Which is the best?

Question

Which WW2 fighter plane was the best and why? Spitfire or P51 Mustang?

I've got a book and good knowledge on the spitfire and mustang i asked this question out of curiosity. The Mustang was upgraded by the merlin engine which ran the spitfire the americans agreed on more power and a faster climb rate with this upgrade!

Answer 1

The Spitfire and Hurricane aeroplanes were absolutely fantastic aircraft, very manouverable and quick but they were not the only aircrafts to help win the Battle of Britain or WW2.
Remember the Sterling and Lancaster bombers. What amazing aircrafts. Black underbody so they bomb German towns by night, while the American Allies bombed by day, as the under belly of the aircraft was silver. Not sure what type of Aeorplanes they were, but did a great job. They had longer flight ranges.

I don't know much about the P51 Mustang. Got this from Wikipedia.
The North American P-51 Mustang was an American long-range single-seat fighter aircraft that entered service with Allied air forces in the middle years of World War II. The P-51 became one of the conflict's most successful and recognizable aircraft.


They were great aircraft, flown by great pilots. Lest we forget..

Answer 2

The real advantage of the Merlin over the Allison engine was the Merlin didn't loose so much power at altitude. The P-51 had all the advantages of the Spitfire plus the advantage of range and fire power. The Spitfire is a beautiful plane but it wouldn't do so well in head to head competition with the Mustang. The Mustang had the following advantages over the spitfire. 1. 6-.50 cals vs. 2-20mm and 2- .50 cal machine guns the 20mm having only a few rounds to fire compared to the hundreds of rounds the Mustang carries per gun. 2. Range the Spitfire could go to 400 miles the Mustang 2,000+ depending on drop tanks used. 3. Speed the spit was fast but the Mustang was faster still. 4. There is little difference in there agility. 5. Landing gear the spits gear was close together making the plane tippy on a ground roll. the Mustang's gear was far apart and thus gave a solid ride on rough strips. The Mustangs only fault was that when fully loaded the gas tank behind the pilot made the plane unstable until it was emptied thus pilots would use this tank on the way to the target to drain it. If you didn't the plane would literally go end over end if you pulled up to quickly. Some rookies didn't get the word about this problem and paid dearly for it.

Answer 3

The answer is dependant on the question ~ in as much as 'Best,' in what context do you mean 'Best'?

Best in Looks.

Best in Climb.

Best in Dogfights.

Best in terms of flight maintenance

Best in terms of Sustainable battle damage

Best is in Chalk or Cheese....? (and what you want to do with it).

For 'beauty,' the lines of the Spitfire is my favourite.

For a 'snouty determined' look, the Mustang is and gets the job done ...though, aesthetically, back to the Spit.


Sash.

Answer 4

The Spitfire was more manouverable but the P51 had more power & range. If you were playing at home, you'd choose the Spitfire; if you were playing away it would have to be the Mustang.

Answer 5

p51 had the new merlin engine in it. best plane of the entire war by far was 51. very fast, manuverable, high ceiling and long range. if 51 and spit were matched up, hopefully the 51 pilot would know not to try to turn fight the spit. sopwith might be good against red baron but not against 51 or spit. ppppffff. wrong war.

Answer 6

Mustang-longer range, faster, higher ceiling-newer plane (more advanced)
The P-51 was also very maneuverable. Maybe not as much as the Supermarine Spit., but not enough to matter. Mustang had so much more power.

Answer 7

Of the two I would pick the P-51. But how about the P-47? Heavily armed, rugged, fast, had approximate range of P-51 but could take more hits.

Answer 8

neither.. the F4U-4 Corsair as used by both the US and British.. Long leggs, uber maneuvarable, higher flying, better armor, and a larger payload. If allowed to fight, I'd say the F2g-1 and the royal navy's Sea Fury would be at the very top of the list..

Answer 9

P51 had better range

Answer 10

i would say spitfire because i dont know what the others look like. sopwith camels are quite good too