Let's talk about our favorite warplanes

[DD_bongodriver]

It's a shame so many posts 'bent' the rules, would have been really interesting to see everybody making the tough '5 only' choice.

[rarapka]

I have to agree with Bongodriver here.
My tough cardinal list:

 

I-153 ( I mainly love it because of the M62 engine)

P-39N (It's odd yet intuitive design)

Ju-52 (cause it's such a classic oldy)

I-16 (Same reason as for the I-153)

La-5Fn (well, what to say, I just love this one)

Theater: odd enough the pacific because of the aircraft carrier operations.

[=LD=Hethwill]

I'm all biased towards PTE so,

 

Anything Hawk - P36, P40

 

Hellcat

 

A6M2 & Ki43

 

 

But, given the BoS setting I'll have to set with the lend lease program   and whatever is available.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Hethwill

[theOden]

I've summarized this whole thread with my blind eye and must announce the P47 a winner (my secret competition).

(here I was thinking I was the only P47 nut in the world)

 

 

 

/moonwalks away

[150GCT_Pag]

Here are my favourites:

 

1) Macchi MC202/205

2) Bf109 G-6

3) FW 190 D-9

4) Macchi C200

5) Spitfire Mk. IX

 

Theatre: MTO

[=27=Davesteu]

Favorite WWII-Warbirds are probably:

Fw 190

J2M

Ki-45

TBF/TBM1/3

He 111

"Favorite" (most interesting) Battle:

 

I´m interested in all theaters. For me it´s most important to fly in a historically accurate mission environment.
What I don´t like is the staleness of again and again repeating the "publicly known" stuff. The war in the air was more than BoB, Normandy, Stalingrad, Berlin,
Pearl Harbor, Midway, Islands and Hiroshima/Nagasaki! Yes, important periods, but far from the whole picture and surprisingly limiting gamewise.

 

Greetings,

Dave

Edited July 4, 2018 by =27=Davesteu

[BraveSirRobin]

Fw 190

P-51

F4F Wildcat

Spitfire

P-38

 

Kursk

[GP*]

It's amazing to see how many people put the 109 at or near the top of their list. Well, maybe not amazing, but it definitely surprised me. Spitfire or P-51 would have been my guess. 

[Jason_Williams]

I also don't understand the huge popularity of the 109 either, in simming or in plastic modeling. That's why I start threads like this, to see what they like and why people like certain things. In America being a fan of the 109 growing up really wasn't something me and my friends would be exposed to, but I can see kids in Europe knowing more about it and certainly some amazing combat pilots flew it which added to the mystique I guess.

 

Jason

[II/JG17_HerrMurf]

How on earth did I miss this thread?

 

OK, probably in this order;

 

1. Ta 152 C0/C1, not the H mind you, the C. Love the big paddle tail and gobs of power. I'll stick with the D9 (late) if we're not doing experimentals.

2. P-51B.......no, D.........um, B...............no, D................oh, hell, B with a Malcolm hood.

3. He219 - high tech wonder and a night fighter option for the game?

4. Mosquito, nuff said

5. Fw190 A5, I love the Heinz Bar story and his paint jobs.

 

Honorable mentions - PBY5 - workhorse of the Pacific and the Lancaster.

 

And Battle: Tough one but probably Midway holds my fancy the most. Even if the ETO has the aircraft I love most.

Edited August 7, 2013 by HerrMurf

[Zorin]

It's a shame so many posts 'bent' the rules, would have been really interesting to see everybody making the tough '5 only' choice.

 

I made a set of five planes for six categories, one of them being non fighting types which can be disregarded. So you only need to take the first one for every category to have the top five list. That simple.

[Bussard_x]

I also don't understand the huge popularity of the 109 either, in simming or in plastic modeling. That's why I start threads like this, to see what they like and why people like certain things. In America being a fan of the 109 growing up really wasn't something me and my friends would be exposed to, but I can see kids in Europe knowing more about it and certainly some amazing combat pilots flew it which added to the mystique I guess.

 

Jason

Well Jason if you look at the top 3 aces of all time:

Erich Hartmann 352

Gerhard Barkhorn 301

Gunther Rall 275

 

Flying in their 109s, gives it legendary status.

[72sq_Iva]

1. MC.202/205 - pure beauty, flew just this on IL2 for a year before trying anything else... and understood how crippled the model was compared to what you can read on history books

2. Ju-88 - the best prop twin-engine, ever!

3. early Zero - wish I had the skills to actually use it proficiently

4. SM.79 - wanna torpedo... what else?

5. BF 109 F4 - boom and zoom in stunning north african camo

 

Theater: MTO - Battle: Malta!

