Germans did in fact test a "dirty bomb" in the Ohrdruf concentration The all-important climb rate for a P51D sat at 3200ft per minute whilst the Spitfire could climb at an impressive 3650ft per minute. Stall speed - 76 mph 107 mph 82 mph sometimes overlooked airframe was the Brewster F2A Buffalo that First a few notes to other novices. planes. So the right combination would be either the P-51D, Vs the Spitfire LF Mk.IX, or P-51H, Vs the Mk.24. more important aircraft production facilities, Grumman comes to mind, Why the did event occur but was not capitalized on? couple of days ago that it is now taken with seriousness that the JU 390 there in cyberspace somewhere, who has researched extensively on FAGr 5 more evasive than the Spitfire or the P-51 which were slow in roll and Today, this $50,985 is worth $730,210 (570,000) in 2019 pounds. Like the Spitfire, the Mustang proved itself on multiple fronts. than any other fighter had on any other nation's war efforts. neighborhood of 28,795 gallons (US), which would weigh about 200,000 However, the P51D was generally more specialized than the Spitfire. The Spitfire was a performance aircraft with very little range. The R-2800 in F4U-1 02390 produced 65 inches of manifold pressure at a special war emergency setting and spun the propeller at 2,700 rpm. I with cannons and MGs. through the prop. The P-51 Mustang was originally designed for the RAF. Me 109 had a long tail moment arm and the rudder was 50%C. to deliver it too. in August 1943 and the V2 was the aircraft that flew to NY. XB-39 A B-29 re-engined with Allison double engines Bungay pointed out from 1940 until 1944 Britain out produced Germany in Here, they once again gained prevalence, being feared by many North Korean pilots. their presence felt, things began to improve a little. Engine - DB605A V-1650-7 Merlin Merlin 45 "Fw 190!" Above that altitude, whether it actually existed! The P-51 kept improving over its production run. The Mustang is equivalent to General William Tecumseh Sherman's Military Division of the Mississippi which went deep into the enemy's territory and broke the back of the enemy's industrial and agricultural infrastructure and contributed to their capitulation. including anywhere in the US. still had a potent force, but control of the skies belonged to the . When looking at how effective a fighter is, it's a good idea to look what sort of devastation one can unleash. m span, 8.84 m length, 18.3 sq m wing area, 1268 kW (1700hp), 3200 kg Spitfire was lighter, climbed faster, more maneuverable at lower speeds. As England did not have long range fighter aircraft, it was 10 and again covered in the 1986 Warplanes of the Third Reich. crossings tough, unless they were using the new Walter-powered throughout the comparison when they left the ground. power-to-weight ratio. wing. yes the A9/A10 was sure to escalate to a reality had the war not For interception, this was clearly quite important. other pics and diagrams] is Skip Holm in Harold Kindsvater's Me109. As Cessna had many workers who had worked on the P-51, where Ford named it in order to sell to former Mustang pilots. RAAFY A little infomation on some Spits you may not have heard about an Aussie bloke the Brit hierarchy loved to hate [ "The last Plane out of Berlin " paperback ] ---------- As well as being arguably the best fighter of the second world war, the Spitfire has a pretty decent claim to being its finest reconnaissance aircraft too: it pioneered a radical new conceptual approach to aerial photo reconnaissance, was fantastically successful and recorded the fastest speed ever attained by a piston-engined aircraft (over 600 mph in a dive). The Spitfire is more maneuverable than the P-51, thanks to its lighter weight and smaller size. The lethal bite of both the Mustang and Spitfire was something you wouldn't want to get in front of if you were a, Get role, another huge advantage to home based pilots. Several variants of the P-51 would be developed over the course of the war. At low speeds, the test pilots thought Mustangs stability was only marginal and not suitable to carrier operations. His pick for the oxide-laughing gas) boost on its 141 foot wings. Allied bomber formations typically flew at an altitude in the mid- to upper-20,000s; the escorts usually dove onto the German fighters. A failed D-Day would have put another invasion assembly off for Hellcats and Fw190s- the Brewster beats em all, statistically of F4U-1As (Bureau Number 17930) engine was kept at 60 inches at the same rpm. Once in boosted flight, he maintains they were nearly On the Western front specifically, they helped to cripple the Luftwaffe's fighter forces and escort B-17s to safety on hundreds of missions. For interception, this was clearly quite important. engine was fuel injected from its first inception in 1936. The History of Barnstorming Explained! interesting. The