Any Plane

[SunKing]

Originally posted by evenhaim
he-111 or me410

[BaldEagl]

Polikarpov I-16 Types 24 and 28.

[5PointOh]

I'd go for a P-61, or a A-26.

[Tabasco]

How about Gloster Gladiator AND Fiat CR.42 biplanes?

[Judochop]

This is sure to rub some feathers wrong..
"While performance was excellent, the aircraft (Fiat G.55) proving superior to the Bf 109K and Fw 190 in testing, production was not allowed by the German authorities."

[humble]

I think it depends on whether your a "scenario" guy or a less historical type. With the P-39 now in the need for more early/midwar birds is there. While the brewster would be the most popular choice the "best" fit would actually be the hawk75. It was a contemporary of the brewster and saw service with both the fins and the french so it would fit both sides nicely...

If your more toward the "it's a sim, not a reenactment" then 2 planes stand out...the Do-335 and the F7F. Both are actually 1943 designs that didnt see widespread service but were actually operational in 1944.

The F7F was deploeyed to the fleet in april of 1944 but since Grumman already had the F6F and upcoming F8F it didnt politically rock the boat even though the test pilot (Corky Meyer) felt is was by far the best fighter (prop) the US ever built.

The Do-335 was made the #1 priority for the luftwaffe but the original factory was bombed to rubble and all the major tooling destroyed. Orders were issued to convert the He-219 factory to the 335 but henkle dragged its feet and fought the change keeping the 335 out of the war.

No question both planes played no historical role and would have no place in a scenario etc. They do however represent the 2 most advanced piston engine fighters ever operationally deployed during the war. These two were unique in that they were actually both midwar designs that were ordered into mass production, not late war "concept prototypes" that were never really close to service.

[waystin2]

Originally posted by Latrobe
Spitfire Mk XII

Yep!:aok

[Alpha202]

I'd fly the J7W Shinden

[humble]

The problem with planes like the J7W is that they never really existed. You dont have any real data since only prototypes were ever built. In the case of the J7W only 1 prototype was ever built. Compare that to the D0-335 which had 34 production planes built and flew some operational sorties or the F7F that went thru a full set of combat evaluations and was operationally deployed to a single stateside squadron (USMC){think had 34 F7F-1's built as well}.

If they wanted to enough data should exist to model both planes reasonably well. Most of the major varients in the "late war" arenas are represented {the G.55/P-63 being the exceptions}. The bulk of planes that can be added are either early or midwar planes. Since 80% of the player base seems to fly the LWA's almost exclusively I dont know how much play most newer additions will get.

We really havent had a new "perk monster" in awhile. While the D0-335/F7F {or both} would continue the addition of planes of marginal historical value (if any) they would get wide use in the LWA and also provide some interesting insight into the potential value of these planes had they been deployed.

[MjTalon]

Ju87G1 or G2.

[humble]

Originally posted by Judochop
This is sure to rub some feathers wrong..
"While performance was excellent, the aircraft (Fiat G.55) proving superior to the Bf 109K and Fw 190 in testing, production was not allowed by the German authorities."

The G.55 was never tested vs either the K4 or any late model 190. It was actually a midwar bird and testing was done in Feb of 1943 vs a 109G4 and 190A5. The biggest benifit to the G.55 was that it had 3 x 20mm integrated into the design without gondolas. Kurt Tank contnued to work on a 5 x 20mm version after Italy surrendered. General concensus is that the G.55 performed equally to the 109 and was judged slightly inferior to the 190 by the germans. The G.55 ceretainly had better landing/takeoff handling then the 109 did and the end result was an "official" request to replace the 109 with the G.55 by the luftwaffe. It was determined that the G.55 took 2.5 or more times the man hours to build at a comparetively higher cost so the request was denied.

There is no question that the G.55 significantly outperformed both the 190 & 109 if they had been configured with the heavy gun packages. The G.55 also had a significant edge in range (20%+) so given the US losses in daylight bombing had even a few squadrons of G.55's been available in mid 1943 the course of the airwar might have changed since the G.55's had the performance to contest the 38's and jugs and the firepower to hit the buffs as well as some additional "time on station" to play with...

[Box1]

............ME 410.........

[PanosGR]

Me-410

He-162

Ki-43

He-177

[WWhiskey]

P-47 -m +2

[BaldEagl]

I was remiss earlier in not doing my full I-16 spiel so here it is (again):

The Polikarpov I-16 was produced in both high and low wing monoplane versions, both with and without enclosed cockpits, and in both single and two set trainer versions.  Quite the versitile airframe.



General characteristics
• Crew: one pilot
• Length: 6.13 m (20.1 ft)
• Wingspan: 9.00 m (29.5 ft)
• Height: 2.25 m (7.38 ft)
• Wing area: 14.54 m² (156.5 ft²)
• Empty weight: 1,383 kg (3,049 lb)
• Loaded weight: 1,882 kg (4,149 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,050 kg (4,520 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Shvetsov M-63 air-cooled radial engine, 670 kW (900 hp) driving a two-blade propeller
Performance
• Maximum speed: 460 km/h (290 mph)
• Range: 440 km (275 mi)
• Service ceiling: 9,700 m (31,800 ft)
• Rate of climb: 14.7 m/s (2,900 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 129 kg/m² (26 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 0.36 kW/kg (0.22 hp/lb)
Armament
• 4× fixed forward-firing 7.62 mm (.30 cal) ShKAS machine guns, a total of 3,100 rounds of ammunition.
• 6× RS-82 rockets or up to 100 kg (220 lb) of bombs

Built from 1933 through 1941 with over half still in service in 1943 the Polikarpov IL-16 was a historically significant aircraft. I was the worlds first monoplane fighter, the first with retractable landing gear, and the first with a closed cockpit (some versions). It was built in many varients over it's lifespan but the type 24 was the most used varient in WWII. The type 28 replaces two of the 7.62 mm ShKAS with to 20mm ShVAK cannons.

Over 20000 were produced (among the highest production aircraft of WWII)