Poll: Pick your airforce (a WWII thread)

[LongAndShort]

Given the choice I'd go RAF.

But planes, well there's a lot to choose from. The Kittyhawk (workhorse of the RAAF at least), Mustang (aforementioned Cadillac), Spitfire, Me 262, the Typhoon, the Hurricane, the Lancaster (can't leave the bombers out of this), the BF109, the Thunderbolt. I know my list is Western Allie heavy, but they're ones I can think of off the top of my head.

But, because I like to do things a bit different, I'm gonna top my list with the Catalina.

I've got a good picture somewhere, I'll get back to you with it in a moment.

 

[ToxicPiranah]

Spoiler

the true workhorse of the RAF, claimed more kills than the spitfire during the battle of Britain. My aircraft of choice. Best thing is it could out turn the faster Messerschmitt BF-109.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

You forgot Japan.

I purposely excluded it as this is a war in European airspace.

i understand that, as you need to add too many more countries if you include the pacific theatre, but surely the US airforce fought in the pacific as well? ;-)

Yes, yes they did. I never denied that

Spoiler

the true workhorse of the RAF, claimed more kills than the spitfire during the battle of Britain. My aircraft of choice. Best thing is it could out turn the faster Messerschmitt BF-109.

I love Hurricanes too but I can't ignore the appeal of the wings of a Spitfire XD

 

[Omikron009]

RAF and Focke-Wulf FW 190 Shrike. Without a doubt one of the best planes of the war, and it was absolutely insane of the Luftwaffe to keep producing and using the BF 109 which was inferior in almost every way.

Spoiler

I know the plane doesn't match up with the airforce, but the Luftwaffe fell victim to some rather odd choices and questionable command decisions.

 

[Elementlmage]

The French were knocked out almost immediately. The Blitzkrieg was incredibly effective at what it did.

Which is why Russia fell so easily?

Anyway, Yak-3 all the way baby!

Spoiler: Sexy Fighter

This fighter was so superior to the German BF109 and FW190 that the German Airforce Command cautioned their fighter pilots to avoid contact with it and the Yak-5! The Germans were actually SCARED of something!

 

[Elementlmage]

RAF and Focke-Wulf FW 190 Shrike. Without a doubt one of the best planes of the war, and it was absolutely insane of the Luftwaffe to keep producing and using the BF 109 which was inferior in almost every way.

Spoiler

The primary reason why the BF109 remained that main fighter is simply because they could produce more of them. The company that made the engines for the 190 just didn't have the capacity to keep up with wartime demand.

 

[Omikron009]

RAF and Focke-Wulf FW 190 Shrike. Without a doubt one of the best planes of the war, and it was absolutely insane of the Luftwaffe to keep producing and using the BF 109 which was inferior in almost every way.

Spoiler

The primary reason why the BF109 remained that main fighter is simply because they could produce more of them. The company that made the engines for the 190 just didn't have the capacity to keep up with wartime demand.

That's true, but even the 109 was arguably overbuilt, especially when it came to the engine (then again, what german plane/tank wasn't)? I seem to remember reading somewhere that at one point one of the smarter Luftwaffe commanders/aces (it might have been Adolf Galland) recommended to Hitler that they stop all production of every plane except for the BF 109 and ME 262.

 

[Triangulon]

British obviously.

Spoiler: My Grandad worked on

 

[Elementlmage]

That's true, but even the 109 was arguably overbuilt, especially when it came to the engine (then again, what german plane/tank wasn't)? I seem to remember reading somewhere that at one point one of the smarter Luftwaffe commanders/aces (it might have been Adolf Galland) recommended to Hitler that they stop all production of every plane except for the BF 109 and ME 262.

The Germans lack of a good heavy bomber and fighter bomber seriously hampered their war effort though. The Blitz and Ostfront would have been a lot different if they had something similar to the B-17 or IL-2. If they had stopped producing bombers all together, the march to Berlin from Normady and Russia would have been far easier.

Also, the ME-262 was too little too late. They had neither the pilots nor the industrial capacity at the point of their introduction to make any significant change to the war effort. It didn't help that Hitler was a complete moron when it came to military matters, either.

"Hey, lets waste a massive amount of resources on two utterly useless battleships!"
"That sounds like a great idea Mein Furer. Please don't have me executed?"

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

That's true, but even the 109 was arguably overbuilt, especially when it came to the engine (then again, what german plane/tank wasn't)? I seem to remember reading somewhere that at one point one of the smarter Luftwaffe commanders/aces (it might have been Adolf Galland) recommended to Hitler that they stop all production of every plane except for the BF 109 and ME 262.