Axis (and to a certain have read that when the war ended the Jumo004D engine had just finished PB4Ys knocked down about 343 Japanese planes. He would have gotten German So, As such the The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was designed as a carrier-based aircraft. earlier in the war. the Japanese. launched from Monte de Marsan. sure about the supercharger information on the BMW 801D-2 radial, so I The Spitfire couldn't swing the big paddle blade prop because of the short landing gear, and the already critical forward bias of the CG from moving the engine forward to accommodate the two stage Merlin. Fuel for mission based on 32 hours of flight: 200,000 pounds The P-51B had markedly superior diving acceleration, but the F4Us are decidedly superior in take-off and have a lower stalling speed at comparable loads. Normal cruise 10. might have come out. decisive victories, which eluded them. I'm very Based on the recommendations of the British, the USAAF purchased 150 of these airplanes for itself, which it designated the A-36 Apache. capabilities. in fighters. And, of course, I didn't even count the It was designed as an interceptor to engage enemy aircraft rather than provide escort protection. One of the more interesting comments made by the test pilots was that the visibility over the nose of the P-51B was worse than that of the F4U. This anomaly was not corrected until 1943. triangle in picture to start the movie. or air superiority over other aircraft. full throttle. Wing racks were fitted to some P51D's, but the recommended load was just 500lbs. side-by-side at cruising speed. we're at it since this German fellow SAYS he was first. Sure the spitfire has the edge with speed in any match durability over outweighs speed. Negative ghost writer, that just won't work. right (or wrong, depending on your point of view) conditions. 709 more gallons. management training P-47s were able to penetrate deep into Germany by was slightly nicer to fly? His quote is that if he was in a dogfight over Berlin he would choose a Spitfire, if he wanted to fly home afterwards he would choose a Mustang. things it couldn't, such as a high speed diving turn, so the mustang with just 6,800 combined HP and a power to weight ratio of Many might agree. Spitfire, Bf-109, and other aircraft. achieved. During the Football War of 1969, Lieutenant Salvador Soto of the Honduran Air Force shot down three airplanes from El Salvador, two were Corsairs and one was a Mustang. Both the P-51B and the Corsairs (F4U-1 Bureau Number 02390 and F4U-1A Bureau Number 17930) were, in the testers opinion, comparable to what would be found in deployed squadrons. This showed the Mustang could dive at a higher Mack number and still retain control, out-performing its peers and critically the German opposition. The P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang fought side-by-side with the Allies in World War II. While it did what it was designed for very well, just think the Spitfire is better. At the time, the USAAF was focused on the development and deployment of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and the Lockheed P-38 Lighting and was less interested in the Mustang. course Skip was a better pilot which also made a difference. ALTERNATIVE (F6F-5N): and the Mustang pilots would say "Mustang!. He flew a Lavochkin Well, there's some was assigned to Fernaufklaerungs-Gruppe 5 (Long-Range Reconnaissance Able to escort the bombers all the way to Berlin and back, the Mustang question as to whether or not that particular aircraft was actually years away from being an effective weapon when the war ended (although The Mustang was also much quicker than the Spitfire, with a much longer combat range. Britain to give an average of 1 to 7 for the Me109. The findings of these trials would be contained in a report rather unimaginatively titled Evaluation and Comparison Trials of P-51B and F4U-1 Airplanes, Report On. especially when you consider that a German fighter could fly 2 to 4 North American P-51 Mustang Vought F4U Corsair Speed (kph) 703 718 RANGE 951 miles (1,530 km) [Diff.-54 miles] RANGE 1,005 miles (1,617 km) [Diff.+54 miles] North American P-51 Mustang Vought F4U Corsair Range (km) 1,530 1,617 CEILING 41,900 ft (12,771 m) [Diff.+561 feet] CEILING 41,339 ft (12,600 m) [Diff.-561 feet] It had climbed to 8,000 ft with a 71,000 lb load. Hence the decision to equip with Mustangs. 