We recently ran a thread here about the "Best" fighter of WWII I beleive and thought it worthy of note that the Military Channel is running series of "Top Ten" things, one of which is the Top Ten Fighters.
Thought you might find this interesting.

Top Ten Fighters:
1 - P51D Mustang
2 - F15 Eagle
3 - F4 Phantom
$, % Tie between the F86 Sabre and the MiG 15
6 - Spitfire
7 - ME262
8 - Sopwith Camel
9 - Harrier
10 - F22 Rapture
The list was developed with a set of data that referenced such things as innovation, length of service, armamant, fear induced facctor, etc.
I still wonder how you could produce such a list, rank the Mustang as no. 1 and not even have the P47 on the list?
Anyone have any comments here?

If you ain't livin' on the edge, you're takin' up too much space...

trapperP

While I am not a pilot I enjoy learning about planes and their history. I am not sure who did the Top 10. But I have serious issues with that curly headed idiot from Britian. I agree that the P-47 should be in there. There top 10 combat rifles show was just as bad.

quote:

Top Ten Fighters:

1. F4U
2. P-47
3. P-51
4. P-38
5. F6F
6. P-40 tie
6. Spitfire
7. BF-109
8. A6M
9. Hurricane
10.FW-190

Ranked in order of bringing my butt back.
The ME-262 would never make the list.

quote:

Originally posted by ireload2:

quote:

Top Ten Fighters:

1. F4U
2. P-47
3. P-51
4. P-38
5. F6F
6. P-40 tie
6. Spitfire
7. BF-109
8. A6M
9. Hurricane
10.FW-190

-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>
Interesting list, interesting order of rank - but you left out one very important aircraft. The Me262 would have to be on any such list; I think the Me262 and the B747 were the two greatest single advances in the history of aviation - just my own opinion.

Single Piston Engine Fighters...

1) Sea Fury
2) FW190D
3) P-51D

Other

quote:

Originally posted by TrapperP:

quote:

Originally posted by ireload2:

quote:

Top Ten Fighters:

1. F4U
2. P-47
3. P-51
4. P-38
5. F6F
6. P-40 tie
6. Spitfire
7. BF-109
8. A6M
9. Hurricane
10.FW-190

-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>
Interesting list, interesting order of rank - but you left out one very important aircraft. The Me262 would have to be on any such list; I think the Me262 and the B747 were the two greatest single advances in the history of aviation - just my own opinion.

Don't forget the DC-3/DST, singularly the most revolutionary airplane ever built. The Plane that Changed the World. And still is.

My top ten list:

Vought F4U Corsair
Supermarine Spitfire
Fokker D.VII
Hawker Hurricane
North AmericanP-51 Mustang
Messerschmitt Bf-109
MiG-21 "Fishbed"
North AmericanF-86 Sabre
Mitsubishi A6M Reisen "Zeke" and "Zero"
Grumman F-14 Tomcat

I chose those because of the impact they had in the war theatre that they fought in.

Namibiahunter

The P-38 deserves a spot near the top. The two leading American aces of WW II, Richard I. Bong and Tommy McGuire, were P-38 drivers. Bong had 40 kills and would have gotten more, but they pulled him out and gave him the Medal. The P-38 accounted for Admiral Yamamoto, also. McGuire was killed in a stall/spin. Bong later died at the ripe old age of 26 after a flameout while testing the F 80.

History tells us that it is the one that the most experienced talented pilot is flying on that particular day.

It seems that in a visual fight that instructor pilots at top gun and red flag flying A-4s and other ancient out dated fighters regularly wax the asses of our young jocks flying much more capable airframes.

Something about age and treachery I believe.

All true...

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
History tells us that it is the one that the most experienced talented pilot is flying on that particular day.

It seems that in a visual fight that instructor pilots at top gun and red flag flying A-4s and other ancient out dated fighters regularly wax the asses of our young jocks flying much more capable airframes.

Something about age and treachery I believe.

Not quite true.....
One characteristic of fighter aircraft is greatly underrated by many that glorify the attack. The ability to absorb battle damage is often the deciding factor.
There are many accounts of Axis pilots that turned away from head to head passes against US radial engine planes and the P-40.
Saburo Sakai mentioned that he knew of only 2 Japanese pilots that survived dogfights against both the Mustang and the Hellcat.
The Japanese in particular suffered because their AC did not take battle damage well.

F-14

The big advantage the P-51 had over all of it's rivals was exteneded range that allowed it to escort B-17's deep into Germany....without the P-51's extended range it might have been a much longer war.

quote:

Originally posted by Macifej:
Single Piston Engine Fighters...

1) Sea Fury
2) FW190D
3) P-51D

Other

Mac
I think all your choices have more than one piston.

I think the French Mirage III should be in there as well. In Israeli hands it shot down more Mig's and Sukhoi's than either the F-15, F-16 or F-4.

We used them pretty succesfully over Angola a few years back as well.

One of the most elegant aircraft ever built, in my opinion.

Well I'm no pilot, but I love aircraft and have read a bit about warbirds. It seems to me that the F14 Tomcat would have been on everyones list had they ever let it be used up to it's full capibilities.
Also the F16. Awsome as far as a pure fighter goes.
MM

My list, any order

Lockheed P-38 Lightning
Supermarine Spitfire
Vought F4U Corsair
Hawker Hurricane
North AmericanP-51 Mustang
Messerschmitt Bf-109
Dewoitine 520
North AmericanF-86 Sabre
Mitsubishi Zero
Messerschmidt ME 262
Grumman F-14 Tomcat
Dassault Mirage III
Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker