Top 10: Best Fighter Aircraft at the start of the Second World War

The fighter aircraft was never more important than it was during the global calamity that began in 1939.

However, at this time of need, the fighter types available were pretty limited to say the least.  If you were an air force leader choosing a fighter to defend your nation, your choice (if you were lucky and appropriately aligned politically) would be from this pack of misfits and immature thoroughbreds. Here are the ten best fighters operational at start of the biggest war in history.

10: Mitsubishi A5M ‘Claude’

There may have been a few better land-based fighters in 1939 but if you wanted a carrier fighter then this is it. None of the classics had entered service yet, so no Grumman F4F Wildcat, no Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" - even the Brewster Buffalo didn’t appear till December.

If you want a monoplane it’s either this or a Blackburn Skua, and let’s face it, no-one wants a Skua (which was an appalling aircraft in many ways). Manoeuvrable, fairly fast and long ranged, the A5M was dominant over China and was the first carrier aircraft to demonstrably prove to be as good as its land-based contemporaries.

In the second Sino-Japanese War the A5M had the upper hand (in terms of airframe performance) on almost every foe it faced and importantly established Japanese naval air power as a force to be reckoned with. The Mitsubishi A5M ‘Claude’s establishment of air superiority cemented the aircraft’s reputation as one of the best of its time, known for its superb manoeuvrability and resilience to battle damage.

Though its top speed of 250-280mph (402-451 km/h) had been pretty impressive when the type had first flown in 1935, the world had moved on and the best fighter-producing nations, Germany and Britain, were now fielding machines demonstrating 350mph. Likewise, two light machine-guns were a weak armament in 1939, with British aircraft boasting four times the firepower. 

9: Fokker G.1

Fokker was a Dutch aircraft company famous for its World War I fighters that served with Germany. The G.1 caused a sensation when it was first revealed in Paris. The twin-boom (a design with two longitudinal auxiliary booms like the handles of a wheelbarrow) design was radical but effective (and influential), and was dubbed La Faucheur (the Reaper) by the French press due to its unheard of armament of eight nose-mounted machine guns.

Tasked with policing the Netherlands’ neutrality, the G.1’s first ‘victory’ was the accidental shooting down of a British RAF Whitley bomber. 

When the German forces invaded in May 1940 the Fokker G.1 had only five days of action to prove its worth during which it operated effectively, despite being massively outnumbered, in both the ground attack, and air to air role, scoring at least 14 victories.

In 1941 two Dutch test pilots escaped to the United Kingdom in a Fokker G.1, which, despite its exciting history was left outside to test the effects of the climate on a wooden airframe and then scrapped in 1945.

8: Messerschmitt Bf 110C

The best twin-engined fighter of 1939 looked like an invincible force when first committed to action. It was fast, powerful, had a massive range and terrific firepower. Unfortunately, it was very large for a fighter and lacked manoeuvrability. Having said that, the 110 could outclimb any other European fighter in 1940.

Supremely successful over Poland, France, Norway and the low countries, it's subsequent mauling when faced with modern, well-organised single-engined fighters has diminished its postwar reputation. This is unfair as it was the tactical employment of the aircraft that was at fault rather than the aircraft which was more or less as good as it was possible to be in 1939.

The Bf 110 was ahead of other twin-engined fghters in terms of reaching operational service. Britain’s tough Bristol Beaufighter and fast Westland Whirlwind were yet to enter service, and France’s fighter versions of the Potez 630 was proving extremely troublesome. Later attempts to replace the Bf 110 with the Bf 210 would prove to be a nightmare for the Luftwaffe. 

7: Bloch MB.152

Despite being the best French fighter available in 1939, the prototype of what would become the MB.152 actually failed to fly as a result the fact that this aircraft makes it onto the list at all is nothing short of amazing. Unlike the British and German aircraft on this list, the 152 featured a radial, as opposed to inline, engine in the form of the Gnome-Rhône 14N.

No one would call the MB.152 a looker, in fact the whole nose was canted off to one side to counteract propellor torque – an ingenious if mildly hideous solution.

It wasn’t particularly fast but the MB.152 was amazingly resilient (one once returned to base with over 360 bullet holes), and unusually well-armed for a single-seat fighter of this era with two 20-mm cannon and two light machine-guns. Though tough and manoeuvrable, the Bloch MB.152 was a bit slower than Bf 109s it would face, and only carried 60 rounds of ammunition per cannon.

Better aircraft were in development for France, notably the faster Dewoitine D.520, but its introduction was too late to affect to deter the German invasion. 

6: Curtiss P-36/Hawk 75/Mohawk

By far the best American fighter of 1939, and by far the shiniest aircraft on this list, the Curtiss Hawk 75A scored the first aerial victory on the Western front of the Second World War. The combat victories were claimed by French pilots in Curtiss Hawk 75A-1s of the SPA 160 "Red Devils" squadron of GC II/4 on 8 September 1939. Two years later the Curtiss made history again by scoring the first aerial victory for the US over Pearl Harbor.