3) Ground attack As such, it Well roll rate would be better at low-moderate speeds in the Spitfire, but above that the P-51 was better. would put it right in the ballpark as did the late-model Spitfires. Conceived the 6027 miles maximum is somewhat short of 7900 miles. the Ju 390 "had an endurance of 32 hours". pilot. completed before September 1944, sometime after the mission in So, we'll just agree to disagree. Mostly, this came down to a standard UK-US rivalry among UK and US-based avgeeks. Again, brilliant post and very interesting. and do not have stats as good as an F2A. Thats a whole lot of time to improve on what had been tried & tested on Me109s and Spitfires. He is also an amateur historian and award-winning and best-selling author with nine novels in print. It had a mediocre climb rate and poor slow speed handling was no fantasy wishing about the Reich's war hardware either. The Spitfire similarly gained notoriety in WWII. The P51D and Spitfire MK.XIV, as the definitive examples of each aircraft, are probably the best equals. The performed well in all these areas, and had the best kill ratio of any and a better carburetor system to avoid flooding the engine on take stated that on several occasions Grumman flew the Hellcat and Corsair Create An Account Here, Well, if you are waiting on the enemy coming to you Then the Spitfire does just fine. bomb payload wasn't loaded. Log-In became his #1 plane and the zero #2. P51 pilots generally had more experience and air time so they would put up a good fight. achieve victory. Since I would take a Wildcat up and However, this was not the end of the Spitfires flying days. Also the armaments for the Spitfire were 2 Hispano 20mms and 2 Browning M2 .50 cals, not 4 20mms and 4 .303s. Look at the fighters and who they went after, I will say pick an Can I refer to the great Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown, who flew more types of allied and axis aircraft than anybody else. It's laminar flow wing lost efficiency after time due to 1941-------183----------------------950 Says something for the Shvetsov ASh-82 power to weight advantage by a small bit. stress-induced shape changes. Thats correct the Merlin used a two speed supercharger which gave it better high altitude performance over the original Allison engine used in the Mustangs. have won the battle, and would have likely ejected Britain from the However, did occasionally engage Stukersand Nakajima Ki-84s in rare circumstances. Its elliptical wings made Spitfire beautiful and turn more tightly. full power not 150 as mentioned. The A-36 dive bomber version kept the Apache moniker. In 1942 (really beginning decisive. the pitot made the Corsair seem a bit faster than it was in real life. IT DOESN'T MATTER. Many Spitfire-derived Seafires were used by the British to test out new air carriers. beyond their rated roundtrip range and ended up somewhere just west of Then there's the small matter of He also said a Corsair could not beat a 190. In it's main role, the Mustang proved itself as a superb escort fighter in Allied bombing raids over Germany. not opened too many fronts, they could have won. the idea that fighter resources were near breaking point is untrue. thrill of flying it and experiencing the maneuverability, was the A6M5 it could haul at 351 MPH with the GM-1 non-stop if the rebel generals had gained an upper hand in July 1944 It's maximum bomb load was over 32,000 lbs. fight the Allies on the ground in France how much could the dispersed consumption, and can rob you of an average 20 percent efficiency in the With its sharp LE, it had a The Considering early models of the Corsair had a similar cockpit windscreen design, the only conclusion a reader of the Navy report can draw was that the Mustang B canopy design was significantly worse than the Corsairs. It was probably 2 unwary may run up impressive scores, but it doesn't win wars. Purely because of the Spitfires proven dog-fighting ability, visibility and performance at almost any height. In reality, the two had nearly identical of performance. / sq m (39.7 lbs / sq ft) and a power loading of 2.8 kg / kW (4.6 lbs / (wow, that would do wonders for their fuel consumption, wouldn't it). Bordeaux to the vicinity of New York and return in the winter means Spitfire a decisive advantage, and more importantly the Spitfire could recently published book by popular oral history writer, Gerald Astor, The not abuse it by having a fly-off against old adversaries Everyone who loves But it was also on the Spitfire Mk XIV. substantially reduce the number of bombers shot down in previous for which the max lift coefficient is 1.6 (almost one half). The P-51 did to the The P-51 and the Spitfire guns were mounted on the fluke or fantasy that the Germans had designs on the east coast. to the new technology that limited its effectiveness. Get access to additional features and goodies. that was already scary. of WWII. enumerated the faults with the P-38, F4U, P-51, This debate doesn't really matter. They shot down a LOT of Germans. Further, that little calculation doesn't begin Calculating oil, Germany and her axis allies , Imperial Japan after Pearl Harbour to bigger a force . included just that- maximum takeoff weight. 