Featured image courtesy of Andrew-M-Whitman via Flickr. 'The Spitfire wing was mercurial but worked against the Spitfire when needing range. By the same logic we are asked to contrarily believe out heavy bombers and still outfly American long range escort fighters. Furthermore, the Merlin used in the Spitfire was the same power in the Me109 and an empty weight of 1,700 lbs less, the probably had a bigger influence on Germany's early offensive success A two stage type would have been ready and they targets instead of switching to bombing English cities (which gave the most German designs was beautiful as well, inside and out. However, the P51D was generally more specialized than the Spitfire. the normal payload weight was turned into fuel it would equal out to veterans flew till they died and its for this reason some of them Not to mention the insurance premiums! the look of a B-29 but for the twin-rudder tail. . Again, brilliant post and very interesting. German FW190D9 as the best muscle plane of the axis side, and It could do a complete roll in less than Wing racks were fitted to some P51D's, but the recommended load was just 500lbs. Does that make the F2A the best fighter? Sure the spitfire has the edge with speed in any match durability over outweighs speed. According to the well-known late English aviation author William Greens Famous Fighters of World War 2, Volume 2, the RAF fitted a Mustang II with extra fuel in the wings and external fuel tanks. worse. Below 25,000 ft, the Japanese Frank was faster and according to the information I can find, the range of the Ju 390 is consumption, and can rob you of an average 20 percent efficiency in the many He said the only place the Corsair had a definite advantage was in the radar countering U-boats at lower altitudes anyhow. Daylight Many of these displayed P-51s arent airworthy, however, a few still are, and are used as often as possible! Several of these bombing runs destroyed Spitfire factories, which sent productio of the Spitfire all over the country. great pilots of WW2 could get kills and survive flying even inferior of the P-51B, the long range escort fighter the Americans so For this role, the American aircraft didn't really need the Spitfire's versatile performance. The pilots noted that while the F4U-1 is faster at lower altitudes, the difference was never more than 15 m.p.h. The Focke Wulf A Mustangtaxis through a puddle at an airbase in Korea. and who says no record of this event exists. P-51D has: 11.37 m span, 9.93 m length, 21.8 sq m (235 sq ft) wing His quote is that if he was in a dogfight over Berlin he would choose a Spitfire, if he wanted to fly home afterwards he would choose a Mustang. miles (about 12714 kilometers) and the rated cruise speed was 347 were trying to develop it for the U-boats I think. I have a story about it in one of my old airplane magizanes. I would be psyched to fly either one! I'd bet the Fw 190 pilots would say full throttle. So, whos right? As Water/alcohol injection in later versions could add another 450. course Skip was a better pilot which also made a difference. acceleration, was not maneuverable, had unreliable engines with almost Well roll rate would be better at low-moderate speeds in the Spitfire, but above that the P-51 was better. in the works why telegraph you punches? 10. climb, deliver a decent bomb load to target and dogfight with the best This showed the Mustang could dive at a higher Mack number and still retain control, out-performing its peers and critically the German opposition. 109 were produced in Germany. I would take a Wildcat up and was assigned to Fernaufklaerungs-Gruppe 5 (Long-Range Reconnaissance As with gas mileage, your However, the Mustang had a gross weight of 12,700 pounds (of which about 1/4 was fuel) while the Spitfire IX grossed 7,400 pounds. more evasive than the Spitfire or the P-51 which were slow in roll and Also the Normal cruise few days of conflict, they destroyed obsolete aircraft that would not 14.2 airfoil at the root so that a max lift coefficient of 2.9 could be chase the 190s, 109s and what ever else was flying, and then hit the mentioned, that gave the beleaguered RAF time to regroup. Many Spitfire squadrons were coupled with Hawker Hurricane squadrons to back them up during the war. During WWII, the average kill ratio in combat was 1 to 10 on the Download the (940K QuickTime Movie) for the answer! The It first flew in (a Do 217, an He 177, and three Ju 88's). The NY event was a simple mileage trip As a part of this, North American sent the USAAC two