Best Heavy Fighter

[Hajo]

I assumed were talking WWII here.  After all this is a WII combat sim...or at least I  thought it was.

If you read a lot I suggest two  books.  Both by Warren Bodie (and btw Widewing is a noted author on WWII aircraft)

Both are in depth studies of the perspective aircraft.  Regarded as the most comprehensive on the subject.

The titles are Thunderbolt and The Lockheed P38 lightning.  Will list every craft made, it's tail number, model, plant it

was made and the complete development and use.  Also.....don't believe everything you read on facts and figures.

Just as in real life there are those that are most educated on the subject then some others.  I always use WIDEWING

and Guppy for possible sources since they both researched the planes and pilots of WWII heavily and thoroughly.

[FLOOB]

Somebody said the corsair was a big target, compared to what? It's smaller than the f6 and the p47.

[Hajo]

I assumed were talking WWII here.  After all this is a WII combat sim...or at least I  thought it was.

If you read a lot I suggest two  books.  Both by Warren Bodie (and btw Widewing is a noted author on WWII aircraft)

Both are in depth studies of the perspective aircraft.  Regarded as the most comprehensive on the subject.

The titles are Thunderbolt and The Lockheed P38 lightning.  Will list every craft made, it's tail number, model, plant it

was made and the complete development and use.  Also.....don't believe everything you read on facts and figures.

Just as in real life there are those that are most educated on the subject then some others.  I always use WIDEWING

and Guppy for possible sources since they both researched the planes and pilots of WWII heavily and thoroughly.

Also in the assembly of the three planes the P51 was the cheapest as I recall to build.  It made sense in 1944 since the

threat of the LW or the Japanese air and naval air forces were on the decline and very low in number, to go with the

cheapest to build in an economic sense.  The threat to the allies was lessened or almost completely eliminated in both

the ETO and the PAC.  (reminds me of the F14, best fleet defense fighter but most costly, so the navy chopped it.)

[J.A.W.]

The F4U IS powered by the same size of fat lazy gas-hog [R-2800] though..

The US forces chose/choose their best weapons - given availability..

[& which does include major ideological/political/budgetary issues].

[Hajo]

The Corsair ruled the Pacific.  You will note that the Navy used radial engine aircraft for obvious reasons.

Reliability and ruggedness being the two most important factors.  The R2800 radial in most cases gave

more horsepower and wasn't as fragile and finicky as the Merlin.  The F4U4 being much faster then the

P51 at altitude.  Again....radials don't sip fuel, they gulped it.

[FLOOB]

Typhoon.

Yes her ord choices are light and slim and she can't take down a hanger easily...but she's mean as h3ll to GVs with her rockets, is one of the fastest planes below 5K that can carry ords and arguably has the best gun package of any fighter in the game.  Keep her fast and you will be ok.  

The Mossie has better guns the c-hog has more ammo the 410 carries the high velocity version 30mm and the low velocity 30mm are still quite good at destroying structures. In fact a 262 has enough ammo to take a hangar down. Before it was nerfed the typhoon was much more capable dogfighter and was about as common in the ma as the n1k2 and f4u.

[MiloMorai]

The Corsair ruled the Pacific.  You will note that the Navy used radial engine aircraft for obvious reasons.

Reliability and ruggedness being the two most important factors.  The R2800 radial in most cases gave

more horsepower and wasn't as fragile and finicky as the Merlin.  The F4U4 being much faster then the

P51 at altitude.  Again....radials don't sip fuel, they gulped it.

The F6F ruled the Pacific.

[J.A.W.]

Really, then which fighter was tasked with escorting those 1/2 million+ bucks a piece B-29s to Tokyo? yep, the `51 - again..

[MiloMorai]

Really, then which fighter was tasked with escorting those 1/2 million+ bucks a piece B-29s to Tokyo? yep, the `51 - again..

What a/c was around before those P-51s, that only arrived in 45 when Japan was in its death spiral?

[J.A.W.]

Nothing that could do the job..

Without them the B-29s were forced to fly at night!

[bozon]

Really, then which fighter was tasked with escorting those 1/2 million+ bucks a piece B-29s to Tokyo? yep, the `51 - again..

That is because the blue fighters are not escorts AMD never meant to be. In addition, I have some reason to believe that the B29 did not take off from a carrier.

P47N were also escorting B29s and are better than the 51 at those altitudes.

[earl1937]

Really, then which fighter was tasked with escorting those 1/2 million+ bucks a piece B-29s to Tokyo? yep, the `51 - again..

No question about the F4U aircraft, they were all great aircraft, but I think the range may have had something to do with the 51's being the ones which escorted the 29's.
And I think the inter service rivalry also had some bearing on that decision.

[MiloMorai]

Nothing that could do the job..

Without them the B-29s were forced to fly at night!

What a/c helped in the capture of the islands the B-29s and P-51 took off from and then landed on?

The Marianas chain of islands, consisting primarily of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, were considered as being ideal bases from which to launch B-29 operations against Japan. The islands were about 1500 miles from Tokyo, a range which the B-29s could just about manage.

Even the P-51 could not really escort from them, so the Navy/Marines had to take IwoJimo for the P-51s.

[BaldEagl]

The F6F ruled the Pacific.

Beat me to it.

[J.A.W.]

The PTO was largely a technical back-water, after all which heavy fighter
was the mount of the US's highest scoring aces?

It wasn't the F6F, & yet it turned out to be a dud in the ETO..