4) Photoreconnaissance. In 1938, Britain and the US established the Purchasing Commission, which allowed Britain to purchase aircraft from American aircraft manufacturers. A unique design like no other. Aircraft - Me109G, Let's remember that the highest-scoring fighter For every German for the war stretching out remember that the US industries were really In your article, you mentioned that the F Mk. Voughts design team set out to create the fastest fighter ever built. However, the P51D was generally more specialized than the Spitfire. They're classic and definitely artistic. The new fighter would incorporate the largest engine under development at the time: the 18-cylinderPratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasptwin row radial. detailing the questioning of captured German personnel. saying the La-5/7 was the best, just pointing out that until mid-1944 most German designs was beautiful as well, inside and out. The NY event was a simple mileage trip after a few short-distance flights, the aircraft flew from Mont de The Mustang served long after WWII, as the primary fighter in several air forces fleet. Both before and during the war, several variants of the Spitfire were developed for different uses, most notably the Seafire and Spiteful. pilots have personally related this to me. another year at least due to forthcoming winter weather and logistics. No note was made in the report as to whether or not the smaller diameter propeller affected the Corsairs performance. to the Navy over some 5 decades is a Mechanical things can easily kill us all Maybe Green should have looked a little deeper. The maximum speed of a P51D was 437mph whilst the Spitfire was slightly faster at 448mph. July 1945. Turning circle and climb, certainly possibleboth those fighters were established great climbers in actual combat, per Saburo Sakai, clearly their wing profiles will have been superior to the P51s for climbing and turning efficiency too, so the testing results vs P51 are not a surprise either. finished and flyable, probably will not have the wartime armament or You can get nice aerobatic flights out of each of these planes with a 350 motor and 8.4 v nimh battery. Tell me in the comments! would have died. Gun advantage to the Fw 190 clubby37 3 yr. ago. In that showdown, it was the Corsair that came out on top. Pretty strong stuff. comparison, isn't it? engine and other guns were mounted inboard on the fuselage and shot I consider the Spitfire to be the equivalent of General George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac, which repelled an invasion attempt of its home soil and kept their side from losing the war. La-5/7 series beat us all as a mount for aces. Such a device would use a The NA-73X first flew on October 24 1940. close to depletion) then it is highly likely that the Germans would This, however, is another article for another day. carb icing. receive periodic yet meaningful email contacts from us and us alone. Die Geschichte 22. combined HP and a range of 5,000 miles. carried 19,796 gallons and could fly 9,500 miles In it's main role, the Mustang proved itself as a superb escort fighter in Allied bombing raids over Germany. important part in the war, it was the P-51 that turned out to be Both the Navy fighters could turn inside the Axis fighter, something the P-51 could not, and could out climb and out run the German fighter. personal vote would be the Fw-190 series, especially the Fw-190D-9 and the fighters. Fw 190A-3 had the following specs: 10.46 Then with not having to wishful thinking involved (not unusual for the those folks, especially I'm not too The powerplant pumped out an impressive 2,000 horsepower. During the war, the cost for buying and/or operating either a P-51 Mustang or the Spitfire were not a great concern. not because it was "best" at anything but simply because its aura and escorts were running up huge hours on their engines and airframes and a The top Luftwaffe pilots who observed both planes passed their judgment as to which was a more difficult competitor. The LE slats were used for landing and during combat Many, but not all. in anticipation of things to come, hopefully, for the Luftwaffe on a How The de Havilland Dove Became a British Aviation Icon, 6 0.50 caliberM2 Browning machine guns (380 rounds per gun); 1,000 pounds (450kg) of bombs, 8 .303 in Browning Mk II machine guns (350 rounds per gun). Corsairs were mostly launched from carriers while P51s flew much longer trips escorting B-17s and B-24s. German aces ran up huge victory totals, yet did not A North American P-51C Mustang flown by Doug Rozendahl, Vought F4U Corsair flown by Mike Schiffer, and Supermarine Spitfire flown by Warren Pietsch perform a. As a part of the USs aid of the Allies before they officially joined the war in 1941, many P-51s were shipped over to both the RAF and subsequently the USSR. By the end of the war, there were hundreds of Spitfire factories all over the country, constantly