Let's talk about our favorite warplanes

[TJT]

Bf 109F/G/K (With G-2 taking a special place)

Spitfire IX/V

FW 190 A/F

Brewster Buffalo

IL-2

 

Theater: Gulf of Finland

[kestrel79]

P-47

B-29

A-26

Westland Whirlwind

Bf-109

 

North Africa

 

Just going by looks, I'm shallow

[von_Tom]

1.  Spitfire VIII

 

2.  FW190 all versions though I do like Jabo so maybe A8

 

3.  Bf109Fs

 

No other particular favourites though I like the following:

 

4.  He219

 

5.  Tempest

 

Favourite campaign - MTO or North Africa though something in the far East, Cactus Air Force or Papua New Guinea would be interesting.

[gn728]

1. F4F Navy classic...

2. P-51B Not as powerful as the D, but looks so cool...

3 Beaufighter So much firepower, plus a torpedo...

4 P-61B Looks like it's from the future... 

5 PBY Tough to fly?, but served over every ocean...

 

Theater: Cactus Air Force/Solomons

[BlitzPig_EL]

1. P 40 in all it's versions.  It was there at the beginning and it was there at the end.  Utterly under rated.  Ask General Chennault.

 

2. Curtiss Hawk 75/P 36.  In some ways better than the P 40, except for all out speed.  The first US military aircraft that had a red line speed.

 

3. Kawasaki Ki 61.  A beautiful aircraft that took the Allies in New Guinea totally by surprise.  Proved that Japanese designers could think outside the box of the horizontal turn.

 

4. Boeing B 17.  What more can be said.  An aviation icon.

 

5. Kawanishi H 8 K "Emily".  My favorite flying boat of all time.  Pulled off one of the most daring raids of all of WW2, Operation K, the second bombing of Pearl Harbor.

[Matt]

1. Bf 109 F-series

2. FW-190 A-series

3. Spitfire (pre-Griffon)

4. Ju-88

5. Lagg-3 (!)

 

Not sure about Theatre. North-Africa / Mediterrean would probably fascinate me the most now.

[ThudThunder]

1. TBM Avenger: Probably because I read "A Dawn like Thunder" (which I would recommend to anyone.) Just seems like a nice plane.

2. British Mosquito: Yup Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2+3 got me started, always loved flying it.

3. Ju-87: Amazing plane all around, looking forward to flying it more.

4.  DC-3:  The valiant cargo and troop carrier of WWII, overall amazing plane.

5.  B-25:  It flew off a carrier and bombed Japan... 'Nuff said

 

Battle: The Doolittle raid.  It was just an American thing to do, attack us we will be right on your butt and hit you right at home. 

Edited August 6, 2013 by Pip22

[JG4_Sputnik]

Fw190 A5/A6 (vaporizes almost everything)

Arado 234 (ahead of its time, nice frame)

P47 Razorback (character! Bad view 8))

B17 G (what a beauty)

Ju 87G (with Rudel in it)

 

Poland

[Juri_JS]

I am a big fan of two-engined fighters, here my personal top five:

Bf-110
Ki-45
Mosquito
Beaufighter
Me-410

Favorite Battle:
Solomons campaign

[SKG51_robtek]

Bf 110

Me 410

Ju 88 / 188 / 288 / 388

Do 17 / 217

He 177 A-5 "Greif", when it was finished it was already too late,but very advanced technology.

 

Battle: mediterranian (Crete, Malta, etc) and Africa

[Grant]

P47D – Versatile, tough, and eight fifties

Bf-109F – Sleek and sinister

F4U-1D – Big, bold, and bad

P51D – Looks, speed, and six fifties

Spitfire IX – Classic beauty

 

Tough to put them in order.  Tough to leave out the F6F-5.

