Ranked: The best Fighter Aircraft of the Second World War
Fighter aircraft were vital to victory in the Second World War, but which made the greatest impact?
In deciding this we must look at speed, manoeuvrability, firepower, total number built - and what the type in question actually did in the War.
The evolution of fighters in this period was a high-octane survival contest that harvested the most advanced technology available to create extremely potent, and often beautiful, flying fighting machines. Ever more aerodynamic designs were combined with increasingly powerful engines and greater firepower to create masterpieces of military design. Here’s our selection, starting at number 10 and working our way through to the plane we think was the finest:
10: Grumman F6F Hellcat
The Hellcat was ordered as an alternative in the event of any major problems with the F4U Corsair, which was very prudent as the Corsair programme very quickly ran into very major problems indeed, and the sturdy F6F found itself the premier carrier fighter in the world’s mightiest carrier fleet.
The Hellcat was big, heavy and extremely powerful, the very antithesis of its major opponent, the A6M Zero. To fight the Zero, pilots of earlier Allied naval fighters had had to develop inventive tactics to deal with the superior Japanese aircraft.
10. Grumman F6F Hellcat
With the coming of the Hellcat, the US Navy had a fighter that was slightly faster, better armed and just manoeuvrable enough to deal with the Japanese fighter. Plus, it was extremely strong and easy to fly, factors which saved many a pilot who would have been doomed in any other aircraft.
The Japanese advance had been checked by the Wildcat, but it was the chunky Hellcat that allowed the US Navy to win the war in the Pacific before being replaced (in part by its old nemesis the Corsair) right at war’s end. It was exactly the right aircraft at exactly the right time.
PHOTO: F6F-5N night fighter with AN/APS-6 radar and 2x20mm M2 cannon c1944/45
9: Bell P-39 Airacobra
When the P-39 first flew it had a turbo-supercharger and was a fantastic performer at all altitudes. However, the US Army Air Corps decided that no fighter would ever be required to operate at high altitude so they removed the turbo-supercharger and developed the P-39 into a low altitude fighter par excellence.
Then, when it was committed to combat the same US Army Air Corps were scathing in their criticism of the P-39’s altitude performance and called it ‘especially disappointing’. A bit rich you might think seeing as they were the ones who had messed it up in the first place. Thus the unwanted Airacobra was sent by the thousand to the Soviet Union where it found itself in a battlefield where virtually all combat was at low level and its capabilities could be properly appreciated.
It was fast (a P-39 won the first post war American air-race), it handled beautifully, it was tough, its tricycle undercarriage was perfect for rough field operations, and its firepower was nothing short of spectacular. Of the six Soviet pilots to score more than 50 kills, four flew the P-39. Its performance was superior to the German aircraft it faced (and the Soviet aircraft it complemented).
The Airacobra likely gained more air-to-air kills than any other US built fighter and demonstrated the remarkable strategic wisdom of the Lend-Lease programme. Given that the Eastern Front used up 80% of the German war effort, the Kobrastochka could reasonably be considered the most important American fighter of the war in Europe.
8: Messerschmitt Bf 109
At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was probably the best fighter aircraft in the world. Small, fast, manoeuvrable, and well-armed - it was a fearsome prospect for those facing Germany’s Luftwaffe.
It first flew earlier than the other aircraft on this list, enjoying a 1935 maiden flight, and was astonishingly futuristic in appearance in a world dominated by far slower biplanes. The Bf 109 had had its combat debut in the Spanish Civil War in 1937, and by 1939 had improvements necessitated by real combat experience.
PHOTO: Messerschmitt Bf 109G, 1944
When studying military aircraft there is one aspect of design receives barely any attention, yet at the time is often the most important of all, namely: cost. The 109 was, arguably, the best fighter in the world from the time of its introduction until around 1942 despite being - according to an engineer I spoke to - 'a pile of rubbish' from a construction point of view. However, it was also very cheap and it was this aspect that led to it becoming the most produced fighter ever at a time when Germany was short of practically everything including money.
Even once its developmental zenith was past it represented a potent foe and was never outclassed by its opponents. The 109 scored more air-to-air kills than any other aircraft before or since and probably represents the best value for money of any fighter in history.
PHOTO: Messerschmitt Bf 109G, 1942
7. Yakovlev Yak-1 to 9
Despite their different designations there was less difference between the types than between an early and late model Messerschmitt 109 which adds weight to the suggestion that the Yak family as a whole can be considered to be the most manufactured fighter of all time as around 38,000 were built in total.