The Germans lack of a good heavy bomber and fighter bomber seriously hampered their war effort though. The Blitz and Ostfront would have been a lot different if they had something similar to the B-17 or IL-2. If they had stopped producing bombers all together, the march to Berlin from Normady and Russia would have been far easier.

Also, the ME-262 was too little too late. They had neither the pilots nor the industrial capacity at the point of their introduction to make any significant change to the war effort. It didn't help that Hitler was a complete moron when it came to military matters, either.

"Hey, lets waste a massive amount of resources on two utterly useless battleships!"
"That sounds like a great idea Mein Furer. Please don't have me executed?"

The ME-262 might have been put to use in time when it could have changed the course of war but for the intervention of our favorite Bavarian dictator.

Time to quote wikipedia on the matter:

In mid-1943 Adolf Hitler envisioned the Me 262 as an offensive ground-attack/bomber rather than a defensive interceptor, as a high speed, light payload Schnellbomber ("Fast Bomber"), to penetrate Allied air superiority during the expected invasion of France. His edict resulted in the development of (and concentration on) the Sturmvogel variant. It is debatable to what extent Hitler's interference extended the delay in bringing the Schwalbe into operation. Albert Speer, then Minister of Armaments and War Production, claimed in his memoirs that Hitler originally blocked mass-production of the Me 262 before agreeing to production in early 1944. He rejected arguments that the plane would be more effective as a fighter against Allied bombers then destroying large parts of Germany and wanted it as a bomber for revenge attacks. According to Speer Hitler had felt that its superior speed compared to other fighters of the era meant that it couldn't be attacked and so had preferred it for high altitude straight flying.

"Hey, lets lose this opportunity to protect the Reich with fast, powerful jet interceptors by wasting time converting them into bombers without significant bomb capacity!"

"That sounds like a great idea Mein Furer. The allied bombers are not a problem. Please don't have me executed?"

 

[some1stolemyusername]

Brits - Beaufighter by a nose, with typhoon close behind
Yanks - nothing goes past the P51... epic plane
Jerries - made some of the best planes of WWII imo... ME262, Ju87 and Bf109. however my favourite would be the Fw190

i am unfamiliar with soviet (other than the Yak) and italian aircraft.

 

[Miffmoff]

BF109 G-6

So I'm going for the Luftwaffe, sure it can't turn with the Spitfire but if you linger in it's sights for just a little while, you can kiss your plane goodbye
why?
2x 13mm machine guns
1x 20mm cannon
2x underwing 20mm cannon pods (optional)

 

[SNIPERFOX ft. Harry P.Ness]

soviet airforce in an IL-2 strumovik. it takes ages to blow me apart and i can carry lots of bombs. bye bye erm... berlin


or i will choose the prototype YAK with a jet on it.

 

[minimacker]

Ah, yes. The Supermarine Spitfire with it's iconic shape. I remember reading of stories from German guards where the Spitfire appeared in the sky, showing it's distinct silhouette.

So, yeah. Another RAF.

 

[Squeaky]

3) Red Air Force (Russia)

They invented the monoplane... so yeh. They were more invetive than the germans both with planes that had ram jets and if Josef Stalin wasnt so parnoid they'd have probly come up with alot more.

Plane id fly the IL2 Strumovik its a flying tank with russian engineering its gonna last a while.

Spoiler

 

[BelfastSpartan]

RAF.....
Fighter I'd go with spitfire:

Spoiler

Bomber it has to be Lancaster:

Spoiler

 

[blind_dead_mcjones]

what, no RAAF? even though they took part in the battle for europe? hmpf

anyway for choice of plane i choose the lockheed P-38 lightning

Spoiler

the luftwaffe called it the fork tailed devil for a reason

 

[ToxicPiranah]

I love Hurricanes too but I can't ignore the appeal of the wings of a Spitfire XD

Oh I love both but I like the Hurricane as a lot of people go for the spitfire, I really love seeing the BoB memorial flight, the spitty and the Hurricane either side of the Lancaster...... Drool. Especially the rumbling drone of the Lanc's engines as they grow in the distance. Also like the P51's scream as it dives...... sends shivers down my spine.

 

[HK_01]

Couldn't this be WWI? This won't look so good considering I'm German...

Anyway, the Luftwaffe and the plane would be the ME109E:

Spoiler

As for bombers, I don't really like any of them. If this had been about a later time period I'd have chosen the TU-95 or the TU-160, but in WWII they all don't really interest me. I suppose I'll go with the Mosquito because it is unique and had some innovative ideas:

Spoiler

I'm just gonna go with different Air Forces for fighters and bombers...

 

[N1ceDreamz]

The ME-109

Spoiler

The Luftwaffe, they were almost totally sucessful at the start of the war and even during their first defeat at the battle of Britian the RAF only barely managed to beat them.