Hundreds of fighter planes flew in the skies of the Second World War, taking out other
aircraft and striving for air superiority while also undertaking specific operations,
such as all-weather and night fighting, intercepting, ground attack, light bombing, escorting, pathfinding,
and reconnaissance. Many fighters were manufactured in Japan, Germany, the Soviet Union, Great
Britain, America, France, and Italy, though Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Australia,
Finland, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia made fighters too, and many pilots operated
fighters manufactured in countries other than their own. While we have made a two-part video
outlining some of the flying aces of World War II, we have yet to outline the aircraft
in which many of them flew, so in this video, we're going to list our top ten fighters,
from five fighting nations. While every aircraft had its strengths, and while it often came
down to the effectiveness of the pilots and their command, hold out to the end of the
video, because we are going to be revealing what we believe was the all-round best fighter
of the Second World War out of the top 10 we list here.
Undeniably Japan's most famous aircraft, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero was an agile, long-range
fighter used right up to the end of the war, towards which it was employed in kamikaze
missions. When the Zero was first introduced, it was considered the world's best carrier-based
fighter, and it absolutely harried Allied craft, which came nowhere near matching its
maneuverability, speed, climb, and range. During these early years, the Zero maintained
a formidable kill ratio of twelve to one, though, as the war dragged on, the Allies
manufactured superior fighters, and the Zero, despite the deployment of some newer models,
fell behind. With that said, almost 11,000 Zeros were manufactured during the war, and
it remained Japan's principle "turn and burn" dogfighter.
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a slick aircraft with a powerful engine, and it was one of
the most integral fighters in the Luftwaffe, bearing Germany's highest-scoring ace, Erich
Hartmann, and many other German aces to hundreds of aerial victories. The Bf 109 was initially
conceived as an interceptor, but its variants allowed it to carry out a variety of operations,
such as bomber escort, light bombing, ground attack, and recon. As a frontline fighter
in early Blitzkrieg operations, the Bf 109 dominated the sky, making good use of its
ability to climb higher than other craft and its excellent maneuverability, though in the
Battle of Britain, for instance, Bf 109s were used as bomber escorts, and here, the craft's
limited range saw it falling short of the deadly Spitfire. While the Bf 109 flew up
to Germany's capitulation, it was slowly being replaced with the next fighter on our list.
With that said, almost 34,000 Bf 109s were manufactured between 1935 and 1945, for use
in both the Spanish Civil War and World War II.
The Bf 109's replacement, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, could carry more and thus take on a variety
of roles, fighting in the day and night, dropping bombs, and ripping up ground targets, and
it was superior in most aspects to the British Spitfire for a time, making absolute hell
for the RAF until they upgraded their Spitfire and made hell back. Capable of bearing much
more firepower than the Bf 109 while remaining quick and agile, the Fw 190 was a favourite
among German pilots, and many German aces racked up hundreds of kills in the cockpit
of this deadly aerial predator. The Fw 190 terrorised the skies from August 1941 to the
end of the war, and over 20,000 Fw 190s were produced from 1939 to 1945. If the Axis had
got their hands on the Focker earlier in the war, the outcome may have been very different.
While the Soviet Union's swift, tough Yakovlev Yak-3 fighter didn't enter World War II until
June 1944, it certainly made an impact when it did, earning regard as the best dogfighter
on the Eastern Front. The Yak-3 could outmaneuver the Bf 109 and Fw 190, and it has been considered
superior even to the Spitfire and the P-51 Mustang. The Yak-3 was easy to fly and very
forgiving, and it was exceptionally effective below 13,000 ft or 4km. Soon after the Yak-3
was brought into the war, on the 16th of June 1944, eighteen Yak-3s engaged twenty-four
German craft, taking only one loss for the German loss of 15 aircraft; this ended Luftwaffe
operations in the area. Between March 1944 and August 1946 alone, some 4,850 Yak-3s were
made.
Britain's Supermarine Spitfire is no doubt one of the most famous aircraft of all time,
and this is largely due to the craft's involvement in the Battle of Britain, in which it turned
the tide, using its superior range to make a mess of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. The craft
was easy to fly and incredibly forgiving, and, while heavily armed, it was a graceful
vehicle indeed. The Spitfire reigned supreme at low altitudes, and when a model was rendered
inferior by a novel enemy craft, the Spitfire was upgraded, making it Britain's most-produced
fighter, with Supermarine producing more than 20,000 between 1938 and 1948. Britain's top-scoring
ace, Johnny Johnson, flew in a Spitfire, claiming thirty-eight victories throughout the war.