The Yak-3 was the lightest and smallest fighter to be used in numbers by any combatant during the war and this led to its remarkable performance on a relatively low-powered engine.
Despite its daintiness the Yak-1 was on a par with contemporary Bf 109 and Fw 190 models and by war's end was usually superior to both.
Unburdened with the extraneous equipment deemed necessary in the West, the Yak was a very pure sort of fighting machine and probably the most pleasing aircraft from a pilot's perspective of the war.
6: Fiat G.55
Just before everything went completely awry for the Italians they managed to obtain a supply of the latest Daimler-Benz DB 605 engines from Germany and built three superb fighter types. All three saw service but the best was the Fiat G.55. Indeed, it was so good that a team of German experts (including the Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland) came to the conclusion that it was the best fighter in the Axis, possibly in the world, and should be produced in vast numbers immediately for German use.
Kurt Tank, designer of the Fw 190, had nothing but praise for the G.55 either and went to Turin to look at its potential for mass-production.
However, hard economic logic came into play and when it was pointed out that the, admittedly outstanding, Fiat took 15,000 man hours to build against the 5000 man hours of the still formidable Bf 109, production plans were quietly abandoned. Thus, less than 300 of the Axis's best fighter were built and saw service only in a backwater of the conflict for a Nazi client state, whereas some 35,000 109s swarmed all over Europe.
However, in contrast to so many potentially terrific might-have-beens of the war, the Fiat did at least see production and served in combat, and its brilliance was demonstrated rather than merely conjectured.
5: Mitsubishi A6M Reisen 'Zero'
Quick quiz question: what links the M16 assault rifle and the Mitsubishi Zero? That's right: 7075 aluminium alloy. It is used for the upper and lower receivers of the M16 and it was used for most of the structure of the Zero. First produced in 1936 by Sumitomo Metals of Japan and excitingly named 'extra super duralumin' at the time, 7075 is an alloy of aluminium and zinc and was significantly lighter and stronger than other aluminium alloys produced until this date.
That Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the A6M, had to resort to new technology at the metallurgical level demonstrates not only how challenging the Navy's specification for their new fighter was – rival firm Nakajima didn't even enter a tender, as they deemed it impossible - but also how cutting edge the Zero was – even at the molecular level.
At its debut the extremely agile Zero was the world's best carrier fighter, especially as its enormous range was designed with the vast distances of the Pacific in mind: 1600 miles. That this fact was totally ignored by the Allies, despite the aircraft being quite openly used over China in strength, suggests that the West was all too willing to believe its propaganda on Japanese military capabilities. Propaganda that today seems, at best, laughably naïve. Whatever the truth, the Zero changed all that, and with such total dominance, that it gave rise to a belief in Japanese invincibility in the minds of its opponents that would remain unchecked for the first year or two of the Pacific war.
By the time American fighter design had caught up a bit, grubbily specious claims were invented to ‘explain’ the Zero's remarkable design and performance; for example, Howard Hughes claimed after the war that Mitsubishi had copied his H-1 racer, and Eugene Wilson (president of the aircraft manufacturer Chance-Vought) claimed they had copied Vought's own (rather mediocre) V-143 fighter.
It is bizarre that industrialists should resort to lying about an enemy aircraft in a war already won but does demonstrate the absolute superiority that the Zero demonstrated and just how infuriating that was to the grandees of the US Military-industrial complex.
4: Focke-Wulf Fw 190
Quite apart from being an excellent aircraft with several radical features, the Fw 190 heralded a revolution in what today would be called ‘ergonomics’ (or Human Factors for that matter) but in 1941 was often a consideration dangerously overlooked. Today the concept of HOTAS (hands on throttle and stick) is well-known and is generally considered to have been pioneered by that celebrated American fighter, the F-16. However, the 190 sported a system that delivered a kind of proto-HOTAS concept some thirty years before the ‘Viper’.
Known as the Kommandogerät (command device), it was a remarkable gadget that automatically controlled fuel flow, fuel mixture, propellor pitch and ignition timing. It also activated the supercharger at the correct altitude - all the pilot had to do was move the throttle lever. His other hand was on the control column, where all the armament controls were situated, allowing his full awareness to be directed to combat. This situational awareness was further enhanced by the bubble hood (from which the view, as described by a contemporary RAF report, 'is the best that has yet been seen').