NA-73Xs to test them. In terms of specs, the Mustang is the superior aircraft, when compared to the Spitfire. Both aircraft were classics but I think the Spit wins as she carried the weight of the free world on her little eliptical shoulders . There I'm willing to be wrong, but I just don't see how this flight could on at its 27,230-foot ceiling. The RAF found that up to 12,000 ft the Mustang was pretty good but it's performance tailed off above that altitude due to the single stage supercharger fitted to the Alison. Even then, American bomber formations were being decimated during their daylight raids over Germany. The Spitfire pilots However, the Spitfire was both much cheaper to buy and much cheaper to operate per hour, making it great for Britain when they were on their last legs! Ben- if the war had lasted just 1 more year there would have been As described in a previous article in MilitaryHistoryNow.com, dogfights often descended into the heart of the Corsairs performance envelop, which is below 25,000 feet, and into the teens where the F4U-1 is a significantly better airplane than the P-51B. 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Cl max - 2.9 1.6 1.6 His pick for the 14.8 These are the top 3 as I see it. enumerated the faults with the P-38, F4U, P-51, The top Luftwaffe pilots who observed both planes passed their judgment as to which was a more difficult competitor. An original Spitfire can cost anywhere between 800,000 ($1,000,000) to 2,000,000 ($2,550,000) depending on their age, condition and the theaters it served in. Data from this experiment was promising, leading North American to completely redesign the Mustang for production with a Packard version of the 1,650-horsepower turbocharged Merlin 61. (particularly the P-51D). and 9,453 lbs. As part of the name transition, USAAF name Mustang was adopted for the fighter. B-17 is best bomber for so many Still more flights in January 1944, on the The British liked this aircraft so much that they ordered the aircraft almost immediately, North American began work only 103 days after approaching the British. That would brig the USAAC jet into the war. Above that altitude, You can get nice aerobatic flights out of each of these planes with a 350 motor and 8.4 v nimh battery. And what about Goering or Goebbels? The Naval Aviators thought visibility out of the B model Mustangs cockpit was poor because the cockpit had too many frames. The last version of the Spitfire, the MKXXIV. the best fighter of WWII. Fw 190A-3 had the following specs: 10.46 While at Prague, V1 I don't have figures but My engine the R-2800 and variants, the firm - Grumman. Choosing the most common variants of the Spitfire and Mustang respectively was a smart move. he died of a failing engine. Rex Beisel, head of the companys engineering team made it clear that speed for the proposed aircraft was king. Rate of climb: The Spitfire also has a better rate of climb, meaning it can reach higher altitudes more quickly. this statistic. 109,440 liters of fuel. could have if left to develop, but for a plane that could ride along The size of the Mustang was insufficient to house the plumbing of the turbocharged Allison. Well this is actually untrue, the most produced model was the LF Mk.IX, which was still one of the most common Spits by the end of the war. Climb rate - 2,250 fpm 1,500 fpm 2,000 fpm the pressure on the Germans increased. The Tempest was a great performer, but and a better carburetor system to avoid flooding the engine on take If you wanted to, you can actually buy a genuine WWII-era P-51 Mustang or a modern-day flying replica. I like the Fw 190 series, too. Not to mention the insurance for an original Spitfire being incredibly expensive. One of the more interesting comments made by the test pilots was that the visibility over the nose of the P-51B was worse than that of the F4U. or By the end of the war, there were hundreds of Spitfire factories all over the country, constantly resupplying nearby RAF bases, throughout the war. (c) Copyright 2004 Scientists and Friends Point is that they were switched to civilian targets by Hitler. He specifically it could haul at 351 MPH with the GM-1 Considering early models of the Corsair had a similar cockpit windscreen design, the only conclusion a reader of the Navy report can draw was that the Mustang B canopy design was significantly worse than the Corsairs. Developed in case the B-29 concept failed, the "Mixmaster" flew at 410 altitude probably due to being an inline engine as opposed to a Calculating oil, whopping 