 

Western Europe

[TetraD]

1. Hawk 75 - way more better than P-40

2. IAR 80/81

3. Bf 109 F/G2

4. I-153

5. Hellcat

6. F4U

 

Favorite battle: winter war, continuation war and all other eastern front

[Rjel]

I'll stay with just five as asked... but there are several more -

1. P-51B/D

2. B-17 any model from the E on

3. Mosquito fighter bomber 

4. P-38H or later

5. Mc.202

 

ETO 43-44... with Battle of Midway a close second.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Rjel

[Heywooood]

I just realized I am remiss in not mentioning my favorite warplane - the Grumman F2F (my Avatar)

but since it is a Between the Wars Golden Age plane it likely wont ever make it into a flight sim for combat...pity

[GP*]

1. F6F Hellcat (Ruggedly American. Probably the aircraft that most defined its country of origin. It's like the muscle car of airplanes.)

2. P-40 Tomahawk (An all-around great flying and combat capable airplane. A jack of all trades and very pilot friendly.)

3. Bf-109 (A fighter that seems built specifically to win air-to-air engagements. Despite some strange modifications late war, it stands as a prime example of aerial weaponry.)

4. P-47 Thunderbolt (Raw power and brute force personified. Looks like a bathtub and handles like one, but flies high, flies fast, dives like hell, and has one hell of an armament.)

5. P-38 Lightning (Just something about the looks. Second kind of cool.)

 

Pacific Theater, in particular the island hopping campaign. A close second is the North African campaigns.

 

Quoted for awesomeness. Great descriptions. 

 

My personal list:

 

1) Bf-109 (I just thought it was the coolest looking plane growing up; small and sinister looking with an iconic high-pitched whine of it's DB motor. It's still my all time favorite plane to fly in any sim, and I can't wait to fly it in BOS)

 

2) P-51 (as someone once said "apple pie, baseball, and Mustangs  -- it doesn't get any more red, white, and blue than that." A gorgeous and sleek plane that you can't help but love. And the British provided a great soundtrack for it too )

 

3) Fw-190A (even more badass looking than the 109, and a great fighter overall. A strictly business airplane that can obliterate anything in its path)

 

4) P-47 (like others have mentioned -- rugged and powerful beyond belief) 

 

5) La-5 (a radial-engined exotic that can dogfight with the best of them; plus, I like the cannon-only armament) 

 

Honorable mention (breaking the rules, I know):

 

- Spitfire (a gorgeous plane that, while it's not my favorite, I can see why so many love it)

 

- Corsair (just looks awesome, and has that muscle-car feel to it)

 

Can't say I really have any favorite battles, but if I had to choose, I'd say anything in the ETO (western or eastern) or the Pacific (USN/USAAF vs IJN/IJA) 

[Bussard_x]

Ok single engine fighters only:

 

1.  Bf 109

2.  Fw 190

3.  Spitfire

4.  Curtiss Hawk 75

5.  Polikarpov I-185

 

Battle of Britain

[HansHansen]

1.Yak-3 best all round WW2 fighter, nice looking

2.Bf-109 flew everywhere, kicked ass nearly everywhere (sometimes even the pilot's)

3.Ju-88 could do anything quite well

4.MiG-3 best looking,quite fast

5.Do-335 very fast, nice bomb load and guns

 

No specific favorite battle, however i prefer ETO

[TheNotoriousFNG]

Quoted for awesomeness. Great descriptions. 

 

My personal list:

 

1) Bf-109 (I just thought it was the coolest looking plane growing up; small and sinister looking with an iconic high-pitched whine of it's DB motor. It's still my all time favorite plane to fly in any sim, and I can't wait to fly it in BOS)

 

2) P-51 (as someone once said "apple pie, baseball, and Mustangs  -- it doesn't get any more red, white, and blue than that." A gorgeous and sleek plane that you can't help but love. And the British provided a great soundtrack for it too )

 

3) Fw-190A (even more badass looking than the 109, and a great fighter overall. A strictly business airplane that can obliterate anything in its path)

 

4) P-47 (like others have mentioned -- rugged and powerful beyond belief) 

 

5) La-5 (a radial-engined exotic that can dogfight with the best of them; plus, I like the cannon-only armament) 

 

Honorable mention (breaking the rules, I know):

 

- Spitfire (a gorgeous plane that, while it's not my favorite, I can see why so many love it)

 

- Corsair (just looks awesome, and has that muscle-car feel to it)

 

Can't say I really have any favorite battles, but if I had to choose, I'd say anything in the ETO (western or eastern) or the Pacific (USN/USAAF vs IJN/IJA) 

 

Had to quote you as well for your awesome descriptions (especially for the 109!)...my list is quite similar to yours.