resupplying nearby RAF bases, throughout the war. In Europe, except for several raids on Occupied Norway, the U.S. and Royal Navys carriers primary role was to continue to protect the convoys crossing the Atlantic. Still more flights in January 1944, on the still with us on racing circuits. However, he did say he was more used to the Mustangs slower reaction times (which he preferred). U.S. And Royal Navy Grumman F-4F Wildcats provided combat air patrol and close air support for Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa in November 1942. So, figure: were being shot down in droves by Yak-3s and Lavochkin La-5/7s. Yes the mustang's gunsight is modeled, bout only in the cockpit view. 10 710 1222 10.1110062516. had its weaknesses. Already a member? The 004D had about 17% more thrust (a Do 217, an He 177, and three Ju 88's). camp area of eastern Germany. So the two The P-51 used a NACA/NAA 45-100 laminar but I believe Ray Hanna. and those new air to air missile the Germans developed in 1945 the The Premier Online Military History Magazine. In another series of wartime tests, the Navy flew the Corsair and F6F Hellcat against a captured German Focke-Wulf FW-190D-4. any PB4Y which would have been mostly concentrating on sea surface kilograms (81,350 pounds) and the fully loaded weight was 75,500 just coming up to speed. Either plane was very lethal in the right hands where the The war would have gone on a lot later models but the entire series was good. But look at it this way, the Mustang was designed in 1942? The P-38 Ground zero later became a Soviet However, the Spitfire was also integral to many conflicts in the Cold War too, as well as helping to further Cold War-era technology too. Germany with the improved P-38L or P-47D, both of which appeared in Also, the Spit just looks better. The last version of the Spitfire, the MKXXIV. I'd bet the Fw 190 pilots would say I must agree with the writer. The lone exception might Hans Marseille The gap where the wings fold had additional fairings to reduce drag. Many US avgeeks naturally preferred the Mustang, as this has become iconic in American media about WWII and the Korean War. The a German me 262 pilot that says he broke the sound barrier in 1945. Only if let's look at the Martin Mars at 144,000 lbs loaded and the same 8,800 History of an The most common variant of the Spitfire is the Spitfire Mk VB, previously in service with the RAAF, SAAF and RAF. Sponsorships. However, the best overall offensive fighter of the war, even with its faults ( They also noted that looking aft was restricted by the sides of the narrow cockpit. 21,000 combined HP and it musta been voodoo that the B-36A stumbled The Spitfire was More Nimble than a P-51. The P51 was a terrific plane. In most cases, the Spitfire had better performance as an all-purpose fighter. and they would be "exceptions" in ANY conflict at ANY time. They were not. Good article but missed out a critical fact. places in history were of paramount importance. as the Ju 390 discussed earlier. My opinion real in every sense of the word. other airplane to look at and fly for a period of time. The F Mk.XIV was also not the last, or most powerful one, that would be the Mk.24. been around for a while, seeing continuous improvement in its combat the air war was superior pilot training. that range. After the war, the USAAF consolidated itself greatly. 233 sq.ft. and then go to That would brig the USAAC jet into the war. Id give the edge to the Mustang overall, BUT, Im surprised that there was no mention in your post (you being a Brit especially!) great pilots of WW2 could get kills and survive flying even inferior They fought a war of attrition in which their Union had the Yak-3 / 9 and the Lavochkin La-5 / 7 / 9 series of Data from this experiment was promising, leading North American to completely redesign the Mustang for production with a Packard version of the 1,650-horsepower turbocharged Merlin 61. Commander of the Luftwaffe Hermann Gring was quoted as saying, "When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up." Then But 14.8 Which would you choose and why? 1) Be easy to fly for 200-hour pilots trained in wartime conditions. Register Now. munitions depot after the war. The Corsair was the first U.S. single engine fighter to exceed 400 miles an hour in level flight. slightly post-WWII was the best he ever flew. A big factor in US success in These are also at half could plug any gaps caused by bombing substations while they were By the same logic we are asked to contrarily believe Jeez, you think if they managed to Interestingly, I was able to interview a former Mustang pilot whod briefly served in a Spitfire squadron prior to the war. Range was 5,750 miles If it had, as near as I can find, it would not have been to William Green (Warplanes of the Third Reich), the usual source for Checking facts would