Favorite world war 2 plane!

[Otohiko]

P-40 should be the only warplane legally allowed to fly with a "sharkmouth". It has, by and far, the nicest look with the sharkmouth of all planes I've ever seen.

However, knowing a bit about it myself, I'd say it was just a tad slow, poorly armored and prone to stalls... very nicely armed though, I'll give it that.

[Mroni]

I like the Russian WWII planes. La-7, particularly. They were simple, tough and functional machines, nothing fancy.

And oh... I think the most survivable plane of WWII (also, the most mass-produced one) was the IL-2, also Russian. It was literally a tank. 20mm shells bounced off it, and it could literally crash but the pilot would walk away.

Often, I can't believe how much the Eastern Front is disregarded in WWII, considering that about 80% of the actual war (in all terms) happened there.

The il 2 was a toughy good sir but then again so was the stuka. My props for toughest plane still go to the p 40.

Mr Oni

[Mroni]

P-40 should be the only warplane legally allowed to fly with a "sharkmouth". It has, by and far, the nicest look with the sharkmouth of all planes I've ever seen.

However, knowing a bit about it myself, I'd say it was just a tad slow, poorly armored and prone to stalls... very nicely armed though, I'll give it that.

The P40 was a tank good sir it had an armored cockpit and could take massive amounts of damage and still fly. I agree it was slow but hehe the fly tigers kicked ass with it. I wonder if you guys know that the british were the first ones to put the sharks teeth on the p 40. The flying tigers saw this and emulated it! Another overshadowed plane but the most important doing the battle of Britian was the Hawker Hurricane. The spitfire got the glory but the Huricane won the battle.



Mr Oni

[Mroni]

hmm well dammit has anyone any interest in this. I am going with the P 40 warhawk just because it looked cool.


Mr Oni

I was going to say the exact same plane.

It brings back a lot of childhood memories when I used to watch my dad (an airplane nutcase) make and fly model airplanes. He loved the P-40 too. He had a lot of pictures of them lying around our basement. I once made a complex paper model of the P-40 but I lost it when I moved houses.

You gotta love the teeth.

I love those teeth! If you ever get a chance watch Tora Tora Tora you get to see some actual ones fly. The Plane of world war 2 I respect the most is the P 51 Mustang but the warhawk will always be the best looking and my fav.


Mr Oni

[Mroni]

Ok what about flying Nightmares of world war 2. I'm going to say the Boulton paul defender. This piece of crap had no climb no speed and a rear mounted machine gun in a turret. It was a faulty idea called a bomber destroyer.


Mr Oni

[Otohiko]

Hurricane is one nasty customer 4 cannons - deadly. It was the bomber-killer, and the Spit gave it the escort it needed. Neither, I think, is solely responsible for winning the Battle of Britain.

Of American-made planes, my pick goes to the Jug, the P-47. Like someone said, lands about as good into the forest as it does on a runway. Add to that a whopping 6 heavy machineguns, a massive combat range - hell, that was one good plane.

I still find that the front in the P-40 was somewhat vulnerable, mostly due to the big exposed radiator in the front. But, still a toughie, no question.

Stuka was a good plane, most accurate in ground attack. Compared to the IL-2 though, it was notably slower (due to the fixed gear), less manueverable and a bit less rigid - mainly because the IL-2 had straight wings (one piece, I think) with massive steel bars supporting them, while Stuka had a much more vulnerable, complicated design that broke apart more easily.

But I wouldn't deny it's importance. Perhaps, the most important plane of the war, or at the very least - the earlier stages of it. Sturzkampfflugzeug!

[Otohiko]

Flying nightmare - the poor Polish pilots in their P.11c's vs the germans. So far behind the time, it's scary.

I wonder why noone mentioned the germans yet - I think the Bf-109's and FW-190's are both genius designs. The latter, in particular, was a beast.

[Otohiko]

Flying nightmare - the poor Polish pilots in their P.11c's vs the germans. So far behind the time, it's scary.