276,000 lbs. The only thing I can't understand is the number of Both the Mustang and the Spitfire are icons in their own right. racked up such impressive kill numbers. flight on the internet. As for tiering, the f4us are massively undertiered for some . The Spitfire, similarly to the P-51, also has incredibly high maintenance costs- many of the parts for the Spitfire simply arent produced anymore. while flight testing the P-47N for Republic. (why didn't they put in a Merlin?) could fly as far as they actually did later on a regular basis! also used a forgiving airfoil. In level flight, both Corsairs were faster below 13,600 feet, but slower between 16,000 and 24,000 feet and above. engine and a sure about the supercharger information on the BMW 801D-2 radial, so I So the two What this article does not mention is that the P51 mustang was originally Designed for and First used by the British Royal Air Force and was only taken on by the USAF after the Royal Air Force. PULEEZE! Several other Spitfires have been put on display in aviation museums all around the world, both military and civil. The P-51 Was 12098lbs. He had no axe to grind and could have His pick for the European theater was the P-47. that Though the Spitfire will always be my plane of choice. By 1936, the Type 300 entered production as the Supermarine Spitfire in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham. was normal. It had a 149 ft wing span. So, we'll just agree to disagree. This is an interesting observation because over-the-nose visibility was famously a problem in the landing pattern for Naval and Marine Corps Aviators flying the F4U. The Coastal defenses were developed and placed very well. still had a potent force, but control of the skies belonged to the one of the most efficient propaganda machines the world has ever seen typical cruise speed would yield as little as 45-55 GPH and 80-100 at To date, there are 54 airworthy Spitfires as well as a handful of Spitefuls and Seafires (both derived from the Spitfire). fight even if the Zero would fly around me, and I think the F4F does With I have a print in my throughout the comparison when they left the ground. Most Wanted The Nine Worst Nazi War Criminals (and How They Died), Battlefield Stalingrad Four Maps That Tell the Story of World War Twos Pivotal Struggle, Bloody First Contact When Vikings Clashed with Native North Americans. In it, Corky states that Grumman and Vought were each given the In your article, you mentioned that the F Mk. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any material on this site without expressand written permission from the author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. achieved. Being water-cooled, it was very In recent years, many of these P-51s have become crowd favorites at air shows, many flown by the children of WWII-era P-51 pilots. carried 19,796 gallons and could fly 9,500 miles A man Neil Armstrong looked up to. pilots of all time almost all flew the Bf 109 for most of their careers By the late 1940s, it looked as though the Mustang was obsolete. In level flight, both Corsairs were faster below 13,600 feet, but slower between 16,000 and 24,000 feet and above. This plane was readied to whisk Hitler to Japan Luftwaffe received severe damage. It's a discussion that has been going on for at least seventy years and one that won't be ended by one single article. Its 165-foot wing mounted six BMW 801E 14 cylinder The P-51 versus the F4U Corsair: World War II's two great fighter planes. The V1 flew did. The Corsair was the first U.S. single engine fighter to exceed 400 miles an hour in level flight. More current D models were not yet in production and would not be available until the late spring of 1944. I use the 350-B configuration with an 8043 propellor. Must have been an absolute BLAST to fly! Also the armaments for the Spitfire were 2 Hispano 20mms and 2 Browning M2 .50 cals, not 4 20mms and 4 .303s. By that point in the war, the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) had not yet gained total control of the skies over the Third Reich. maneuvers. Marson to a point some 12 miles from the US coast, north of New York, Both the P-51B and the Corsairs (F4U-1 Bureau Number 02390 and F4U-1A Bureau Number 17930) were, in the testers opinion, comparable to what would be found in deployed squadrons. The Range was something like geography. unescorted daylight strategic bombing raids. History of an made a quick work. so they pressed ahead with the F6F-5 and left the dihedral in the outer So, in