It's a real war, and you must pick your planes. What will they be?

[Brooke]

If you were in charge of picking the airplanes that your country would have during a WWII-type war -- what 5 aircraft would you pick?  Assume that the aircraft perform just as they do in Aces High, that you can pick any non-perk plane from Aces High, and that cost is not a factor.  (These are what you'd pick for a real war, not just what you like flying best in the Main Arena.)

I'd go for the following:

P-47N.  For fighter, fighter-bomber, and high-altitude escort.  I'd pick this because of its range, speed, performance at altitude, lethality, ruggedness, and ability to carry a lot of ordnance.  The P-51D is also a contender here for me, but the P-47N is more rugged and has more punch.

F4U-1D.  For my carrier aircraft, both as fighter and divebomber; also as general fighter and fighter-bomber.  It's faster than the F6F, outturns the F6F by a little, and carries more than the F6F in Aces High.

B-24J.  For my heavy bomber.  The Lancaster is a great plane, but its defense armament isn't nearly as good as the B-24 and B-17.  I'd pick the B-24 over the B-17 because the B-24 is a little faster and carries a bit more, yet has the same good defensive armament.

B-25H.  With cannon, for ground attack and attack against ground vehicles.  The cannon is a great weapon against ground vehicles and buildings.  I'd pick it over the Il-2 as it carries more bombs and especially because of the cannon.

Spitfire Mk XVI.  For quick-climbing field defense and intercept.  This would be a base-defense fighter and a fighter to use when you need to get up in a hurry to intercept things.

[Larry]

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,230277.0.html   

[Guppy35]

Are you including production costs Brooke?  Made a big difference back then too

You could produce a lot more 51s for less then you could P38s for example.  B25s easier to produce then B26s etc.

If cost isnt an object, then I'd go with:

P38L-range, firepower, ground attack capability, safety of two engines for long overwater flights.

P51D-Can do the Spitfire bit in defense, has the range to escort the bombers

F6F-Rugged, easier to fly off the carriers, can carry the bombs and rockets too

Mosquito-does it all and fast.

B17-Better survivabilty and if I have to fly a bomber it needs to look good

[Brooke]

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,230277.0.html   

Larry, that's not the same thing.  I tried asking the question there, but people are just answering what they like to fly in the main arena.  This is a much different question.

[Brooke]

Are you including production costs Brooke?  Made a big difference back then too

You could produce a lot more 51s for less then you could P38s for example.  B25s easier to produce then B26s etc.

If cost isnt an object, then I'd go with:

P38L-range, firepower, ground attack capability, safety of two engines for long overwater flights.

P51D-Can do the Spitfire bit in defense, has the range to escort the bombers

F6F-Rugged, easier to fly off the carriers, can carry the bombs and rockets too

Mosquito-does it all and fast.

B17-Better survivabilty and if I have to fly a bomber it needs to look good

I'm not including production cost.  The reason is that it is hard to figure out the importance of that vs. aircraft capability.  I think that aircraft capability was much more important than cost, as Germany and Japan ran out of trained pilots before they ran out of aircraft; and Japan and Russia built a lot of lower-cost aircraft that they lost in large numbers.  If cost were a factor, though, I'd put in the P-51D instead of the P-47N and the F6F instead of the F4U, and I'd skip the B-25 altogether.

I like your list, too -- especially the P-38L.

[moot]

Not a luftwhine.. But this scenario has to be biased on the side whose research and production wasn't attrited.

[Lumpy]

Bf 109K - Defense interceptor

Ta 152H - High altitude escort fighter

B24 - Strategic bomber

Mosquito FB.VI - Ground support/fighter-bomber

F4U-1D - Carrier-borne  fighter-bomber

[moot]

Why the 24 instead of the 29?

[Lumpy]

We don't have a 29 in AH. Read the rules.

[moot]

Isn't it better to just say "any plane that'd get into AH"?  Cause theres plenty of planes not in yet that'd make it and be high on the list for this scenario.

[Ghosth]

You have to determine what the situation is going to be.

What Germany required of planes is vastly different that what USA needed.

USA needed high alt escorts and intercepters to take control of Germany's skys.
Germany needed fast cannon armed planes to take out USA's Bombers.

Breeds totally different kinds of cats from the same basic parts.

To the point that a plane which is reveiled & hated in the USA, becomes one of Russia's prime performers.
Different jobs, so different tools required. What job needs to be done ends up decideing the tool's shape.
Form follows function.

[Gianlupo]

My five:

CR.42

G.50

C.200

SM79

BR20





Oh, wait......................... ....

[Lumpy]

Maybe I'd take the P-47N instead of the Ta 152H ...

What's the critical altitude for the P-47N? (The HTC charts only go to 30k.)

[DoNKeY]

P38L-range, firepower, ground attack capability, safety of two engines for long overwater flights/escort.

Spit 16- Base defense, but if I wanted to look good, Spit  9:cool:

F6F-Rugged, easier to fly off the carriers, can carry the bombs and rockets too

Mosquito-does it all and fast.

B17-Better survivabilty and if I have to fly a bomber it needs to look good

[Anaxogoras]

If you were in charge of picking the airplanes that your country would have during a WWII-type war -- what 5 aircraft would you pick? 

What do you mean by WWII-type war?  Do my aircraft have to able to compete at nosebleed altitudes like the ETO, off carriers like the PTO, and in the weeds killing tanks like the Eastern Front?