This has nothing to do with most effective, best reputation etc. What are your personal 12 favorite WWII aircraft? I ask 12 because I was thinking of a custom calendar for next year using box art. No need to specify month, just list your top planes. My favorites:
B-17 Flying Fortress
Avro Lancaster
P-38 Lightning
Supermarine Spitfire
P-39 Airacobra
Hawker Hurricane
Handley Page Halifax
B-24 Liberator
DeHavilland Mosquito
P-47 Thunderbolt (razorback)
F4u Corsair
Hawker Typhoon
That is a question!
My all time favorite World War Two airplane has to be the “Forked Tail Devil” P-38 Lightning!
The only successful, true “Zerstorer”
Lethal beauty extraordiare.
The F-4 version (unarmed photo reconnaisance) was one of the fasted airplanes ever!
Thank God, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson was on our side!
Kurt Tank’s masterpiece the Ta-152 and In-line versions of the Focke-Wulf come in a solid 2nd!
Uh… now I notice a dozen is requested!
OK> duh!
P-38 Lightning
Ta-152
Fiat CR-32
Re.2005 Sagittario
C.202 Folgore
Aichi D3A “Val”
A6M “Zeke”
Ju-52
Ju-88
I-16
B-17 “Flying Fortress”
F4F “Wildcat”
I could do this every year!
By month:
January – Me-109G-6 in Winter camo
February – F4U-1D in USMC scheme for Iwo Jima
March – Fw-190D-14 Papagai Staffel
April – B-25C from Doolittle Raid
May – Me-109E-3 in France invasion scheme
June – Hawker Tempest w/ invasion stripes
July – Yak-7
August – B-29A Enola Gay
September – Ju-87B Stuka Invasion of Poland
October – Spitfire IA Battle of Britain
November – Martlet II Operation Torch
December – D3A Pearl Harbor
GS
P-38
P-39
P-40
P-47
P-51
Wildcat
Hellcat
Corsair
Fw 190D
SBD
TBM
Yak 3
I’ll do this![:D]
B-17F Flying Fortress
F4U-1D Corsair
Supermarine Spitfire Mk1
B-25J Mitchell
BF-109E Messerschmidt
P-39 Lightning
P-40B/C Warhawk
B-29 SUperfortress
SBD Dauntless
TBM Avenger
P-51D Mustang
B-26 Marauder
D/H Mossie (sorry Guy’s & Girl’s, twin Merlin’s win every time),
FW 190,
Beaufighter,
Spitfire,
B-24,
B-26,
Tempest,
Lancaster,
Wellington,
Sunderland,
P-51 (the Merlin get’s it here - well everywhere).
Corsair
Bf-109
P-40
P-47
Spitfire
Hurricane
Fw-190
Swordfish
Ki-84
JU-87
MiG-3
Zero
I buy the “Ghosts” calendar every year from the CAF giftshop… Beautiful photography…
But since you asked,
P-51
P-61
P-39
P-40
F4U
B-17
B-25
Hs 123
Bf 109
SBD
A-20
A-26
Top 12, not in any particular order…
P-47
TBD-1
FW-190A
F6F
P-38
B-26
B-25
Ki-61
G4M
Ju-88
B-17
C-47
B-25J
TBF Avenger
FW-190A-8
P-47D Razorback
A6M2 Zero
F6F Hellcat
Bf-109F
Bf-110D
B-17
He-111
Me-262A
SBD Dauntless
I’m going to be very specific here: P-51 serial number 67-22581.
My son (3 y/o) and I saw John O’Connor flying her at Geneseo this summer. As he was doing his dare-devil thing, there is a point in the show where he does a high speed semi-knife pass for photos. The glare from the wing tops was blinding. The engine was screaming, but above it all I could actually hear my son say, “Wow!”
I turned to see the look of utter amazement on his face and was so happy that he “got it.” That is why this is my favorite plane. (And I’m not even really much of a “P-51 guy.”)
