The greatest Fighter aircraft in WWII, IMO, the P-51 Mustang.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Emile (a host of the General Discussion forum).

Last edited Sat Nov 8, 2025, 08:55 AM - Edit history (1)

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A beautiful fighter.

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. If Flying the P-51 in MS Fight Simulator is evidence.....

this was the most powerful and most agile aircraft in WW2. Not counting jets. You could outrun by turning the nose up...until you had lethal fall advantage.

[WarGamer]

2. Can of worms opened...

Greatest at what?

The FW190-D9 was better at low altitudes and was more heavily armed... the P-51D was better at high altitudes...

The A6M Zero was more maneuverable, the P-47 was more durable...

The Spitfire may have been better than the P-51D... in all aspects... except long range escort

But most experts do agree... the P-51D was the best all around fighter of WW2...

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. In MS WW2, European Theater.....

The Spitfire could out-turn any aspirated German fighter aircraft. One-on-one. That's my experience. Yours may vary.

[WarGamer]

4. a magnificent bird...

[OAITW r.2.0]

6. Really was....a one-on-one fight between the Spitfire and the M-109 or M-190 was pretty one sided.

Spitfire's. on the pass. could throttle down and out turn the German fighters.

[PeaceWave]

5. As a kid, my favorite planes were the P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning and England's Supermarine Spitfire.

[Permanut]

7. I'm not a pilot, and just know about these planes from the accounts of their performance..

Which was mind boggling.

The account that impressed me the .most was the downing of a Japanese "Betty" bomber in April 1943 with Admiral Yamamoto on board, which was accomplished by pilot Ray Barber in a P-38.

Also I had a model of a P-38 when I was a kid, and I just thought it was cool.

[pecosbob]

8. I grew up just down the road from the old CAF in Harlingen...used to hang around the place when I could.

Knew to look up when I heard the roar...there's no mistaking the sound of warplanes.

[HAB911]

9. And too late to the game, its successor F-82

The North American F-82 Twin Mustang is an American long-range escort fighter. Based on the North American P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was designed as an escort for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress in World War II, but the war ended well before the first production units were operational. The F-82 was the last American piston-engined fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force.

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/North_American_F-82_Twin_Mustang

[Emile]

10. After an alert to the hosts, locking.

SOP for GeneralDiscussion "Discuss politics, issues, and current events."

Feel free reposting this in American History, Veterans, or in the Lounge forums.