What was the best fighter of WW1?

[kiwimac]

Give me your votes and then tell me why you think so. I'll let you know my opinion in due course.

Kiwimac

[bronzewhaler82]

It has to be a toss-up between the Camel and the Se5 but i'm inclined towards the Se5...

This is a cool idea actually - i was thinking the other day that it would be cool to have a WW1 aircraft forum - it would be interesting to hear what people say

[kiwimac]

Actually I think that the Camel and the SE5A were the Spitfire (Camel) and Hurricane (SE5A) of their day & for exactly the same reasons, the SE5A was a much more stable, biddable beast than the Camel.

However, I think the best fighter of WW1 is the Fokker DVII Which is what I meant to put in the poll but it somehow came out as Fokker D V.

Kiwimac

[kiwimac]

The Fokker D.VII was the equal of, if not better than, the British SE5s, Camelsand French SPADs and is considered to be one of the outstanding fighters of the First World War. It was so successful that it was the only aircraft to be singled out by the Allied Powers in the Armistice Agreement section which detailed war material to be handed over:

"In erster Linie alle Apparate D.VII (especially all first line D.VII aircraft)".

Late in 1917 design work began on an aircraft which could win back for the Germans dominance over Allied fighters on the Western Front. The prototype was sent to Berlin's Adlershof airfield for trials in January 1918 together with thirty competing aircraft. The D.VII won and was put into mass production at three different factories, including two belonging to Fokker's great rival Albatros.

The success of the D.VII lay in its handling characteristics. Unlike the British Camel it was fairly easy to fly and was said to turn a mediocre pilot into a good one. Forty-five German fighter units received these agile machines during 1918, but it is doubtful that all were completely re-equipped. Most of the late First World War German aces flew the type.

Source: http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/fokker-dvii.htm

Kiwimac

[bronzewhaler82]

I firmly believe that the British had not only the best aircraft but the best pilots too - thats why we won the war in the air

[cheddar cheese]

wasnt it something like 90% of all french planes got shot down in WW1?

[bronzewhaler82]

Where did you hear that? it might be true...but the French DID have some excellent planes during WW1 and I do respect their airforce during that time...but during the 2nd WorldWar they really lost the plot

During WW1 they had the Neiuport 11 (excellent scout plane) and the Spad which was an excellent fighter (the model flown by Eddie Rickenbacker no less)

[kiwimac]

Yes the Nieuport and the Spad were excellent machines. As for the British fighters, they were good, make no mistake, but the Fokker DVII and later Albatri were better.

Like WW2, it wasn't so much the fineness of the machines as the fact that they were sorely outnumbered.

Kiwimac

[bronzewhaler82]

I don't think the Germans were that badly outnumbered by us during WW1

[the lancaster kicks ass]

actually THEY outnumbered US................

[kiwimac]

Only during the opening phases of the war.

Kiwimac

[cheddar cheese]

the reason so any french planes were shot down was because there was so many of them - nothing to do with how good/bad they were i dont think

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i don't see how that works, how is it more were shot down 'cos there were so many, i mean the germans had more than the french....................

[plan_D]

I like the Fokker E-types because they were one of the first to use interupter gears on their machine guns which proved deadly as the Allies soon found out. However it was out-classed when all others got the interupter gear on their aircraft.

The Spads were the best I think, the prototype got to 122 mph, and climbed to 9843 ft in 15 minutes and twice that height in a hour. Although I have a cool picture of Nieuport XI 'Bebe' with 8 rockets...which would be decent to fly.

[cheddar cheese]

no i think the french had more planes than the germans....