[Horna]

1. Bf 109

2. Fiat G.50

3. Brewster F2A

4. Curtiss P-36

5. Fokker D XXI

[Heywooood]

I like the angular and aggressive look of the 109 in all variants - nothing really looks as menacing - even on the ground it looks ready to hunt and kill...so does the FW190 (Dora especially)

[AX2]

0) F14 Tomcat  ( The most beautiful plane !!! )

1) P51 and BF 109 ( The more efficient Planes ! )

2) F 6 Hellcat ( at age 18, I went into the cockpit of F6 Hellcat,  But the plane could not fly ) 

3) F 190 and La 5 ( They always get wrong  modeled their FM )

4) P40 ( Beautiful !!) and P38 ( The Two-Tailed devil ! ) 

5) F4F Wildcat   ( A plane for the brave ! ) Spitfires ( The fly like a cheat... maybe... )

[TheBlackPenguin]

This is hard, don't want to bend rules, but I like fighters, bombers and all those in-between and then I have favourites of different nations.

 

1. Boulton Paul Defiant (My great-uncle flew as a gunner on one during the Bob, disappointed in clod that it wasn't flyable, so yes biased here).

2. Mosquito (even though one killed family members on my German side when it destroyed their house. It was a relatively secluded house in the country and its believed the car tracks to the house attracted RAF attention. At least this is what I was told).

3. Lancaster (there are others from the US that I hate leaving out, grrr).

4. Tempest/Typhoon

5. P-61 Black Widow (Always liked this one too).

 

As for Battle:

 

Battle of Britain, first publicised loss for the Luftwaffe, although arguably Bomber Command were the unsung heroes. So many battles to choose from its almost impossible to really choose! Honestly, if a vote went up for the next theatre I would read the comments and the arguments on pro/con before voting .

Edited August 8, 2013 by TheBlackPenguin

[skline00]

BF109

P40

P51

Ju88

Spitfire

 

Battle of Britain. I'm excited about the Battle Of Stalingrad!

Edited August 8, 2013 by skline00

[skline00]

I also don't understand the huge popularity of the 109 either, in simming or in plastic modeling. That's why I start threads like this, to see what they like and why people like certain things. In America being a fan of the 109 growing up really wasn't something me and my friends would be exposed to, but I can see kids in Europe knowing more about it and certainly some amazing combat pilots flew it which added to the mystique I guess.

 

Jason

Jason: Check out this youtube video on a Messerschmitt 109 and especially the one comment that the guy would leave his girlfriend for this plane!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nj77mJlzrc

[Faustnik]

Fw190A

P-39

I-16

IL-2

P-40

Edited August 8, 2013 by Faustnik

[AX2]

I also don't understand the huge popularity of the 109 either, in simming or in plastic modeling. That's why I start threads like this, to see what they like and why people like certain things. In America being a fan of the 109 growing up really wasn't something me and my friends would be exposed to, but I can see kids in Europe knowing more about it and certainly some amazing combat pilots flew it which added to the mystique I guess.

 

Jason

If the developers do a mistake in the flight model of the P40 or a Yak... You will change maybe the 7% to 15% in the results of aerial combats in game.

But you can take P 39, P38?s, Mig or P47 , P51  and La´s and many more planes, and have fun !

If the developers make a mistake in the flight model of a BF 109, You or developers will change  the 70% to 80 %   of the results of aerial combats in game....

And the game ends ?.. maybe...

Apologies .. but I think that.

Edited August 8, 2013 by Mustang

[Jason_Williams]

This thread has NOTHING to do with flight models. Stick to the topic please.

 

Jason

[JG1_Pragr]

It's amazing to see how many people put the 109 at or near the top of their list. Well, maybe not amazing, but it definitely surprised me. Spitfire or P-51 would have been my guess. 

IMO the 109 is best example of the edge between nice looking plane and the one which is not. I would say most people vote for 109 are talking about F/G/K versions. They are really nice looking aerodynamical designs. On the other hand E version is somewhat ugly. And finally the Buchon (the 109 frame with RR Merlin engine used in Spain) is just nasty.

