Im opening a box of worms here, whats the best tail to tail shoot your a-ss off fighter of all times I dont mean the f-16 or f-18 or f- 14 we all know what they can do, but down and dirty dogfighting, Dana probably knows this question better than any one, heres mine
1. vought f4u -1a corsair
2 f-86 north american super saber
3. folke wolf f 190
4.yakolev yak3
5. me-109-g
6.spitfire mk 1xb
7.p51-d mustang
8.mitshubishi a6-52 zero
9. lockheed p-38 j lightning
10. me-262-mk4
11.de havilland b mk 35 mosquito
12. republic p47-d thunderbolt
13. f6f 4 grumman hellcat
__________________
This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine
I am a WW2 fighter buff and I fly em online against others.
I am deadly with a spitfire, it is my plane of choice. However when up against a P 47 I go with Der Fokke Wolfe. Agile, fast and firepower equal that to a Jug (P 47).
But this is in the flight sim world, in the real world and history things happened differently.
The Mustang is a truly awesome plane, as are the F4U and the others on the list, however each has a place where it is superior and each has it's weakneses.
In the dogfighter role, The Fokke Wolfe was a better plane all around than the Mustang, it had more firepower, was more agile and could take somewhat more of a beating.
The mustang had an incredible power plant, was very fast and had incredible long range. It came into the war at a time when Germany had fewer and fewer skilled pilots. By the time the P 51-D was en vouge, the Germans had no skilled pilots to speak of, they were all in POW camps or pushing up the daiseys!
I still think, based on the tactics employed, the Mustang would have won out over the Fokke Wolfe if Germany had more skilled pilots, as we clearly tore up a lot of thier best in lesser planes.
As for the spitfire, the Mark 1 and 2 were awesome planes, but the battle of Britan would have ended much faster if they had the Mark4 or 5 variants. Better engine and more firepower.
The p-38 and the p 47 are awesome in a ground attack and hit and run attack.
The P 47 can take an incredible amount of battle damage! It is a flying tank, but it also flew like a tank! Its second big strength was it's massive engine. It could dive fast, attack and be back up to 10,000 feet before the enemy could say, "What the he11 was that?!?!" But don't try to maneuver much, especially in a dive! And ya better know how to do a diving attack or you will find out all about compression, loss of lift and the high speed dirt dive real fast!!
The P 38's weakness was the twin tail, it took nothing to shoot the tail apart and turn that plane into a lawn dart, provided you got behind her, that array of cannons in her nose ended many Germans carrers before they even started.
The way history is stacked has a lot to do with not only how well a plane performed, but more to do with how it was used, the pilots training and skill, how fast necessary changes were made and the current state of the enemy and his pilots skill.
I also love the F4U and that plane was nicknamed "Whistling death" by the Japanese. It too was incredibly powerful and best used in a hit and run type attack. It could hold it's own in a dogfight if proper tactics were used.
The zero was a much more agile plane and the Corsair pilots did everything to keep the Zeros in front of them and keep em high up in the air. If one got on your six, you hit the gas rolled out and dove away from them.
Its interesting dana, who is an aviator, first said the better trained pilot, he knows his sh-it, and then the zero, ill bet guys flying wildcats, and p-39s, we wont talk about brewster buffalos, had a pucker factor beyond belief flying against zeros, the thatch weave was the only chance of survival against the zero. in the f4f, the zero was a kite, no self sealing fuel tanks, and no armour for the aviator, but man dont get under its 20 mm guns, dana knows his sh-it
__________________
This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine
the zero was an incredible machine flown by the right pilots. after midway, and the turkey shoot, they were not there, f4u corsairs , and f6f hell cats rained he-ll upon the the surviving japanese pilots, beating them to a pulp
__________________
This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine
![Sniper[MI]'s Avatar](http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/customavatars/avatar690_2.gif){kind=avatar}