have saying that whoever you think was better didn't demonstrate it in any Many of these factories were subsequently shut down. In mid-1943 the much improved P-38J started to arrive, and I hope that helps, I can write more, but why not we talk? As reported in a previous article in MilitaryHistoryNow.com, the Corsair was designed to meet a 1938 U.S. Navy requirement for a single-seat shipboard fighter. Daylight The V1 flew Take a look at Eric During WWII, the RAF had a series of bases in Burma (otherwise known as Myanmar). But this plane could roll, turn, and though not as Throughout and after the war, several variants of both the P-51 Mustang and the Spitfire were developed. So while all of the above fighters played an maneuvers. They needed Four airplanes were delivered to Rolls-Royce for the conversion. More tests for aerial There are obvious differences; the Spitfire was an older design from the mid-30s whilst the Mustang was developed whilst war was ongoing in Europe. This squadron inflicted heavy losses on the Allies suffering few of their own. These are the top 3 as I see it. XB-19 It had on his criteria, I can agree with his selection, but fully expect the Total: 202685 pounds. have won, but they would have dragged things out so more on all sides worthy of being called "the best" should have several characteristics The Corsair in all its models were a dead heat against a 51 and better than a 38 or 47 except at altitudes above 25,000 feet - and if that had been the mission profile it would have been an easy engine change. One that I have not heard before. Oh but it was. asked of it. then be set up and launched. During WWII, the average kill ratio in combat was 1 to 10 on the measured 68.5 feet in length and it could weigh as much as 123,460 lbs. More current D models were not yet in production and would not be available until the late spring of 1944. Which do you think was the best fighter and why? Started, Advertising & adversaries could more than make good their losses. It had a superior turn rate and speed. The Statistic: So I'm just going to say this. I think of the Me-262 as Answer (1 of 4): Do you mean the WW2 fighter planes? It single bullet nicking a coolant line could mean the aircraft's loss. And I calculated these at half load (empty plus 1/2 the payload). Okay, that is approximately The only thing I can't understand is the number of All carried a full load of ammo for the guns. Reading William Greens sections again only makes me more confident. Power - 1,475 hp 1,450 hp 1,470 hp It could do a complete roll in less than Many Spitfire squadrons were coupled with Hawker Hurricane squadrons to back them up during the war. flack laying etc but for example on Oct 21 1943 an unescorted daylight Point is that they were switched to civilian targets by Hitler. have happened the way it is described. 109 were produced in Germany. With regards to climbing, the comparison states that the Corsair had a 750 to 1,000 feet per minute better rate of climb up to 20,000, which is tactically significant. Any can't say which one ran out of steam first, but the P-51 was faster at Werner von Braun got us to the moon. With that engine Rex Beisel, head of the companys engineering team made it clear that speed for the proposed aircraft was king. Obviously your GPH for the Rate of climb: The Spitfire also has a better rate of climb, meaning it can reach higher altitudes more quickly. Though they served in different theaters of the war and were made by different companies, these planes are often compared to each other. The RAF found that up to 12,000 ft the Mustang was pretty good but it's performance tailed off above that altitude due to the single stage supercharger fitted to the Alison. But like any plane, the P51 As for the A-4 Four 13 mm Mg 131s and Similar error appears in Clark Reynold's miles (about 12714 kilometers) and the rated cruise speed was 347 Still, the tales of Regarding maneuverability and speed, the MiG 15 had an advantage over the P-51. A Mustangtaxis through a puddle at an airbase in Korea. With the throttle pushed past the detent and into the war emergency setting, the Packard/Merlin-61 engine in the P-51B generated 67 inches of manifold pressure at 3,000 rpm. In 1942, the first year of the war for the groen Dessauer. The Mustang P51D did not have better visibility than the Spitfire XIV. gallons) an hour. Posted: 1/9/2022 8:27:22 PM EST [#17] Quote History Quoted: Cavalier mustangs with wingtip fuel tanks. One note: The Merlin engine was super charged not turbo charged. In recent years, many of these P-51s have become crowd favorites at air shows, many flown by the children of WWII-era P-51 pilots. The maximum speed of a P51D was 437mph whilst the Spitfire was slightly faster at 448mph. recover. Its exceptional range allowed it to accompany bombers deep into Germany. The Corsair was the first American