 

Ok, it's similar to Spitfire. Just use the Griffon engine instead of RR Merlin, cut the wing and suddenly the plane looks way more sexy

[I/JG27_Zimmi]

1.) Bf 109 (Emil as well as the G-6, beautiful and interested in it since I learned that the friend of my grandma flew it in combat)

2.) Fw 190 (A-4, beautiful, strong, and lethal)

3.) P-47 ( -''- )

4.) IL-2 (amazing ground attack plane)

5.) P-38 (beautiful apperance)

 

Early eastern front

Edited August 8, 2013 by I/JG27_Zimmi

[gn728]

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

Greetings Heywood - not the F2F but you can get an F3F for CFS2 - If you still have that - if you could still run it  - Aeroplane Heaven - I paid for it back in the day but I think it's free now...

[kestrel79]

I'm from the US and I dig the 109 because it just looks so German. When I went to EAA a few years back there were many more p51s there but when the one 109 showed up, people sprinted to check it out. It's the badass german paint job colors, the cool cross on the wings. The square ww2 era german design that you can see in their tanks and planes across the board. It just looks COOL. Not to mention that sound. Love that whistle it makes.

 

P47 takes the cake though for me as prettiest plane, especially the later models. If you see one in person it is HUGE.

[=69.GIAP=YSTREB]

1. Yak-3 ( sexiest fighter that i could even marry

2. Bf 109 F4 ( can not imagine any wwii sim withouth messerschmitt)

3. La-5fn

5. P40 ( pearl harbor has it )

 

6.spitfire (any variant is beautiful)

7.P-51D mustang

8.FW-190

9. P-39 aircobra

10. MiG-3 (sexy as well)

 

 

Best Battle ( Khalkhing-gol/ Nomonkhan incident, number of aircrafts (300ish) in the air in single day battle 'date was like 15 of august 1939 not sure though' was record holder before wwii) japs and ruskiis  

[Meteor2]

Bf 110 (the night fighter variant with radar would be a unique development for a sim !!!)

 

Ju 88

 

He 177 (remember Fritz-X)

 

B 17 (the bomber workhorse)

 

Me 262 (despite the reliability; a wonderful looking plane, ahead of its time)

 

Theater: Med or Reich 43-44

[150GCT_Veltro]

Why people like the Messerschmitt?

Daimler-Benz sound is a drug; it's a wonderfull machine (100% German engineering), and the best pilots flew it, not only Germans. It's a real legend like the Focke Wulf, with all respect for Mustang and Spitfire...but 109 is somenthing else.

 

ANR, Italian ace Ugo Drago (passed away few years ago) with his Messerschmitt, and a stunning italian BF-109G-10 Erla.

Edited August 8, 2013 by 150GCT_Veltro

[A-E-Hartmann]

1. BF-109 (all versions) .

2. FW-190 (all versions) .

3. JU-87 Stuka .

4. BF-110 .(all versions) .

5. Do-17 .

 

Theatre : North Africa  or MTO .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2013 by A-E-Hartmann

[rolikiraly]

I have to agree about the MiG-3, it's a really awesome looking plane, shame it didn't perform better.

 

Speaking about planes on the ground, i think nothing looks more badass and dangerous than a heavily armed FW-190. That plane really looks better on the ground, while it's the opposite with the 109 (for me at least)

 

About the 109's popularity: The top aces flew with it. Also it's like people are attracted to the 'evil' side, or to the side that almost won but was finally defeated. Maybe. That explains the popularity of the German army nowadays.

I like it because i found it awesome looking with all those legendary skins.

 

I have to add that i haven't flown too much ww2 simulation so far so my opinion is mostly based on looks and history.

 

PS: an MTO expansion would sell quite well here i guess

[Furio]

Following strictly the rules.

 

I16 Ishak (anyone can be an ace with a Gustav)

Westland Whirlwind (simply beautiful)

Mosquito (a one-plane air force: choose between bombs, cannons, cameras and you have everything, with great style)

B26 Marauder (I know it was a deadly weapon, but I like her look)

Sunderland (did you notice I proceeded in order of weight? I just needed a really heavyweight to top it off, and the “porcupine” looked perfect to me)

 

 

As for the battle, I would stay in Russia, after Stalingrad. Kursk would be great.

[JFM]

In no particular order:

 

1. B-17 Flying Fortress.

 

2. F4U-1 Corsair.

 

3. TBD Devastator.

 

4. SBD Dauntless.

 

5. Me-262 Schwalbe.

 

Although I very much enjoy reading about both sides of the strategic bombing campaign in western Europe, even more so I enjoy the carrier war of the PTO. Particularly the eary period, Pearl Harbor through Santa Cruz.

