Best strafing aircraft in WWII???

[filnorm]

Dear all, I came across to the article by MGen. Richard B.H. Lewis (ret.) giving an overview of strafing in the history of warfare. He also wrote: Among World War II strafing aircraft, few if any were more effective than the American B-25 Mitchell bomber. In the Pacific, it was used frequently on treetop-level missions against Japanese airfields and shipping, with great impact.
Source: http://www.afa.org/magazine/July2007/0707strafing.asp
What was in your opinion the best/most effective strafing aircraft in World War II?
Regards, Filip

[mosquitoman]

B-25, A-20 or A-26 probably.
Honrable mentions to Beaufighter and Mosquito

[twoeagles]

It is hard to argue with a B-25 firing fourteen .50's forward and all activated
by the push of a button on the pilot's control.

[filnorm]

There was a version of B-25 armed with a cannon so that the efectiveness even increased, isn't it?

[Glider]

Beaufighter

[ccheese]

My vote goes to the B-25. It's a shame we didn't have the C-47 and C-130
gunships in WW-II ! They were awesome in 'Nam".

Charles

[Marcel]

There was a version of B-25 armed with a cannon so that the efectiveness even increased, isn't it?

Hmm, I think the B25 almost stalled when the 7.5 mm fired, something you don't want while strafing which always is at low altitude. Althoug a crashing airplane is of course very destructive

Don't know if the guns really were effective in any role, but I'm sure some other members can tell something about that.

[Cyrano]

[ToughOmbre]

B-25J. They used to say that it could saw a boxcar in half.

Honorable mention to the P-47 with it's eight wing mounted 50s.

[Erich]

I'll take the 8th AF P-51D for their wild work done on German AF during spring of 45. Some unbelievable record of ground kills for each group. Bill will have stats on the 355th fg records bar none

[trackend]

Fire power wise I agree the B25J was a mighty beast and probably does deserve the title that amount of fire power against soft targets is pretty overwhelming, but I still think the Beaufighter was close behind as the dumpy nose gave superb forward vision and made for hedge hopping accurate runs at lower angles hence (how true I'm not sure) the "whispering death" nick name given by the Japanese. (not whistling death as for the Corsair)
Initially the mk1 with just the four 20mm under nose cannons suffered a pronounced dip when fired causing target drift but after various stages of development this problem was overcome and the addition of six wing mounted .303s increased the planes fire power.

[comiso90]

Hmm, I think the B25 almost stalled when the 7.5 mm fired, something you don't want while strafing which always is at low altitude.

Don't know if the guns really were effective in any role, but I'm sure some other members can tell something about that.

The 75 mm cannon on the B25 was designed for anti-shipping in the pacific. In my mind, that is not strafing. Thats anti-shipping attack.

fourteen .50 cals.... now thats staffing!

[Bernhart]

throw in 8 rockets on the beaufighter and that is alotof lead coming at you

[comiso90]

throw in 8 rockets on the beaufighter and that is alotof lead coming at you

Perhaps we should decide what strafing is....
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Strafing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Strafing (adaptation of German strafen, to punish, specifically from the World War I humorous adaptation of the German catchphrase "Gott strafe England"), is the practice of firing on a static, or mobile targets of opportunity on land, sea, or air from a flying platform. The term is usually applied to machine gun or cannon fire from a variety of aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, or unmanned aerial vehicles.

The thread is not about ground attack in general.. it is about strafing.

...

[Negative Creep]

Would the better strafing aircraft be one that could destroy enemy targets, or one that could disrupt and disorientate them?