Best plane of WW2

[Gauntlet]

the P-51? Did the 6x.50 cal damage planes enough?

Personally, I wouldnt have flown a plane unless it had atleast 1 cannon...

I would have prefered Heinz Bär's special Me 262 with 6xMK108 30mm cannons...

[Munchausen]

Considering that the Spitfire made due with 8 .303 Brownings, yeah, the 50s were fine. That of course is if your target is another aircraft. Couldn't tell you what a fifty would do to the top armour of your typical German heavy tank of that time.
But I also believe that the Me 262 was the apogee of aircraft design for 2 reasons.
First is speed. The ability to disengage is an important factor in dogfighting. That means that you have a greater chance to pick your fights than your slower adversary. Also as an interceptor, the sooner you engage, the farther your adversary is from his intended target. Therefore the more likely he is to turn back empty handed, so to speak.
Second is the nose mounted weaponry. Wing mounted weapons had to be calibrated to specific distances to maxmize their efficency. With the Me 262 there was a cone of death as far as the pilot could see. And the 30mm cannons kinda helped too.

[Nemmerle]

The best fighter was the Hawker Hurricane, not just because of it's flight characteristics and superb handling; but also because of the relative ease of maintenance when compared to other metal hulled warplanes.

[shappenfit]

Hmm...good question. My personal favorite aircraft would have to be the Hellcat. Fast, menoverable, hard hitting with 6 .50's, and bult using the good ol Grumman Iron Works. Plus, the Hellcat shot down 3/4 of all enemy aircraft in the pacific theater. They're pretty sweet looking too

[Gauntlet]

Originally Posted by Munchausen

Considering that the Spitfire made due with 8 .303 Brownings, yeah, the 50s were fine. .

Wasnt it just the Spitfire Mk I and Mk II that had 8 MGs?
I thought the rest had 2x 20mm canons, and 2-4x MGs?

[Hohenzollern]

There was none better than this magnificent machine! They phased it out way way too early! What a dogfighting beast she was!!:lol:

[pesci_fan]

The buffalo fighter ( I think it is that)

Me fave....P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, Spitfire, FW-190, Zero.

[MrFancypants]

Difficult question. I'd say Spitfire XIV or Focke Wulf 190 D9.

[Von Mudra]

Originally Posted by Hohenzollern

There was none better than this magnificent machine! They phased it out way way too early! What a dogfighting beast she was!!:lol:

You speak too soon. The Finnish used that fighter in WW2. Their tops aces with it? He had something like 50 kills on Russian planes with that beast. later got more with Me109s. But the Brewster was actually a gret fighter plane.

Interview with Juutilainen, top scoring Finnish ace, with 94 kills.
http://www.sci.fi/~fta/finace01.htm

All air victories scored by the Brewster
http://www.warbirdforum.com/scores.htm

and here is a grea website on the Finnish airforce
http://www.sci.fi/~fta/history.htm

[Hohenzollern]

Maybe so ...but against seasoned Japanese carrier pilots in their A6M2s ....it was about as useful as a bull in a china shop.