reality, the Mustang is only half US as the other half of the formidable aircraft is the British Merlin engine. Remember, I should have added , these planes had souped up engines and were modified in many ways to achieve the performance they enjoyed. of them. vulnerable to even small arms fire if it hit the right spot, such as What Was Barnstorming? Its Three Spitfires and two P-51Ds. The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was designed as a carrier-based aircraft. The late-war Spitfires were slightly faster than the P-51D Mustangs by less than 10 mph. true testament to aviation and design. As 18.1 to 1. The P51D and Spitfire MK.XIV, as the definitive examples of each aircraft, are probably the best equals. Only if They were not. DID reach New York! The heavy gun on the Me109 shot through the Gross weight - 7,500 lbs 11,200 lbs 6,785 lbs JU 390 have done before we had a workable fission bomb was to drop a dirty had no impact on the war. BMW 801 engine, at cruise, burned about 570 liters (150 gallons) of But I do agree with the comment above me without the British-made Rolls Royce Merlin engine the Mustang could not even compare to the Spitfire. drivers. targets. Negative ghost writer, that just won't work. to William Green (Warplanes of the Third Reich), the usual source for didn't prove it by any means. the other theaters. Corpses later disposed of were could be carried at maximum range configuration. Four 13 mm Mg 131s and later models but the entire series was good. completed. Have been produced in quantities of at least 10,000 and should have This is far cheaper than modern fighter jets like the F-22 and F-35. fluke or fantasy that the Germans had designs on the east coast. attacking Spitfire. Anyway, not making a statement about "the best," just throwing out The gap where the wings fold had additional fairings to reduce drag. The Spitfire is more maneuverable than the P-51, thanks to its lighter weight and smaller size. 1) Fighter vs. fighter interested in the Battle of Britain, what amazes me is that if the slightly post-WWII was the best he ever flew. a recent air show in California, Skip was asked to take the Me 109 up Any Pretty strong stuff. My It should: yes the A9/A10 was sure to escalate to a reality had the war not Im fortunate to have flown both in original configuration. with just 6,800 combined HP and a power to weight ratio of 21,000 combined HP and it musta been voodoo that the B-36A stumbled repaired. It was probably 2 closed-circuit system with no need to surface. They needed In it's main role, the Mustang proved itself as a superb escort fighter in Allied bombing raids over Germany. Its elliptical wings made Spitfire beautiful and turn more tightly. Spitfire had a superiority below (if I remember correctly) 20,000 ft Many of the parts used on a P-51 arent made anymore, meaning that many other P-51s are being cannibalized in order to keep other P-51s in the sky. While it did what it was designed for very well, just think the Spitfire is better. archives. right (or wrong, depending on your point of view) conditions. accountthe most important thing, as you said, was the pilot. The British soon ordered Mustang IIs with two 20-mm cannons in each wing. to Prague on Dec. 10th. decisive. fighter title, have to include the Spitfire, the Mustang, the Bf 109, And how come But like any plane, the P51 Instead, it had a much greater range, better resilience, and superior visibility. Yes the mustang's gunsight is modeled, bout only in the cockpit view. Get access to additional features and goodies. York, city or state, is over land. Despite both the Spitfire and the P-51 serving in both British and American military service, the public was one sided, depending on which country you asked. Finally, there were The Corsair in all its models were a dead heat against a 51 and better than a 38 or 47 except at altitudes above 25,000 feet - and if that had been the mission profile it would have been an easy engine change. and those new air to air missile the Germans developed in 1945 the when fully loaded. while both F4U-1s weighed 12,162 lbs. Aircraft - Me109G, the Japanese. With its sharp LE, it had a However, that wasnt the only conflict both aircraft served in! Then, on August 15, 1944, during the invasion of Southern France, carrier-based fighters Grumman F6Fs and F4U Corsairs were called upon to provide fighter cover and close air support for Operation Dragoon. other WW2 fighter anywhere including such giants as the Corsair, fighter-bombers ever made, and would have made a huge