 

1) Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Any model, even the early A-Ds still manage to have that menacing look with the Jumo 210...but I prefer the whine of the DB )

 

2) Supermarine Spitfire (Love the sound of the Merlin, and it's just one of those iconic designs)

 

3) Curtiss P-40 (Just an all around cool looking aircraft with quite a history to boot...where didn't it serve? )

 

4) North American P-51 (I have a preference for the B and C models over the D, but I love the sleek lines regardless...and the performance certainly doesn't hurt. Especially for high altitude engagements!)

 

5) Mitsubishi A6M (It's quite the fighter, and remained as such even into the later models...especially in the hands of an experienced pilot!)

 

 

Honorable Mentions for me would be the Consolidated B-24, Dornier Do-17, Junkers Ju 52 (yes, I'm one of those guys ), Kawanishi N1K, Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 and Vought F4U. From a young age, anything with a prop fascinated me...if it's got a prop, count me in. I'll happily fly it too!

 

 

Theater: I enjoy them all, though the PTO is probably my favorite.

[Zorin]

Single engined fighters

 

• Fw190
• Ki84
• P-40
• Bf109
• MiG-3

 

Twin engined fighters

 

• Me210/410
• Bf110
• Mosquito
• P38
• Whirlwind

 

Twin engined bombers

 

• B-26 Marauder
• Ar234
• Ju88/188/288
• G3M
• Pe2

 

Four engined bombers

 

• Fw200
• Lancaster
• He177
• B24
• B17

 

Seaplanes

 

• Blohm & Voss BV 138
• Dornier Do 18
• Blohm & Voss BV 222 Wiking
• Short Sunderland
• Consolidated Catalina

 

Non-fighting types

 

• Bf108
• Fi156
• Lysander
• Ju52
• DC3

 

ToW. MTO / ETO

Edited August 6, 2013 by Zorin

[JG4_Greif]

There are so many planes I like. I pick 5 planes from 5 different countries.

 

1. Bf-109G-6

2. Yak-3

3. P-47

4. Tempest MkV

5. IAR-81

 

No specific Theater. I like all.

[Recon]

p40

109F4

Spitfire

p39

p47

 

any of the bombers  

[Volkoff]

YAK- 3

YAK-9U

P-38L

F6F

P-47*

 

*(I wish they made the Republic XP-72 (with the contra rotating prop) into the P-72.That would have been a bad a-- plane)

Edited August 7, 2013 by MishaJames

[pilotpierre]

Are you data basing these results or future reference Jason?

[Rjel]

Are you data basing these results or future reference Jason?

 

Or just checking to see who can follow simple directions.

Today's number is 5. 1, 2, 3,4, 5

[brook]

All Antons but the A5 in il2 ,felt weird, but loved the A6 and A9  and looking to love the A3 and most 109,s

 

no need for any red plane set here , they just wasted space on my hard drive :-)

Edited August 7, 2013 by brook

[Jason_Williams]

Are you data basing these results or future reference Jason?

 

No just interested to see what people are into.

 

Jason

[=RvE=Windmills]

Yaks. Nearly all variants.

[Heywooood]

No just interested to see what people are into.

 

Jason

oh dear....I don't think you meant that...lols

Edited August 7, 2013 by Heywooood

[72sq_Popale]

Favorite battle: MTO/ Malta

 

1- SM79 

2- JU88

3- Macchi 200

4- Macchi 202

5- Reggiane Re2001

 

 

[II./JG27_Rich]

1. Bf 109 F-4, F-2, G-2, G-4, all G-10s, G-6/AS, G-14/AS, K-4, G-14, G-6 Erla, G-6 Tall Tail.

2. Fw 190 A-6

3. 110 G-2

4.Ju 88

5. Ju 87

 

You'll have to shoot me before I'll fly an allied aeroplane  

Edited August 7, 2013 by Richie

[JimmyGiro]

Spit 9

Yak 3

FW190 A4

P47

Ki84

 

Battle for Rorke's Drift [KwaJim]. If we lost that one, we'd all be speaking Zuluuuuuuuuuuuu.