[=69.GIAP=RADKO]

1. P39 (A beast once you figure it out, amazingly good in rolling scissors)

2. Yak 3P (It's a Yak1B on steroids) 

3. Tempest (Would prefer the Typhoon if it was represented properly in IL2 1946)

4. P47. I Love this aircraft a fantastic fighter bomber with a crazy load capacity. 

5. Lagg3 (Terrible to fly but a joy to control if that makes sense)

Edited August 8, 2013 by =69.GIAP=RADKO

[rarapka]

 

Best Battle ( Khalkhing-gol/ Nomonkhan incident, number of aircrafts (300ish) in the air in single day battle 'date was like 15 of august 1939 not sure though' was record holder before wwii) japs and ruskiis

 

Very nice pick here!

also interesting to see what folks come up with to dodge the number 5 'rule' (Starting at 0, Zorin's tactic (made me grin)).  eeh, Just joking.

[Streiff]

In no particular order.

 

FW 190 A6

Bf 109 G2

Hawker Tempest

Fw 190 D9

Wetland Whirlwind

 

Theatres: North Africa, Mediterranean.

[79_vRAF_Friendly_flyer]

Based solely on looks:

 

...

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

 

 

Oh yes, the La-5FN is a good looking plane for sure!

[79_vRAF_Friendly_flyer]

I also don't understand the huge popularity of the 109 either, in simming or in plastic modeling.

 

I can see the attraction, particularly in plastic modelling. The 109 is likely the plane that bore the most elegant and striking paint schemes through the war. While they were never my favourites to fly in IL2, skinning them was always fun!

[crossfade]

1.Zero-(early versions) do not get into a furball with this!!

2.Ki-83c-Turns well can zoom and boom oh yea the cannons

3.il-2-The best ground pounder no matter how many holes are in it

4.P38-Multipurpose sex machine;)

5.Fw190-(Again early versions up-to A5 very stable great allround dogfighter.

 

Pacific Theater (I love the sun).

[=IRFC=Tunes]

Lemme see if I can take a crack at this...

 

 

1. Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

• I like this for a bit more of an unorthadox reason. Sure it was rugged and powerful beyond belief, but above 200MPH it could out turn a BF-109 and had better high altitude performance than any other fighter of the war. (Until the Dora FWs came out, then the playing field was evened out a bit.) It had eight .50s that could saw through any aircraft that fell victim to the Jug. Despite the Mustang's Coup-De-Grace death blow in late '44 and early 1945, the P-47 broke the Luftwaffe's back from April of 1943 right up until the end of the war. The 56th FG, the P-47's main disciples, used the Thunderbolt from their first missions to their last, scoring more air to air victories than any other fighter group of the war and yielded the ETO's handful of top aces. (When asked to trade their Jugs for P-51s, they promptly refused.) This machine deserves way more credit than it recieves as a simply awesome fighter aircraft.

2. Chance Vought/Goodyear F4U/FG-1 Corsair

• What can I say, a simply stunning piece of technology. Whipping out the same Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp as the Thunderbolt, this aircraft punished the Japanese alongside the Hellcat in the latter years of the war. Until the KI-100 and other late war Japanese machines reached the front, this aircraft made the existing Japanese aircraft seem obsolete. A all-round great looking and flying airplane. (Although I'd hate to be the chap landing it on a carrier. )

3. Focke-Wulf FW-190

• Although hindered by it's extremely high wing-loading, this plane made its reputation stick and was a foe to be reckoned with in the skies of Europe. Another fast and great looking bird! (With a helluva lot of oompfh in the wings. :D )

4. North American P-51 Mustang

• Unlike most Mustang enthusiasts, my love for the aircraft isn't because it walked into Berlin and shot Hitler and 'Murica and whatnot. It's because it's simply a great looking and great flying plane. (...and I've flown in it ) I do have a soft spot for razorbacks, so I'd have to say that the -C variant is my favorite.

5. Grumman F6F Hellcat

• Double Wasp, Six .50s, killer looks and K/D ratio. End of story.

 

My favorite battle would have to be "Big Week" 1944. During the last week of February, a series of bombing attacks were held to knock out major German manufacturing and assembly plants in locations such as Leipzig, Brunswick, Gotha, Augsburg, and Stuttgart. P-47s made up a large part of the escort force and flew almost 4,000 individual sorties throughout the week. (Aided with 500 individual P-38 and P-51 sorties.) In this span of time, the Thunderbolts knocked 200 confirmed planes out of the sky, with another 20 probables and 100 damaged. The Germans didn't like that.