If you ever get a chance to see this guy do his thing in person, grab it.
http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/survivors/pages/67-22581.shtml
my all time favorite was about a one minute thought. That would be a Beechcraft Staggerwing!
so here’s how I did it, but give me two minutes to get holed up with a flak jacket on!
*hack…The Beechcraft Staggerwing
*looks…The Spitfire of course
*fighter…TA152H
*ground attack monster…I really wanted to go with a Typhoon, but went with a P47D
*fighter bomber…that’s easy; a Misquito
*light bomber…PV-1 in whatever form. closely followed by an A20G
*medium bomber…wanta say B25, but think the B26 may have been a slightly better platform
*heavy bomber…the B17G; anything that could stand a shredder that it went thru has gotta be good
*night fighter…buttoning up the flak jacket now! I’m gonna pick the HE219
*photo recon…AR234 followed by the Misquito
*technology wonder…ME262
*Pacific Theater…Corsair
*plane that won Europe…the Mustang closely followed by the P47
*single most important plane in the PTO…pick one C47 or C46
*plane that ought to be in the above group…A26 Invader
*baddest dude on the block in 1940…a Zero
*baddest dude on the block in 1941…FW190
*baddest dude on the block in 1942…P51 Mustang
*baddest dude on the block in 1943…P51D Mustang
*Baddest dude on the block in 1944…ME262 or a FW190D-9
*baddest dude on the block in 1945…TA152H or an ME262
but my favorite is always gonna be the Staggerwing! Just too sexy
gary
My top twelve:
A three-way tie-the P-40, the F4U and the F4F.
I think it comes from reading about the exploits of our fighter pilots in the Pacific, about the Flying Tigers, and the Navy and Marine pilots in the first two years of the war, when things were at their darkest, and it seemed like winning the war hung by a thread.
I like the lines of the P-40, too, from the -B through the -E. There’s something kinda Art Deco about the early bird, especially the pre-war natural metal finish examples. And there’s something cool about the nose of the -E, with that big Allison engine inside.
Reading about Thach, Sweatt, Kepford, Boyington, Hill, Scott, those stories made me pretend I was flying over the Pacific, or Burma, when I was on my bike as a kid, looking for Zeroes and Kates. And I built their planes.
After that would be the SBD and TBF, for similar reasons, especially Coral Sea, Midway and the Guadalcanal campaign. The men who did what they did, with those aircraft-I always found it thrilling and inspiring.
Regards,
Brad
Spitfire
PZL-37B
PZL-P11c
Hurricane
P-47
P-40
Hmm, favorite twelve…
My all time favorite is by far the F4U Corsair. I love that airplane.
P-38 Lightening (something cool about twin booms and 5 guns in the nose)
P-51 Mustang (just a beautiful aircraft)
Spitfire (same as the Mustang)
A6M Zero
P-61 Black Widow
F4F Wildcat
P-40 Warhawk
B-26 Marauder
B-17 Fortress
B-25 Mitchell
Grumman Duck
That is a beautiful aircraft.
corsair
P-47 bubbletop
Hawker typhoon
Helldiver
Avenger
Hellcat
Spitfire
PBY Catalina
Il-2 Shturmovik
Wildcat
Dauntless
Swordfish
I’ll start with U.S although not my fave Ac
Fighters Bombers
P47 D26 B17(The most beutiful plane of the war.)
P 38 J Devastater
F4U-1D B 26
P40 any
F6F
German Fighters GermanBomb
Bf 109G 6-14 ATF* Ju 87 G
Me 262
Do335
Ta 152
U,K Fight U.k Bomb
Hurr/Spit Tied Lancs
Beufighter
I like Zero’s, Sturmivik’s, Tony’s
Thats a representative list of plane I’m reallyfond of. *ATF= All time favorite
TA-152
Me-262
Me-163
Me-109G
5)Ju-87
P-51D
P-38
Corsair
Hellcat
FW-190D
B-25H (Big brute with the 75mm cannon and all those 50’s in the nose[:P])