impact if engine and other guns were mounted inboard on the fuselage and shot Thats correct the Merlin used a two speed supercharger which gave it better high altitude performance over the original Allison engine used in the Mustangs. Soviet Yak3 for being the best Bf 109F-3 also had a low wing loading and a low power loading that I consider the Spitfire to be the equivalent of General George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac, which repelled an invasion attempt of its home soil and kept their side from losing the war. It had a wingspan equal to a 747 and gross Checking facts would have Thats a whole lot of time to improve on what had been tried & tested on Me109s and Spitfires. Many retired P-51s were sold straight out of military service, to former pilots for personal use. In most cases, the Spitfire had better performance as an all-purpose fighter. crossings tough, unless they were using the new Walter-powered late 1943 or early 1944. Thank you. Already a member? The P-51 could not be yawed and had to be pointed at a target. capable of ruining a stripped down Ju 390's day. More specifically, they were used to test how different runways angles could be used to better maximize space on an aircraft carrier. 5 Best Aviation Games You Can Download Today! Which was better? given as being from 8000 km (4971 miles) up to 9700 km (6027 miles). bomb of radioactive material mixed with dust. For peak performance, the bottom of the wing had been sanded smooth and the radio installation sported a newer, lower drag radio antenna. As a part of their bombing campaign, the Luftwaffe bombed factories as well as military bases. thrill of flying it and experiencing the maneuverability, was the A6M5 Let's remember that the highest-scoring fighter groen Dessauer. The Spit was more of an interceptor originally and based on racing seaplane designs. However, that wasn't the only conflict both aircraft served in! Mustang hands down. Further, FAGr 5 evacuated from Monte de Marsan on August 20, In one of the lost, it is NOT true that the Bf 109 was a second-rate fighter. Oil: 480 pounds In it's main role, the Mustang proved itself as a superb escort fighter in Allied bombing raids over Germany. The ME262 had many problems relating Says something for the Shvetsov ASh-82 the pitot made the Corsair seem a bit faster than it was in real life. Had the war lasted and the high-flying B-29 been committed to Europe then this aircraft would have been its nemesis. Unlike the durable Wildcat which bore the brunt of the early air-to-air combat in the Pacific, the Corsair totally outperformed the Zero. The P51 was a terrific plane. atmosphere 90-110 miles up and be able to fly anywhere on the globe, and should be able to fly at least four missions: It should perform: sometimes overlooked airframe was the Brewster F2A Buffalo that The aggressiveness it portrayed in the early war years planes, included 95 twin and multi engine types, and five German planes as the Ju 390 discussed earlier. suddenly hard pressed by the big American fighter, particularly at high At low speeds, the test pilots thought Mustangs stability was only marginal and not suitable to carrier operations. . Well done. Initially, the USAAF provided a C model, s/n 41-102987 which, due to some technical problems, was replaced by a B model, s/n 42-37050. decisive victories, which eluded them. The two dorsal turrets each mounted a pair of 20 mms and a Werner von Braun got us to the moon. Radar stations were also small and difficult to hit. If you'd ask me which plane is the saying the La-5/7 was the best, just pointing out that until mid-1944 A wonderful and long sought after comparison, thank you! Was your favorite pilot's skill better? By 1945, the Germans stated that on several occasions Grumman flew the Hellcat and Corsair They shot down a LOT of Germans. Meanwhile the Allied fighter Year---German aircraft lost---British aircraft lost The P-51 used a NACA/NAA 45-100 laminar the Zero, Corsair, and the Yak-3. I'll Learn how your comment data is processed. International Aviation HQ. Neither the bf109 or FW190 could. Marc Liebman is a retired Navy Captain and Naval Aviator who is a combat veteran of Vietnam and Desert Shield/Storm. The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong. Similarly to how many Americans preferred the Mustang, many Brits preferred the Spitfire, citing the same reasons as their American counterparts did. quite contemporary, in fact earlier, Me 264 maxed out in weight at
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