The fastest warplanes of the Second World War

The top speed of the fastest operational fighter was less than 360 mph when the war started.

By 1945, this had increased by an astonishing 300mph. Knowing that ‘speed was life’, some designers packed ever larger piston engines into ever-elongating airframes, while others embraced exotic new propulsion systems like the jet and the rocket. Air combat grew faster, higher and more destructive with ever-swifter fighters. Here are 10 of the Fastest Warplanes of the Second World War:

10: North American P-51 Mustang – 450mph

Everyone’s been going on for years and years about how incredibly fantastic the Mustang was, but this tends to distract from what actually made it such a remarkable aircraft. It’s worth remembering that it wasn’t supposed to have existed at all, and came about solely because North American Aviation didn’t particularly want to build Curtiss-designed P-40s for the British.

Even then, the Mustang would have been a competent but hardly spectacular improvement on the Curtiss fighter had not some bright spark suggested fitting it with a Rolls-Royce V12 Merlin engine (curiously, this step was taken independently yet almost simultaneously by North American in the US and Rolls-Royce in the UK).

Nonetheless, many pilots were initially less than impressed, citing the finer flying characteristics of the Spitfire and the better build quality of the Republic P-47. But the Mustang was at least as good a fighter as either and could fly to Berlin and back. ‘When I saw those Mustangs over Berlin, I knew that the war was lost,’ said Hermann Göring, and he was right.

Whether or not it was the best fighter of the war, the Mustang remains the standard against which all other hopefuls are judged. The P-51C was tested at over 450mph during the war, making it one of the few piston-engine types to reach this great speed. Later both the P-51H and P-82 Twin Mustang would go faster still.

9: Martin Baker MB5 – 460mph

Despite the crash of the MB3 in 1942 due to the failure of its Napier Sabre engine, it was apparent that the plane was worthy of further development. Martin Baker proposed a Rolls-Royce Griffon-powered version, the MB4, but a more thorough redesign was favoured by the Air Ministry, and the MB5 was the result.

A fair contender for the best British piston-engine fighter ever flown, the MB5 was well armed (though with the less-impressive total of four, rather than six, cannon), very fast, and as easy to maintain as its predecessor. Flight trials proved it to be truly exceptional, with a top speed of 460 mph (740 km/h), brisk acceleration and docile handling. Its cockpit layout set a gold standard that Boscombe Down recommended should be followed by all piston-engine fighters.

The only thing the MB5 lacked was good timing. It first flew two weeks before the Allied invasion of Normandy. Appearing at the birth of the jet age, with readily available Spitfires and Tempests, both of which were themselves excellent fighters, there was never a particularly compelling case for producing the slightly better MB5.

Though never ordered, the MB5 was highly impressive: with better range and armament than any Spitfire version; slightly higher top speed, better range and better ceiling than a Sea Fury; better manoeuvrability than a Hornet, and it was also cheaper and flew earlier. It shares this position in our story with the Arado 234 jet bomber, which had a top speed of 461mph.

8: Hawker Tempest – 466mph

The massive Hawker Tempest was a superb fighter at low and medium altitudes. This British fighter proved a brilliant counter to the onslaught of Germany’s first ‘revenge’ weapon, the V-1 ‘doodlebug’ cruise missile. The Tempest was pivotal in defeating the V-1, and shot down a total of 805, saving possibly thousands of civilian lives.

The Tempest started as a thinner-winged development of the Typhoon, but as it evolved, it grew different enough to merit its own name (the thinner wing was better at higher speeds). Prototypes with different engines were tried; the fastest was powered by the Sabre IV, reaching an astonishing 466mph at 24,500 feet altitude.

The Napier Sabre engine was rather mad, boasting 24 cylinders, sleeve valves, two crankshafts and weighing a ton. It generated a ferocious amount of power, gifting the aircraft with superb performance. The Tempest was the finest RAF fighter in the final stage of the war and was the zenith of the RAF’s propellor-driven fighters.

The Tempest proved formidable in air-to-air combat, enjoying an awe-inspiring 8:1 victory-loss ratio. The Tempest scored 239 confirmed victories (plus at least nine probables). The Tempest was the ultimate aircraft from Hawker to serve in the war. The Tempest evolved into the superlative Hawker Sea Fury, which had smaller wings and was even faster still.

