ADS NOT DISPLAYED TO REGISTERED USERS.

View Poll Results: Which is the best Pacific Fighter?

Voters
160. You may not vote on this poll
  • F4U Corsair

    67 41.88%
  • F6F Hellcat

    33 20.63%
  • P-38 Lightning

    21 13.13%
  • P-40 Warhawk

    5 3.13%
  • Supermarine Seafire

    2 1.25%
  • Ki-43 Hayabusa

    2 1.25%
  • Ki-61 Hien

    3 1.88%
  • Ki-84 Hayate

    13 8.13%
  • Ki-100

    3 1.88%
  • N1K2

    6 3.75%
  • Other

    5 3.13%
+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 223

Best Pacific Fighter II

Polls Discuss Best Pacific Fighter II in the World War II - Aviation forums; As Dan put it, the old one's soggy and the results are bogus. Plus it's missing the best Japanese planes, ...

  1. #1
    Senior Member Catch22's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Edmonton, Alberta
    Posts
    7,246
    Country
    Canada

    Best Pacific Fighter II

    As Dan put it, the old one's soggy and the results are bogus. Plus it's missing the best Japanese planes, so time for a new one. Hope I didn't mess this one up. I think I got the major ones, but if I missed anything, let me know.


  2. #2
    Senior Member Catch22's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Edmonton, Alberta
    Posts
    7,246
    Country
    Canada
    The Corsair. It had better performance values than anything in theater, indeed, almost anything in existence (other than jets of course) plus was an excellent ground attack plane. Basically a near perfect all in one plane, and it's not a "jack of all trades, master of none", as it was superb at both and WAS the master (in the PTO and in my mind anyway) in regards to fighters.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Doughboy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    890
    Country
    United States
    Corsair.... It had manueverability, speed,and firepower....In fact, It was pretty much good for everything.
    "This is the day which the lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalms 118:24




  4. #4
    Senior Member diddyriddick's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Hamlet, NC, US
    Posts
    1,391
    Country
    United States
    I'll go with the Corsair. Not to take anything away from the P-38, but since the F4U was carrier capable, it has a huge leg up.

  5. #5
    Pacific Historian syscom3's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Orange County, CA
    Posts
    12,114
    Quote Originally Posted by diddyriddick View Post
    I'll go with the Corsair. Not to take anything away from the P-38, but since the F4U was carrier capable, it has a huge leg up.
    But the P38 had the range to go where the F4U's couldnt go when there were no carriers.
    "Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"

  6. #6
    Senior Member Vassili Zaitzev's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Connecticut, United States
    Posts
    2,953
    Country
    United States
    The Hellcat, not as good as the F4U, but it was used on a carrier before the corsair.
    "Never was so much owed by so many to so few"- Winston Churchill.

  7. #7
    Senior Member renrich's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Montrose, Colorado
    Posts
    4,534
    Country
    United States
    But the P38 could not land or take off from a carrier. The Corsair also took less fuel, less maintenance, was easier for a low time pilot to get proficient in combat in, was a better dive bomber and was a much smaller target for groundfire or enemy AC fire. I don't know what the loss rate of the P38 was but doubt it was as good as the Corsair's.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Vassili Zaitzev's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Connecticut, United States
    Posts
    2,953
    Country
    United States
    P-38 could take off a carrier? Interesting.
    "Never was so much owed by so many to so few"- Winston Churchill.

  9. #9
    Senior Member DBII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    The Woodlands, Texas
    Posts
    2,146
    Country
    United States
    I have seen, P-40s, P-47, P-51s, Spitefires and Hurricanes. I think that I read about the Bf-109 being design for capapult launching. I don't remember see the P-38 on a carrier.

    DBII

  10. #10
    Senior Member Catch22's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Edmonton, Alberta
    Posts
    7,246
    Country
    Canada
    Quote Originally Posted by Vassili Zaitzev View Post
    The Hellcat, not as good as the F4U, but it was used on a carrier before the corsair.
    How does that make it a better plane though? The British seemed to do just fine with it before the US, it was just in landing doctrine. Performance-wise, the Corsair beats the Hellcat in every area (except maybe climb rate and turn rate, I'm not up on those stats, but certainly speed, range, and payload).

    As for P-38s taking off from a carrier, it's certainly possible. Taking off isn't the problem, it's landing that's the issue.

  11. #11
    Senior Member renrich's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Montrose, Colorado
    Posts
    4,534
    Country
    United States
    It is not productive to spend time saying this or that landbased plane could takeoff or land on a carrier. What is important was whether an AC could successfully conduct operations from a carrier. P47s were launched from a carrier, Hurricanes(not Sea Hurricanes) landed on a carrier without arresting gear, a P51 was launched and recovered from a carrier. That did not make any of those land based planes a carrier borne fighter.

  12. #12
    Senior Member vikingBerserker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    South Carolina
    Posts
    17,025
    Country
    United States
    Quote Originally Posted by DBII View Post
    I have seen, P-40s, P-47, P-51s, Spitefires and Hurricanes. I think that I read about the Bf-109 being design for capapult launching. I don't remember see the P-38 on a carrier.

    DBII
    I believe it was the Bf-109N designed for the Graf Zepplin

  13. #13
    Senior Member vikingBerserker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    South Carolina
    Posts
    17,025
    Country
    United States
    Overall I would have to say Hellcat simply because of it's combat record.

  14. #14
    Pacific Historian syscom3's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Orange County, CA
    Posts
    12,114
    Quote Originally Posted by vikingBerserker View Post
    Overall I would have to say Hellcat simply because of it's combat record.
    But a majority of those kills were against poorly trained Japanese pilots.

    It was the Corsair, Wildcat and the P40 that really gutted the best pilots the Japanese had.
    "Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"

  15. #15
    Senior Member Vassili Zaitzev's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Connecticut, United States
    Posts
    2,953
    Country
    United States
    Quote Originally Posted by Catch22 View Post
    How does that make it a better plane though? The British seemed to do just fine with it before the US, it was just in landing doctrine. Performance-wise, the Corsair beats the Hellcat in every area (except maybe climb rate and turn rate, I'm not up on those stats, but certainly speed, range, and payload).

    As for P-38s taking off from a carrier, it's certainly possible. Taking off isn't the problem, it's landing that's the issue.
    Perhaps I jumped the gun, I'm more of a hellcat then corsair fan. I'll admit, the F4U had the better performance.

    Besides, I have a tendency to root for the underdog.
    "Never was so much owed by so many to so few"- Winston Churchill.

+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ... LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86