Wow, interesting - I just went to read up a bit on those and found out that, in fact, despite a massive technological disatvantage, the Pollacks pulled off a high kill ratio against the germans despite the quickness of their defeat. I guess after all, it's the pilot's skill that really matters. And oh, just to play devil's advocate, here's something I read about the P-40

Overall, most pilots who flew the P-40 did not like it. One of the major gripes the US and RAF pilots had with the Warhawk is its altitude performance, which was a direct result of the pre-war bombardment over pursuit design policy. Soviet pilots did not fight at altitude very often, but they also found that P-40 engines were not very reliable and that it could not withstand battle damage as well as the P-39 Airacobras. Many modifications were made to the P-40 and it remained in production until 1944; however it was hardly a fighter pilots dream and was generally outclassed by the enemy fighters all throughout its history.

Advantages: Increased firepower over earlier P-40 with the addition of six 50-caliber machine guns. The P-40E was a sturdy aircraft and could endure a great deal of punishment.

Disadvantages: Despite the addition of the Addition of the Allison V-1710-39, it was too slow, lacked maneuverability, had a low climb rate, and was largely obsolescent by any standards even before it was ordered into production.

[Mroni]

Flying nightmare - the poor Polish pilots in their P.11c's vs the germans. So far behind the time, it's scary.

I wonder why noone mentioned the germans yet - I think the Bf-109's and FW-190's are both genius designs. The latter, in particular, was a beast.

Ok I'm going to pick this apart. The Bf109 was an excellent plane at the time it was made. 1935! But it Had poor rear visibility and a very cramped cockpit also poor range. It's hard to hate this fighter but it was produced long past it's time. Ok this will mess with your head. The british were supplying the arabs with spitfires after the war and the isrealis could only buy czech made Me 109s!!!! So the first planes to defend Isreali were nazi creations! It had one advantage over the spifire It had fuel injection! Ok now onto the Folke wolfe A nice fighter but not as manuverable as the mustang and once again it had short range. As for the Stuka it was designed in 1935 also so it was an old plane on the russian front and any body that for some reason thinks it should have been able to dogfight a spitfire or Hurricane is ludicrous! It got laughed at doing the battle of britian which pisses me off because its job was ground attack not dog fighting. Ok now on to the P 11c not at all a flying nightmare! It was the best fighter in the world! in 1932 Unfortunatley the poles spent thier money developing a nice bomber and not on upgrading the fighter but there is your time span for you. The P 11c 1932 the Me 109 1935. 3 Years and the top fighter is 70 mph faster. Props should be given to the poles for taking out so many german aircraft with an out dated one! Now how about a real pos the Brewster buffalo! According to the pilots you coudlnt hold it level in flight.

[Mroni]

Flying nightmare - the poor Polish pilots in their P.11c's vs the germans. So far behind the time, it's scary.

Wow, interesting - I just went to read up a bit on those and found out that, in fact, despite a massive technological disatvantage, the Pollacks pulled off a high kill ratio against the germans despite the quickness of their defeat. I guess after all, it's the pilot's skill that really matters. And oh, just to play devil's advocate, here's something I read about the P-40

Overall, most pilots who flew the P-40 did not like it. One of the major gripes the US and RAF pilots had with the Warhawk is its altitude performance, which was a direct result of the pre-war bombardment over pursuit design policy. Soviet pilots did not fight at altitude very often, but they also found that P-40 engines were not very reliable and that it could not withstand battle damage as well as the P-39 Airacobras. Many modifications were made to the P-40 and it remained in production until 1944; however it was hardly a fighter pilots dream and was generally outclassed by the enemy fighters all throughout its history.

Advantages: Increased firepower over earlier P-40 with the addition of six 50-caliber machine guns. The P-40E was a sturdy aircraft and could endure a great deal of punishment.

Disadvantages: Despite the addition of the Addition of the Allison V-1710-39, it was too slow, lacked maneuverability, had a low climb rate, and was largely obsolescent by any standards even before it was ordered into production.

LOl well I still love it! and it had a proven combat record against a superior machine the Zero.

Mr Oni