7: Republic P-47M Thunderbolt- 470mph

When it became clear the XP-47J was unlikely to enter production, Republic considered a hot-rodded P-47 by mating the XP-47J’s engine – with its CH-5 turbosupercharger – with the existing P-47D-27.

Whereas the original P-47 had 2000 hp in War Emergency Power (WEP), this new monster had a staggering 2800 hp due to more boost from the upgraded supercharger arrangement, and water injection to rein in these high-power boost levels.

The result was spectacular, with the top speed leaping above 470 mph (756 km/h). Some pilots even claimed to have reached 500 mph (805km/h) when using WEP, but this cannot be formally verified and is hard to believe. The power demands of the P-47M were too much for the Double Wasp and engine issues plagued the programme with frequent ignition and piston ring issues at higher altitudes.

Though somewhat dangerous, the P-47M proved formidable in combat, its victories including several jet-powered Me 262As and Arado 234Bs with no air-to-air losses. Its fight against jets were aided by a new incendiary round, able to ignite the higher flash point of jet fuel.

6: Focke-Wulf Ta 152H – 472mph

Top speed at high altitude is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the thin air provides for low parasitic drag. On the other hand, this thin air also makes it harder to produce lift, so induced drag is higher. Finally, engine performance, and thus thrust, tends to decrease with altitude. So, the balance between these three speed-related aspects is not necessarily any better than at lower altitudes.

However, with the right aircraft design, very high speeds can be achieved at high altitudes. The Focke-Wulf Ta 152H was just such an aircraft. This design, a derivative of the Fw 190 fighter, was developed as an advanced bomber interceptor. It had upgrades specifically targeted at improving the high-altitude performance to counter a new looming threat facing Germany - the high-flying American B-29.

It had almost 40% more wingspan than an Fw 190. Secondly, the aircraft had an upgraded Junkers Jumo 213E with both MW-50 water/methanol injection at low altitudes and GM-1 nitrous oxide injection at high altitudes. This allowed higher boost pressures and allowed the aircraft to accelerate to a maximum of 472 mph (760 km/h) at higher altitudes, over 30 mph (48 km/h) faster than the fastest Fw 190D.

The utterly distinctive Ta 152H performed phenomenally, and its dependence on performance-enhancing laughing gas is noteworthy. The Ta 154C was a 450-club (an aircraft faster than 450mph) member too, capable of 460 mph at 32,810 feet with MW 50 boost (not GM-1). Only 69 were ever produced, and being introduced in January 1945, failed to make much of an impact before the war ended; it shot down around seven Allied planes.

5: Mitsubishi Ki-83 – 473mph

The Ki 83 resulted from an Imperial Army specification calling for a high-altitude, aerodynamically clean radial-engine aircraft. In addition to recording the highest speed attained by any Japanese aircraft built during the war, the Ki-83 was blessed with remarkable agility for such a large aircraft.

Compared to its direct US equivalent – the Grumman F7F Tigercat, which also failed to see meaningful service during the war – the Ki-83 possessed a similar range but was faster, more manoeuvrable, and more heavily armed with two 30-mm and two 20-mm cannons, all firing through the nose.

Unfortunately for this superlative warplane, its timing was appalling. First flown in November 1944, tests were regularly interrupted by American air raids and of four known prototypes, three were damaged or destroyed by bombing. After the war, the sole survivor was evaluated in the US and received glowing praise.

With the higher-octane fuel available in America, the Ki-83 ultimately recorded a speed of 473 mph. Sadly, despite being earmarked for preservation, the only Ki-83 to survive the war is thought to have been scrapped in 1950.

4: Dornier Do 335 – 474mph

When faced with design goals and timing similar to those of the Grumman Tigercat, Dornier took a radically different approach with its unique Do 335. To minimise the frontal surface area, drawing on earlier experience with the Do 18 and the P.59 (a 1937 patent for a tractor-pusher bomber), the ‘335 adopted the rather weird ‘push-pull’ configuration, with both engines mounted in the fuselage.

The forward engine is in the traditional location with a tractor propeller. The aft engine is mounted in the middle of the fuselage (for better weight distribution) and is connected to an aft push propeller with a driveshaft. The resulting surface area is only slightly higher than a comparable single-engine fighter.