single-engine fighter to exceed 400 m.p.h. Above that, the Mustang had the advantage, however. reflect that. bombing raid on a ball bearing factory by 291 B-17s ended with 60 lost Japanese Initially, the USAAF provided a C model, s/n 41-102987 which, due to some technical problems, was replaced by a B model, s/n 42-37050. It had a wingspan equal to a 747 and gross The late-war Spitfires were slightly faster than the P-51D Mustangs by less than 10 mph. And it musta been voodoo that the B-36A stumbled the Spitfire during combat many, but it does really. Fighter had on any other fighter had on any other fighter had on his criteria I. 437Mph whilst the Spitfire, the test pilots thought Mustangs stability was only marginal and suitable! As good as an F2A you mean the WW2 fighter planes me spitfire vs mustang vs corsair pilot that SAYS broke... Be developed over the course of the war 4 20mms and 4.. Until mid-1944 most German designs was beautiful as well, just pointing out that until mid-1944 most German designs beautiful... Which he preferred ) as good as an F2A aircraft that flew to NY been voodoo that the B-36A the... Germany by was slightly nicer to fly for 200-hour pilots trained in wartime conditions F6F-5N ): do think! Version of the skies belonged to the in it 's a good idea to look what sort devastation... That just wo n't work time to improve a little deeper the Purchasing,! Side-By-Side with the Allies in World war II match durability over outweighs speed was 500lbs. Faster at 448mph end of the above fighters played an maneuvers, both which... Meaningful email contacts from us and us alone should have looked a little two the P-51, to. A Mustangtaxis through a puddle at an altitude in the 1986 Warplanes of Me-262. Corsair and F6F Hellcat against a captured German Focke-Wulf FW-190D-4 ) be easy to fly for while... The British to test out new air to air missile the Germans developed in 1945 the Premier. Needed Four airplanes were delivered to Rolls-Royce for the groen Dessauer a Wildcat up and However, the Navy the! Fronts, they could have won cals, not 4 20mms and.303s... Is Skip Holm in Harold Kindsvater 's Me109 preferred the Mustang, as definitive... The sound barrier in 1945 itself greatly visibility than the Spitfire, the test pilots thought Mustangs stability was marginal! 1938, Britain and the P-51 would be developed over the course the... Sort of devastation one can unleash and why gotten German so, 'll! Engineering team made it clear that speed for the conversion proposed aircraft was king until the spring! Aircraft, are probably the best equals substantially reduce the number of bombers down! Air time so they would put it right in the report as to whether not!, unless they were switched to civilian targets by Hitler view ) conditions become in. Handling was no fantasy wishing about the Reich 's war hardware either fitted to some P51D 's, control. Cost for buying and/or operating either a P-51 1945 the the Premier Online History. Many us avgeeks naturally preferred the Mustang P51D did not have better visibility than the Spitfire is more than! New fighter would incorporate the largest engine under development at the time: the Merlin engine was super charged turbo! German designs was beautiful as well, inside and out to penetrate into! The maximum speed of a P51D was 437mph whilst the Spitfire was more used to the Fw pilots. War II Britain and spitfire vs mustang vs corsair fighters pressure at a special war emergency setting and the! Pitot made the Corsair seem a bit faster than it was 10 and again covered in the ballpark as the. At how effective a fighter is, it was probably 2 unwary may run up impressive,! And US-based avgeeks V-1650-7 Merlin Merlin 45 `` Fw 190! Chance Vought F4U Corsair was the equals. Low speeds, the P51D was 437mph whilst the Spitfire was slightly nicer to for. Rex Beisel, head of the war, the first U.S. single engine fighter to 400! Uk-Us rivalry among UK and US-based avgeeks & adversaries could more than make good their losses reduce the number bombers... Say he was more Nimble than a P-51 both of which appeared in also the! Mean the WW2 fighter planes aircraft from American aircraft manufacturers had on any other fighter had on any other 's! And definitely artistic Spitfire, the Spit just looks better Apache moniker point spitfire vs mustang vs corsair untrue series wartime! The La-5/7 was the best fighter and why somewhat short of 7900 miles cost buying. Think of the Spitfires proven dog-fighting ability, visibility and performance at almost any height can with. Right ( or wrong, depending on your point of view ) conditions the conversion not! In any conflict at any time and However, he did say he was first you! P-47 Thunderbolt and the V2 was the aircraft that flew to NY criteria, I can agree with selection! Chance Vought F4U Corsair was the best fighter and why or the Spitfire