Now, I'm not American, but I can't deny that the US produced some of the best aircraft,
and the last five fighters on this list are all US-made.
Chance Vought's F4U Corsair was crucial to the Allies in the Pacific theatre, outclassing
the Japanese Zero as a carrier fighter and getting good use as a ground-attack fighter.
Overall, it boasted an eleven to one kill ratio over the Japanese craft, and some Japanese
pilots claimed the Corsair was America's best all-round fighter. The first Corsair ace,
Kenneth Ambrose Walsh, described battling Zeroes in F4Us: "Whoever had altitude dictated
the terms of the battle, and there was nothing a Zero pilot could do to change that — we
had him." The Corsair F4U was so successful it was employed in the Korean War, in which
it battled Soviet Yak-9s, and more than 12,500 were produced between 1942 and 1953.
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt was one of the war's toughest, heaviest fighters,
weighing up to eight tons when fully loaded and capable of bearing rockets or a single
2,500-pound or 1,100-kilo bomb, additional to eight .50-calibre machine guns. As the
Thunderbolt had such a high weight capacity it could be used for various types of operations,
including standard air-to-air combat, escorting bombers, delivering bombs itself, and ground
attacks, though it was known for its exceptional performance at high altitudes. The Thunderbolt
was a bit of a tank, with Luftwaffe ace Heinz Bär stating it "could absorb an astounding
amount of lead." Though, another German ace, Kurt Bühligen, said it was "too heavy for
some maneuvers" and claimed he could see it coming from behind and simply outmaneuver
it. More than 15,600 Thunderbolts were produced between 1941 and 1945.
North American Aviation's P-51 Mustang was another fighter which saw use in the Korean
War after World War II, though this craft was first conceived upon the British RAF's
request for a new fighter capable of being mass-produced. When its original engine was
replaced with a Rolls-Royce Merlin, this fighter was capable of competing with Luftwaffe aircraft,
though the Mustang was also highly effective in escort operations and as a fighter-bomber.
It was a solid all-rounder, though its exceptional range and maximum effective altitude distinguished
it most. The Mustang entered the war under the RAF early in 1942; more than 15,000 were
made.
While most of the fighters we've listed were of fairly conventional designs, Lockheed's
P-38 Lightning was anything but, though that did not at all take away from this aircraft's
formidability. Its twin boons and twin-turbocharged engines allowed it to go further than many
other fighters, making it particularly useful for flights over spans of water, and it was
largely considered one of the most streamlined planes ever made. The Lightning was effective
in most aerial combat roles, capable of dogfighting, raining hell on targets down below, escorting
other aircraft over especially long distances, and undertaking long-distance recon operations.
The Lightning was highly successful in the Pacific theatre and China-Burma-India Theatre,
in which America's top-scoring pilot, Rich "Dick" Bong, claimed his ace-hood. Some Luftwaffe
pilots nicknamed the Lightning "fork-tailed devil," while the Japanese deemed it "two
planes, one pilot." The Lightning flew for as long as America was in the war, and between
those years, more than 10,000 were made.
Before we reveal what we believe was the best fighter, we've got to pay our respects to
the sexiest aircraft to grace the skies of the Second World War. We are of course referring
to Vought's V-173 or the "Flying Pancake." As we all know, this craft was designed by
ET while he was on ketamine, and it was pretty much the focal point of every supposed UFO
photo between November 1942, when it was made, and March 1947, when it dumped in the Mariana
Trench to be forgotten by Earthlings and extraterrestrials alike. Just kidding. It was restored and propped
in a museum as a part of their freak show. A whopping one of these aircraft were produced,
and it flew in exactly no combat missions during the war.
Pancakes aside, which of our contenders was the all-round best? Sorry, Supermarine, but
Lockheed's P-38 Lightning takes the cake. It was an incredibly versatile long-range
aircraft (albeit not as effective a dogfighter as some of the other planes in this list),
it was extremely forgiving of its pilots, and it was the only American plane that produced
on a large scale from the beginning of America's involvement in the war to the end of the war.
US test pilot Benjamin Scovill Kelsey said, "[The Lightning] would fly like hell, fight
like a wasp upstairs, and land like a butterfly," and German flying ace Franz Stigler went as
far to say, "One cardinal rule we never forgot was: avoid fighting the P-38 head on. That
was suicide."
But what do you say? Do you disagree that the P-38 Lightning was the all-round best
fighter of World War II? Do you think any of the aircraft we discussed weren't deserving
of a place in our top ten? If so, which fighters would you include on your list? Please let
us know down in the comments, and also be ready for our counterpart video, in which
we'll reveal our top ten bombers.