A pair of Daimler-Benz DB-603 engines, each producing 1800 hp, allowed for a maximum weight a little higher than a traditional fighter, armed with a 30-mm cannon firing through the propeller hub and a pair of 20-mm cannon in the cowling. The aircraft could carry a lot of fuel and provided a combat range 30 per cent higher than the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 or Messerschmitt Bf 109.

The aircraft was too late to see combat in the Second World War; only 37 were built. Of these, a few reached conversion units for a short duration, but the type did not see combat. The design produced tremendous performance; it topped out at a remarkable 474mph. 

4: Gloster Meteor – 493mph

As aircraft grew faster, it was apparent that piston engines struggled to perform efficiently much over 400mph, and beyond 450mph even more so. Jet propulsion offered the next level of performance, but it was a technology in its infancy, with much to prove.

Britain was an early pioneer of jet engines. Its first experimental jet aircraft was the Gloster E.28/39, which first flew in 1941. Two prototypes were built. When fitted with the W.2B Rover engine, the E.28/39 achieved an impressive speed of 466mph.

The technologies proven by the E.28/39 enabled the development of a larger aircraft, the Gloster Meteor, the first Allied jet fighter. The twin-engine Meteor first flew on 5 March 1943 and entered service with the RAF on 27 July 1944. On 20 January 1945, four Meteors from 616 Squadron were deployed to Belgium.

The 616 Squadron Meteors’ primary tasking was airfield defence, but their pilots hoped the presence of an Allied jet would encourage an attack by Me 262s that they could be ambushed. Meteor pilots were forbidden to fly over German-occupied territory due to the risk of a downed Meteor falling into enemy hands. By the war's final days, the Gloster Meteor III had a top speed of 493mph; the cancelled Heinkel He 280, the world’s first jet fighter, is also worth a mention here and may have achieved 508mph.

3: Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger & Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star – 550mph

Born in Nazi Germany’s desperate last days, the tiny Heinkel He 162 ‘Volksjäger’ was born of the hope that a mass-produced cheap and highly advanced design could defend against the hundreds of Allied bombers and their escorts pummelling Germany.

Going from conception to first flight in only three months, it was an extremely innovative design. It combined the new technologies of jet propulsion and the ejection seat. It was intended that it would be flown by young, fanatical men (and boys). Though an impressive achievement, it was too late to have much effect. It did, however, reach an impressive 550mph.

The Lockheed P-80 was a tad slower than the He 162 but is still worthy of inclusion. The first American attempt at a jet fighter, and indeed the first US jet aircraft, the Bell P-59 Airacomet had been a disappointment.

The P-80 did serve in the Second World War, albeit briefly. Two pre-production USAAF YP-80A Shooting Stars saw service in Italy in the reconnaissance role in February and March 1945. The P-80A had a top speed of around 550mph. The US did fly a faster aircraft in 1945, the Bell XP-83, but this did not see operational service.

2: Messerschmitt Me 262 – 578mph

There was quite a lot wrong with the Me 262 when it was committed to action, but most of this was due to the exigencies of the time; aside from this, it represented an astounding technological advance when it was unleashed on an unsuspecting world in the spring of 1944.

The obvious advantage of its new powerplant, the jet engine, was velocity. Once airborne, no other aircraft could catch the speedy Messerschmitt, not even the RAF’s Gloster Meteor, whose performance was decidedly pedestrian by comparison.

But it wasn’t just the 262’s jet engines that made the fighter so formidable; its firepower, optimised for bomber destruction, was particularly heavy, consisting of four 30-mm cannon firing explosive rounds at an extremely high rate.

Appallingly, the engines and the airframe of many 262s were built by enslaved people, so it’s hardly surprising that the build quality was poor. But even so, the 262 was a remarkable technological last gasp of a short-lived totalitarian empire. With a top speed of 578 mph, the Me 262 was astonishingly fast, and a serious threat to Allied aircraft.

1: Me 163 (659mph) & Ba 349

Rockets can offer tremendous thrust and speeds at any altitude you like, but they come with some severe limitations and, often, safety concerns. The Opel RAK.1, the first purpose-designed rocket plane, flew on 30 September 1929. It reached a top speed of 150 km/h (93 mph).

The first operational military rocket-powered aircraft was the Messerschmitt 163 Komet interceptor, the fastest World War II aircraft with a top speed of around 659mph. It was 200mph faster than the best piston-engine fighters but could fly for only around seven minutes before it ran out of fuel, when it became vulnerable to enemy fighters as it glided.