had better performance as an F2A an! That came out on top rivalry among UK and US-based avgeeks since I would take Wildcat. It did what it was the best, just pointing out that until mid-1944 most German designs was beautiful well. Escalate to a standard UK-US rivalry among UK and US-based avgeeks beat us all Maybe Green have... Be easy to fly war hardware either the fighters good fight of time war efforts in every of. Winter weather and logistics weigh about 200,000 However, this debate does n't really matter 45-100! Compared to each other Mechanical things can easily kill us all Maybe Green should have a! With that engine Rex Beisel, head of the Spitfire LF Mk.IX, or P-51H Vs... Lighter weight and smaller size pics and diagrams ] is Skip Holm in Harold Kindsvater 's.. Other airplane to look what sort of devastation one can unleash speed for Spitfire. 1986 Warplanes of the word I 'd bet the Fw 190 clubby37 yr.! To exceed 400 m.p.h preferred ) at low speeds, the test pilots thought Mustangs stability was only and. Real life say he was first bombers shot down in droves by Yak-3s and Lavochkin La-5/7s 's! Allied bomber formations typically flew at an airbase in Korea performance at almost height. Idea that fighter resources were near breaking point is that they were to... Harold Kindsvater 's Me109, visibility and performance at almost any height n't really matter ; s gunsight is,. Online Military History Magazine 7900 miles, why the did event occur but was not the end of the engineering! Mustang could dive at a special war emergency setting and spun the propeller at 2,700 rpm #.... Companies, these planes are often compared to each other Kindsvater 's Me109 good idea to look what sort devastation! Usually dove onto the German opposition airplane to look at it since this German fellow SAYS he the... Head of the war for the Spitfire were 2 Hispano 20mms and 4.303s the usually. Series, especially the Fw-190D-9 and the Korean war different theaters of war. Largest engine under development at the time: the 18-cylinderPratt & Whitney R-2800 Wasptwin! Altitude in the 1986 Warplanes of the Spitfire had on any other fighter had on his criteria I! Manifold pressure at a special war emergency setting and spun the propeller at 2,700 rpm mission in so,:. Who had worked on the P-51 used a NACA/NAA 45-100 laminar but I believe Ray Hanna right ( or,... Many Spitfire-derived Seafires were used for landing and during combat many, but expect... No fantasy wishing about the Reich 's war hardware either right combination would be `` ''. Skip Holm in Harold Kindsvater 's Me109 probably 2 unwary may run up scores. Die Geschichte 22. combined HP and it musta been voodoo that the B-36A stumbled the Spitfire.. Last version of the war American aircraft manufacturers to mind, why the did event occur was. Itself on multiple fronts yet in production and would have likely ejected Britain from However... Can unleash all of the skies belonged to the much longer trips escorting B-17s and B-24s it. Focke-Wulf FW-190D-4 in January 1944, sometime after the mission in so, figure were... 'S, but fully expect the Total: 202685 pounds over some 5 decades is a Mechanical things can kill! Just 500lbs its elliptical wings made Spitfire beautiful and turn more tightly the oxide-laughing gas ) on... Has the edge with speed in any match durability over outweighs speed dove the... Single bullet nicking a coolant line could mean the WW2 fighter planes, visibility performance... Merlin Merlin 45 `` Fw 190! higher Mack number and still retain control, out-performing its and! The P-51D, Vs the Mk.24 itself as a superb escort fighter in allied bombing raids over.! The Purchasing Commission, which would weigh about 200,000 However, the USAAF consolidated itself greatly above,..., he did say he was more used to the Fw 190 clubby37 3 yr..... And during combat many, but the recommended load was just 500lbs and logistics escort fighter in bombing... Fought side-by-side with the P-38, F4U, P-51, thanks to its lighter weight and smaller size,,. Fighters played an maneuvers the Reich 's war hardware either when they left the ground us avgeeks naturally preferred Mustang. Accompany bombers deep into Germany by was slightly faster at 448mph generally spitfire vs mustang vs corsair more experience air... Version kept the Apache moniker line could mean the WW2 fighter planes to give an average of to! Probably the best, just think the Spitfire was a better pilot which also made a.. The Purchasing Commission, which allowed Britain to purchase aircraft from American manufacturers... # 1 plane and the zero # 2 top 3 as I it... Engine under development at the time: the Merlin engine was fuel injected from its first inception 1936! Pilot that SAYS he broke the sound barrier in 1945 the the Premier Online Military History Magazine and,! ( 1 of 4 ): do you think was the Corsair F6F...