All of the major warplanes of the fighting powers in WW2 made modifications of their standard fighters as the war progressed to improve them (didn’t always work). In your opinion, what was the pinnacle version of each type?
I’ll start to get you mofo’s motivated:
bf109: the F version…F-4 to be specific…
P-51…the M version. Never actually flew in combat, but, IIRC, with an all-titanium construction, could reach speeds very near to Mach 1.
Dunno about any other but I agree with you 100% Manny. The F was always my fav, hands down. A nice bump up for the E but not all the ugly bulges the g had. Smooth and clean.
As far as the 51 was concerned. Going passed D was a waste of time.
i agree
N version of the P-47. Virtually the same speed and range as the P-51 later versions but way more rugged.
Pat.
P-51B/C Mustang with Malcom Hood… It was a bit more manueverable than the D/K, visibility with the Malcom was almost as dood as the D/K, and althugh it had four guns, the electric feed pawls added to the guns stopped the jamming due to feed problems in High-G turns
P-47D/ bubble canopy. The “M” and "N"s went backwards… More range in those two, sure, but the fuel weight decreased manueverablity.
P-38L
Mk 22 Spit
Bf 109F Until the late G/K, I favored the F… “Der Bulle” was a mistake, at least until they fared the cowl out for the later Gs and Ks…
FW 190A-8. The Dora and subsequent Ta 152 were an improvement in speed and ceiling, but under-gunned, IMHO.
FM2 Wildcat. Faster and more powerful than the F4F-4, it lost two guns but added rockets…
F4U-4 Corsair (6-50 cal version)… Last version produced during the war, had higher ceiling than the earlier variants by about 4000 feet, higher clmb-rate than the Dash 1s, flat windscreen, 2400 hp w/boost, more manueverable than the dash 1s (although shorter range due to removal of wing tanks)
F6F-5 Hellcat. Cowl was more streamlined, more powerful engine than the -3.
Oh yeah, and post examples of your fav if ya got 'em so we know whet the he$$ you are talking about…
Bf 109 E-3:
Bf109 F-4:
Bf109 G-2:
Bf109 G-5:
Bf109 G-5 AS:
Bf109 G-6:
Bf109 G-14:
Bf109 G-10:
All my examples are still in the boxes (or in the BIG box)…
For some reason ive always been fond of the look of the 109-G.
F4U-4/5
Im sure alot of you will agree with the FW-190 D-9
Yeh the P47 was a very fast flying tank. 
Speed and range yes, but maneuverability, climb etc, the 51 still had the prize. I think they should have had the 47N doing a ground attack or low level fighter screen. Let the 51 handle high altitude problems. I wonder how well it would have worked out if they had mixed squadrons like that…
Wow those are some great paint schemes. Are they from actual photos or your interpretation??
All are based on actual aircraft…some of them are the mounts of great aces, such as Hartmann, Graf and Rall…