The Slowest Plane of WW2?

[Pisis]

Yeah, and it was quite feared plane, this Kukruznik...

[loomaluftwaffe]

Originally Posted by Twitch

Well Pisis, the old P-26 did 234 MPH and was a front line FIGHTER in the Phillipines till 1940.

nope, the PAAC used it till 1941, against Zeroes and Betties
It made heroes for those who actually got kills

[Twitch]

The Storch at 109 MPH was a speed demon compared to the Piper L-4 Grasshopper with a top speed of just 85 MPH.

[Pisis]

Well, I had this Primus in mind, too.

Originally Posted by Twitch

Gr***hopper

ROFL

[FLYBOYJ]

There's a guy named Steve Ericson who has a Storch at Mojave Airport - I seen him have a slow "race" against a J4 Cub, the J4 looked like it hung on about 35 MPH - the Storch just about hovered........

[R988]

Originally Posted by Twitch

The Storch at 109 MPH was a speed demon compared to the Piper L-4 Grasshopper with a top speed of just 85 MPH.

Still according to the wikipedia entry for the Storch, there is this interesting and amusing piece of trivia.

A Storch was the victim of the last dog fight on the Western Front and another was fittingly downed by a direct Allied counterpart of the Storch-a Piper L-4 Grasshopper-from the L-4's crew directing their pistol fire at it. The involved Storch was the only aircraft known to have been downed by handgun fire in the entire war.

by the way the TB3's top speed was apparently just 196 Km/h / 122 MpH

Slowest of the four engined bombers for sure

[Twitch]

The stall speed on the Storch is allegedly 25 MPH while the L-4 is 35-38 MPH.

[helmitsmit]

Wasn't there a plane for the U.S.A.F called the flying pancake did about 30mph at stall and had a top speed of 460mph. It got to the prototype stage but never made production.

Is that a candidate?

[GregP]

The slowest fighter I have in my database is teh French Caurdon C-720 at 292 kph.

The slowest bomber of any sort I have is the Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-20 at 160 kph.

Admittedly, these are the extreme ... and probably not proud of it, either!

[loomaluftwaffe]

The Po-2 is a bomber, with a top tpeed of 96mph

[kool kitty89]

I know some of this was said before but here's an overview of the Po-2

The Po-2 was a general purpose utillity biplane (often a crop-duster) that was used as a trainer ("red-flyer) and was also used for transport, and as a military liaison aircraft, due to its STOL capabilities. Later it was also used in the ground-attack role. It had the advantages of cheapness, simplicity and reliabillity, and availabillity. Its also the second most produced aircraft in history with over 40,000 built. It also only had 125 hp for 2,300 lbs loaded or 3,000 lbs max (less tthan .06 hp/lb); considdering that, it did pretty well. The slowness and low stall speed was one of its bigges advantages.

Also: "Although entirely outclassed by contemporary aircraft, the Kukuruznik served extensively on the Eastern Front in World War II, primarily as a liaison, medevac and general supply aircraft. It was especially useful for supplying Soviet partisans behind front line. Its low cost and easy maintenance led to a production run of over 40,000. Manufacturing of the Po-2 in the USSR ceased in 1949, but until 1959 a number were assembled in Aeroflot repair workshops.... After first trials of arming the machine with bombs in 1941, from 1942 it was adapted as a light night ground attack plane.... The material effects of these missions was mostly insignificant, but the psychological effect on German troops was much more noticeable. They typically attacked by complete surprise in the dead of night, denying German troops sleep and keeping them constantly on their guard, contributing yet further to the already exceptionally high stress of combat on the Eastern front. Their usual tactics involved flying only a few meters above the ground, rising for the final approach, cutting off the engine and making a gliding bombing run, leaving the targeted troops with only the eerie whistling of the wind in the wings' bracing-wires as an indication of the impending attack. Luftwaffe fighters found it extremely hard to shoot down the Kukuruznik, because the stall speed of both the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 exceeded the Soviet craft's maximum speed. The U-2 became famous especially as the plane used by the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, composed of all-women pilots and ground crew. The unit became notorious for its daring low-altitude night raids on German rear-area positions, veteran pilots Katya Ryabova and Nadya Popova on one occasion flying 18 such missions in a single night. It is also likely that further demoralization to the enemy occurred due to the pilots being female, and causing significant but mostly intangible losses. As such, they earned the nickname Night Witches (German Nachthexen, Russian Ночные Ведьмы). "

Polikarpov Po-2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So it was sort of a bomber (it bombed things) but more of a ground attack, but certainly a combat plane. (though not designed as such)

[FLYBOYJ]

The Storch still flew slower than the Po-2

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The Storch could litterally "hover" in a strong head wind. She must have been a real joy to fly!

[Graeme]

For sustained slow speed I'd go for the GAL 38 or AS 39. The GAL 38 supposedly could maintain 39mph. Described by one author as an 'early stealth aircraft'. Slow and quiet but not invisible!

[FLYBOYJ]

John Sparp's (Nemisis) former crew chief (his name excapes me right now) had one - I used to see him fly it all the time. I think Eric might have some pics.