[JG1_Pragr]

Westland Whirlwind - It's simple beautifull plane

P-47

Bf 109 - particularly the G-6 subvariant. Just because it's the most underestimated/disliked plane probably

Hs 129B - Like the Whirlwind. It's nice plane.

Fw 190

[JG4Helofly]

1. FW 190

2. BF 109

3. JU 88

4. He 219

5. F4u Corsair

[Finkeren]

WW2 Aircraft:

 

My overall favourites, based on combat performance, looks and my own bias. Some of these are very "model specific" and might only apply to that special mark or version.

 

1. La-5FN

 

2. Bf-109F

 

3. Tu-2S

 

4. Ju-88G

 

5. B-25C/D

 

Based solely on combat record (the numbers don't lie, but might still be debatable):

 

1. Bf-109

 

2. B-25

 

3. Fw-190

 

4. P-47

 

5. Mosquito

 

Based solely on looks:

 

1. Mig-3 - If it had been as good as it looked, the war would have ended with Soviet world conquest on 23rd june 1941. 

 

2. Bf-109F - Sexy, sexy, sexy extremely sleek and well polished design.

 

3. La-5FN - Rugged good looks. Way prettier than the sleeker La-7.

 

4. B-25C/D (gunship version with extra .50 cals and painted over nose) - Just looks deadly. Endless posibilities for nose art.

 

5. He-219A-4 - Just gotta love the futuristic design. Fits perfectly with the technological arms race that characterized the night bombing campaign.

 

Favourite battle:

 

Battle of the Lower Dnierper: A long lasting, decisive, and ferociously fought campaign with lots of drama and twists and turns, but almost completely overshadowed by Operation Zitadelle in the history books (Seriously. Looking at Western depictions of the Eastern Front, you'd think the battle of Kursk was the only battle that took place there in 1943.)

[Feathered_IV]

Odd that many of our favourite aircraft don't often match our theatre of greatest interest.

[SYN_Ricky]

Odd that many of our favourite aircraft don't often match our theatre of greatest interest.

 

Being in that case: my interest for WWII started quite early, and for many years I only really knew well the Western, Med and Pacific theatres. So the first planes I loved operated on those theatres.

 

I only started to know more about the eastern front when Il-2 came out in 2001, there are some russian planes that I really like but they still can't take the planes of the ones I've been loving long before.

 

In a 10 list planes I would have put the Yak 9 La-5 and Pe-2 for sure.

 

Now that I know more about the air war on the eastern front I find it really interesting, more than the fight over germany or BoB which I prefered before.

Edited August 7, 2013 by SYN_Ricky

[Finkeren]

Odd that many of our favourite aircraft don't often match our theatre of greatest interest.

I think that's because we factor in all aspects of warfare in our assesments of the battle.

 

I picked the "Lower Dnieper" campaign, which happens to fit well with my overall favourite AC (La-5FN), but I certainly didn't pick that battle for its air combat aspects.

[150GCT_Veltro]

OFF TOPIC

 

About The Battle of Midway, considering Pacific Fighter, i would say this because it's one of my favorite option (and we know that's the same for Jason):

 

Two conditions:

 

- Devastator flyable

- Kate flyable

 

Val and SBD are not enough.

 

Please don't give me Midway without torpedo.

Edited August 7, 2013 by 150GCT_Veltro

[72sq_SilVal]

1) Bf 109 Any Variant.

2) Spitfire Mk.V / Mk. IX

3) Macchi 202/205 "Folgore/Veltro"

4) FW190 Any Variant

5) MItsubishi A6M "Zero"


Theatre: North Africa / MTO,   Operation Torch

[BlitzPig_EL]

Forgot to add my favorite battle...

 

This is really tough because it has changed as I have gained more knowledge of the great expanse of the war.

 

It's a tie actually.

 

The Mediterranean Theater, and the air war in China in it's entirety from 1937 to 1945.