/17/2017 10:56:32 PM EDT
[#25]
A close race between the P47N, 8 .50 cals and built like a tank, and the F4U-1C, Who doesn't want 20mm guns?
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Posted: 7/17/2017 10:57:19 PM EDT
[#26]
P 38's weren't used much in Europe.
Don't know if it's true but I remember reading the increased humidity and colder temperatures caused some supercharger issues. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 11:01:16 PM EDT
[#27]
P38
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Posted: 7/17/2017 11:25:43 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
P 38's weren't used much in Europe. Don't know if it's true but I remember reading the increased humidity and colder temperatures caused some supercharger issues. With better multi-engine training and a better cockpit layout with better heating, the P-38 could have an awesome fighter in Europe, like it was in the Pacific. |
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Posted: 7/17/2017 11:29:27 PM EDT
[#29]
My Uncle, Col. Gerald "Jerry" Brown, flew both the P38 Lightning and P51 Mustang in WW2, and the F86 in Korea. He said he thought the P38 was the best plane he ever flew.
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Posted: 7/18/2017 3:58:20 PM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yes, there it is! @Whamo Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yes, there it is! @Whamo 
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Posted: 7/18/2017 5:14:13 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
P 38's weren't used much in Europe. Don't know if it's true but I remember reading the increased humidity and colder temperatures caused some supercharger issues. Written from a bomber crews perspective: 
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Posted: 7/18/2017 5:21:35 PM EDT
[#32]
Mustang or Thunderbolt, the P-38 is out as it's heater wasn't very effiecent, and the Allison was sometimes hard to get parts for in the european theater. Hellcats real claim to fame was ruggedness, I know it had a high kill ratio but let's put that in context, what were they flying against, it was later in the war, and we had a overwhelming number of them. P-40 was just plain obsolete, and the corsair was a great plane, but it had some nasty manners that hold it back, except for the most seasoned of pilots.
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Posted: 7/18/2017 5:31:37 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I like to hunt and drink beer at night with my friends. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_P-61_Black_Widow http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/p-61-black-widow-caught-in-the-web-stu-shepherd.jpg The Northrop P-61 Black Widow, named for the American spider, was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed to use radar.[2][3] The P-61 had a crew of three: pilot, gunner, and radar operator. It was armed with four 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano M2 forward-firing cannons mounted in the lower fuselage, and four .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns mounted in a remote-controlled dorsal gun turret. http://www.planefax.com/radar/widow-3.jpg |
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Posted: 7/18/2017 5:38:44 PM EDT
[#34]
P-80
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Posted: 7/18/2017 5:43:40 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
P-80 |
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Posted: 7/18/2017 5:47:07 PM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
This is a great article about why the P-38 wasn't more successful in Europe. http://www.historynet.com/p-38-flunked-europe.htm With better multi-engine training and a better cockpit layout with better heating, the P-38 could have an awesome fighter in Europe, like it was in the Pacific. |
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Posted: 7/18/2017 5:50:25 PM EDT
[#37]
Juggies!!
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Posted: 7/18/2017 6:09:30 PM EDT
[#38]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I've always loved the F6F Hellcat. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/96423/F6F-warbirds-tw-256235.JPG Ain't no body got time for a competent enemy. 
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Posted: 7/18/2017 6:11:56 PM EDT
[#39]
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Posted: 7/18/2017 6:13:06 PM EDT
[#40]
The p51 had a revolutionary wing design and was ahead of its time with the bubble cockpit.
P51 everytime, but at least once with the F4U because they look cool and baa baa blacksheep. |
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Posted: 7/18/2017 6:20:44 PM EDT
[#41]
All of them.
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Posted: 7/18/2017 6:26:58 PM EDT
[#42]
Oh, and one thing to remember guys is, in WW2 the control surfaces for the planes were manual.
As per Chuck Yeager's book, in a dogfight you get physically worn out from muscling the controls around (not to mention high G maneuvers without modern flight suits). What this means is, as Chuck put it, you were at an advantage in a knockdown, drag out, dogfight if you were physically stronger than the other guy. If it went on long enough, apparently you could see the fatigue of the other guy by how the maneuvers he was making changed. |
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Posted: 7/18/2017 6:34:37 PM EDT
[#43]
My number 1 pick is obvious. Number 2 is P47.
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Posted: 7/18/2017 6:49:59 PM EDT
[#44]
Well . . . I had no real option other than to pick the P-40 Warhawk as it's what my dad flew over the CBI "hump" with the 14th AF in '43-'45.
He loved that plane. |
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Posted: 7/18/2017 7:16:41 PM EDT
[#45]
Thunderbolt for reasons already given.
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Posted: 7/18/2017 7:26:31 PM EDT
[#46]
P-38 is the coolest looking airplane of that era in my opinion. I'm going with that.
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Posted: 7/18/2017 7:28:08 PM EDT
[#47]
P-51. It shot down the most ME-262s by far.
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Posted: 7/18/2017 7:57:38 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The p51 had a revolutionary wing design and was ahead of its time with the bubble cockpit. P51 everytime, but at least once with the F4U because they look cool and baa baa blacksheep. |
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Posted: 7/18/2017 7:57:44 PM EDT
[#49]
P47 with the bubble cockpit. An all around great aircraft. Probably the most likely to see action as well with its CAS role.
After that p38 because it's just sexy. |
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Posted: 7/18/2017 8:25:16 PM EDT
[#50]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The only piston engined plane to shoot down a MiG jet. Developed during WW2 so it counts. Its not it's fault if the war ended early.
http://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/7/3/7/0306737.jpg?v=v40 Lol at the Hellcat fans, couldn't hold a candle to the Hog. The F4U is THE plane for 20,000 and below. Above that, any of the USAAF (38,47,51) aircraft. But all around........the Corsair was the best fighter of the war. |
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