With enormous power from the BMW 14-cylinder 801 that delivered 1677bhp – compared to 1455bhp for the contemporary Bf 109G - one must consider that on its debut the Fw 190 was superior in every performance parameter except turn rate to its closest rival, the Spitfire Mk5, yet also gave its pilots a tactical edge due to reduced workload, it is no wonder that its very existence sent British designers into a frenzy of activity to try and regain ascendancy.
The Spitfire and other fighters later achieved parity but the Fw 190 remained a dangerous opponent, and like the F-16, saw its main role shift to a greater emphasis on the fighter-bomber role. An aircraft that defined the state of the art, the Fw 190 could be the first truly modern fighter.
PHOTO: FW-190 at Imola, Italy, July 1944
3: North American P-51 Mustang
Because everyone's been going on about how incredibly fantastic the Mustang for years and years, it tends to distract attention from what a truly remarkable aircraft it was. It is worth remembering that it shouldn't have existed at all and came about solely because North American – then controlled by General Motors - didn't particularly want to build P-40s for the British.
Even then, it would have remained a competent but hardly spectacular improvement on the Curtiss fighter had not some bright spark suggested fitting a Merlin engine in it; curiously, this step was taken independently and almost simultaneously by North American in the US and Rolls-Royce in England.
PHOTO: P-51D, 1944
The P-51 would have remained a competent but hardly spectacular fighter had not some bright spark suggested fitting a Merlin engine in it (curiously this step was taken independently and near simultaneously by North American in the US and Rolls-Royce in the UK). Even then, many pilots were initially less than impressed, citing the finer flying characteristics of the Spitfire and the better manufacturing quality of the P-47.
But the Mustang was at least as good a fighter as either and with drop-tanks could fly to Berlin and back from England. "When I saw those Mustangs over Berlin, I knew that the war was lost" said Luftwaffe chief Hermann Göring - and he was right.
PHOTO: P-51Ds of 8th Air Force, 1944
2: Supermarine Spitfire
There are cases made for several American designs having the greatest number of recorded victories of a Allied fighter type but in all likelihood this honour goes to the Spitfire. The beautiful Spitfire remained in production for the duration of the war, and was of pivotal importance in the Battle of Britain. It also fought in many other significant battles around the world.
Fast and blessed with superb handling, it was much loved by its pilots. Key to the Spitfire’s success was the brilliant Rolls-Royce Merlin (and later Griffon) engine and its excellent wing design.
PHOTO: Supermarine Spitfire Mk9, 2018
Much like the transition of the Beetle and Mini cars to their modern namesakes, the later Spitfires shared little commonality with the original design. The last model of Spitfire designed for land operations by the RAF was a potent combat aircraft, and easily one of the world’s finest at the end of the 1940s.
This serves to underline the remarkable unbroken development of a basic design that first flew in 1936, the Mk 24 was twice as heavy, more than twice as powerful and showed an increase in climb rate of 80% over that of the prototype Spitfire. With over 22,500 made, it the Spitfire was the Allied fighter produced in the greatest number.
1: Messerschmitt Me 262
There was quite a lot wrong with the Me 262 when it was committed to action but most of this was due to the challenges of the time and had nothing to do with the astounding technological advance it represented when it was unleashed on an unsuspecting world in the spring of 1944. The obvious advantage of its new powerplant was velocity.
Once airborne, no other aircraft could catch the speedy Messerschmitt, not even the Allies' jet, the Meteor, whose performance was pedestrian by comparison. But it was not solely its jet engines that made the 262 so formidable, its firepower, designed for bomber destruction, was particularly heavy consisting of four 30mm cannon firing explosive rounds at an extremely high rate.
The 262 was also in some senses a remarkably practical aircraft for the not-particularly-advantageous situation into which it was introduced. It could be fuelled by a much lower quality of fuel than its piston-engined brethren so there was more chance of being able to operate it in an increasingly oil-starved Germany. Furthermore, a surprisingly large amount of the airframe was made of wood rather than ever more scarce aluminium and steel. Scarcity of steel was the main cause of its major problem - the engines were notoriously short-lived.
The Jumo 004 jet engine was not actually a bad design – it would later be copied for the Soviet Yak-15 fighter - but steel of sufficiently high quality was no longer available for the turbines. It is also worth remembering that these engines, as well as the airframe, were built by slaves so it is hardly surprising that build quality was not that great, in fact it's remarkable that it worked at all. But even with these problems the 262 reigns supreme as an incredible technological last-gasp at the end of a war already lost.
