Best Bomber of ww2

[cheddar cheese]

Agreed.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

Originally Posted by cheddar cheese

The TB-3 is an open topped plane. My guess is theyre actually on the wing

they are on the wing, that's what i'm trying to say!!

[cheddar cheese]

But they aint come from a door, I reckon they simply climbed out on to it.

[remoraptor]

For me I'd rate these bombers in three categories:
Best Heavy Bomber - B-29 Superfortress
Best Light/Med Bomber - Mosquito, B-25 Mitchell
Best Ground Attack - Il-2 Shturmovik, B-25 Mitchell

The Arado jet bomber and A-26 Invader were probably the best in their class but they came a little late in the war.

[Lightning Guy]

For a medium bomber the B-26 trumps the B-25. The B-25 was excellent at low-level missions, especially in the Pacific, but that's attack aviation, not medium bombing. The B-26 had the lowest loss rate of any American bomber. And it flew true medium bombing missions (medium altitude, level attacks.)

[lesofprimus]

I agree.. While I like the B-25 more, The B-26 was better at....

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i think the mossie falls into the "fast bomber" catagory, if that exists.............

[lesofprimus]

If it did, the Mossie would be in 1st place....

[the lancaster kicks ass]

damn right, there isn't really any pther catagory it fits into...............

[cheddar cheese]

I think he was making the point that nothing else is in its class, making it the winner by default...

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i don't think he was.............

[lesofprimus]

I wasnt..

[cheddar cheese]

My mistake...

[wmaxt]

Originally Posted by Lightning Guy

For a medium bomber the B-26 trumps the B-25. The B-25 was excellent at low-level missions, especially in the Pacific, but that's attack aviation, not medium bombing. The B-26 had the lowest loss rate of any American bomber. And it flew true medium bombing missions (medium altitude, level attacks.)

The B-25 flew in many rolls it also flew throughout the war It also flew many bombing missions in all theaters including Russian and Burmese. One of the reasons the B-26 had such a low loss rate were a. the allies har more air superiority and b. the heavy bombers made great diversions when the B-26s were flying over their main thearer the ETO.

[Gemhorse]

Seems Remoraptor is onto it...'' The DH Mosquito, the Wooden Wonder''... No one can ever question the fact that the Mosquito was one of the few really GREAT war-winning aircraft, or that the story of it's conception, design and procurement was one the most remarkable of the Era...and that it's speed, manoevrabilty and bomb capacity nullified the efforts of many other bombers. I also feel that the Mossie worked hand-in-glove with that other GREAT bomber, the Lancaster, to contribute greatly to Germany's demise...
As for US Bombers, the B-25 Mitchell made [I feel], a huge contribution in the main theatres during the War, notably it's attack on Japan under Doolittle, a great morale-booster at great cost....
The B-24 did sterling service where it was most needed in the Atlantic, and the B-29, for all it's teething-troubles, ended-up being the 'Big Daddy' of them all....
However, I totally dispute the B-26 Marauder warranting any real acolades, they were slaughtered early-on in Europe, and really needed escorts....

SO, naturally, my main vote is the Mosquito, particuarly because of it's multi-role versatility, and the rest as outlined.....[did I hear a big groan out there???...]