Despite seeing very little service with US forces the Hawk 75 flew successfully over France, scoring a third of all French victories though making up only 12 per cent of the fighter force. Survivors were then used to great effect by Finland. In the RAF Mohawks fought the Japanese until the end of 1944 and Argentina only withdrew theirs in 1954.

The Hawk 75 was tough, nimble – it was notably more manoeuvrable than a Spitfire or Hurricane at high speed, well-armed (with one light and one heavy machine-gun) but never quite fast enough.

5: Polikarpov I-16

Due to its primary mission seemingly being to become the fighter with the greatest number of nicknames in aviation history, by 1939 the Soviet I-16 was no longer at the cutting edge of combat aircraft technology but it was still a force to be reckoned with. Despite looking like a barrel it was easily the most advanced fighter in the World when it entered service in 1934, the aesthetically abrupt I-16 cut a dash over Spain and was master of all aircraft that opposed it – except, tellingly, one.

Faster than nearly all contemporary fighters, it was very manoeuvrable but difficult to fly. Interestingly Mark Hanna, possibly the only Western pilot to fly both the Hurricane and I-16 (though neither in combat) said ‘I had just flown a Hurricane for the first time, a week before the Rata … I felt that you’d be better off fighting in a Rata. At any rate I felt quickly far more comfortable in it. In air combat against early low-powered 109s, I would suspect that the two aircraft were very comparable’. Which leads us neatly on to…

4: Hawker Hurricane I

The famous British Hawker Hurricane fighter first flew in 1935. The Hurricane was available in large numbers in September 1939 which was its principal advantage over its great rival the Spitfire. Later its relative simplicity and great sturdiness would prove invaluable but when war broke out these were not great concerns, and it was simply one of the world’s best fighters.

Hurricanes saw the most action of any British type over France and it acquitted itself well before historically proving its worth in the Battle of Britain.

Not particularly fast, the Hurricane was very well-armed by the standards of the day, and able to withstand battle damage to a greater degree than any other British fighter, though horrifically prone to catching fire in the vicinity of the pilot. In tests at 15,000 feet the cockpit went from room temperature to 3000 degrees Celsius in ten seconds when the fuel tank caught fire. 

It was supremely responsive and easy to fly – a great boon at a time when very few pilots had experienced combat.

3: Macchi MC.200 Saetta

Entering service a mere month before the outbreak of World War Two the Macchi MC 200 was for several years Italy’s premier fighter, despite its slight rotundity and old-fashioned open cockpit. The open cockpit it received was a retrograde step said to be requested by conservative pilots used to the ease of escape and unobstructed view possible without an enclosed canopy (though it was likely influenced by opinions coming from a higher level in the air force).

Indeed, some Italian pilots preferred the slower more aerobatic biplanes the 200 replaced. The Saetta was an excellent flying machine, being pretty quick with viceless handling and sprightly manoeuvrability. Later it would fly rings around Hurricanes over the Mediterranean.

Sadly for the Italians it never had the sort of engine power that was becoming necessary by 1939 and its armament of only two machine-guns was pitiful, so Hurricanes largely got away. Despite its shortcomings it established a surprisingly good kill ratio against later designs over the Soviet Union, where it operated until early 1943.

Fitted with a decent engine (the German Daimler-Benz DB 601) it became later become Italy’s best all-round fighter of the war, as the Macchi C.202 Folgore). Thanks to the more powerful engine and streamlined nose, the 202 was an impressive 60mph faster. Of course, all this was academic in 1939 because Italy was neutral.

2: Supermarine Spitfire I

On the downside it was woefully short-ranged and the engine was prone to overheating virtually as soon as it was started. In combat the Spitfire of 1939 was not able to withstand the same levels of damage as the Hurricane and it could not perform some of the manoeuvres possible with the 109 because the engine would conk out.

Despite this, the formidable Spitfire was a fine handling aircraft of superlative performance with the devastating armament of eight Browning machine-guns.

1: Messerschmitt Bf 109

In 1939 the Bf 109E had proved to be the most formidable aircraft of the Spanish Civil War and it was the finest fighter in service at the outbreak of World War II. The best fighter in the world was not without its flaws; Willy Messerschmitt was a noted glider designer before he turned his hand to fighters and aspects of its design were somewhat flimsy for a combat machine, a tail supported by struts was pretty weak by the late thirties and the occasional catastrophic total structural failure kept the Luftwaffe pilot of 1939 on his toes.

Nonetheless in September 1939 it was a more mature combat aircraft than its great opponent and nearest rival, the Spitfire, and at the outbreak of war over 2000 Bf 109s had been built as opposed to barely 300 Spitfires. It had been refined with experience garnered in Spain, it was cannon armed and its fuel injection system was better able to cope with combat manoeuvres than the British aircraft. It was fitted with a variable pitch airscrew from the outset which maximised engine efficiency and speed.