The plane that every boy wants to fly is the fighter. The glory, the risk, the speed, it is all
sewn up in the word. In World War 1 they were the Knights of the Sky, jousting across the
heavens, but still govern by a code of honor. Today they are near machine like. A blip on
a radar, a tone lock, the rush of a missile, these define the fighter pilot today, but there is
still danger and the rush of living life on the cutting edge.
The Fokker Dr1 was the plane of the Red Baron. Designed in response to the Sopwith Triplane,
the Dr1 originally suffered from inflight wing failure before going on to being one of
the top planes of the Great War.
The SE5a was considered by many to be better than the Sopwith Camel, but a shortage of
the Hispano-Suiza engines meant the Camel was more prevalent over the trenches. Together with the Camel
the SE.5a achieved aerial superiority for the Allies and guaranteed there would not be another Bloody May.
Pilots in WW1 had to deal with
balky aircraft, the danger of the fabric wings ripping off, and unreliable engines sometimes spewing castor oil into their face, but their
aerial duels are lionized as they danced across the skies in their fabric flying machines.
Between the wars planes continued to evolve.
The Tiger Moth was designed as a training plane to introduce flyers to aviation. It
was a stable aircraft that is still much loved in the civilian community. Many of the planes
were released to the civilian market and used in many roles including crop dusting and barnstorming.
The Boeing P-12 was among the last of the biplane fighters the US bought. It bridged
the gap between the faster stress skin monoplanes and the aircraft left over from WW1. It is
less well known, but nonetheless it shows the evolution of the fighter aircraft and it served its role well.
Much like the P-12 the Dewoitine D.501 was an evolution. The fixed landing gear is reminiscent
of the earlier aircraft, but the monoplane design shows the fighter is beginning to take
on the sleek look that is familiar to so many who dream of fighters.
Not the prettiest fighter, with a barrel like shape, the Buffalo was panned by many air
forces, but found a glorious home with the Finnish air force who used it to great effect
on the Soviet air force. Still the plane shows a further evolution, with retractable landing
gear. It misses the mark on maneuverability and performance for many air forces such as the USAAF and Royal Air Force,
However, a 32:1 kill ratio by the Finnish Airforce, it shows that
even an aircraft that some consider bad, when in the right hands, can be oh so good.
The Ki27 went the opposite direction of the Buffalo. While the Buffalo was armored, but
incapable of a tight turning fight the Ki27 went without the weight of armor and instead
focused on a tight turning fighter. It held superiority over China until the arrival of
newer more powerful aircraft drove it from the skies.
With the P-40 Warhawk we start to see the lines we associate with fighters of WW2
The P-40 was a heavily armed and armored slugger of an aircraft. It couldn't turn with
the Japanese Zero, but it could absorb much more damage and dish out a blistering amount
of fire from its 6 50-cal guns. Lacking a 2-stage turbo it couldn't compete at high
altitude, but Axis flyers gained a healthy respect for it's ability to dish out large
amounts of damage. Luftwaffe pilots quickly learned
never to perform a head-on attack on a P-40 with their Bf109.
The Bf109 was the main line fighter of Germany throughout the war. It was highly capable
in the right hands, but despite the legends around its abilities, it was already a fading
star by the start of the war. The veteran pilots of the Luftwaffe were able to use the
Bf109 to devastating effect despite its issues, but as they were killed or captured their
replacement low hour pilots became easy prey for the Spitfires, Mustangs, Lightnings, Hurricanes, and Thunderbolts
prowling the skies of Europe.
The Airacobra is one of the unique planes of World War 2. The mid mounted engine and
large propeller hub cannon around which it was built made it a devastating ground attack plane, but not a very good
fighter plane. Little used by the US air force, the Airacobra and its big brother the Kingcobra
were used heavily by the Russian air force to stop the tide of German armor rolling across
the western stretches of Russia. Able to go down in the dirt much like an A-10 Thunderbolt.
The P-38 Lightning was one of the most distinctive planes of World War 2. Called the twin tail
devil or "2 planes, one pilot" by Axis pilots the P-38 was not a twisting dogfighter, but
its gun location meant it was a sniper's plane, capable of long range attack with a powerful
punch. The large turbo-supercharged engines let the plane fly higher than many enemies
and the weight of the big plane meant that when it started a diving attack, few enemy
planes could run away. When US pilots started using differential power to produce
tighter turns the P-38 became a true thorn in the side of the enemy.
With its twin engines it became one of the preeminent fighters of the Pacific; allowing it to fly long distances over water with less fear.
German aircraft design often brought us some unique aircraft.
The Dornier D-335 was a large
twin engine plane that suffered from an identity crisis. German leaders couldn't decide if
they wanted a bomber or a fighter and this resulted in a very large aircraft that attempted
to do both roles, neither very well.
The EF-125 was designed to be a fast, high altitude bomber interceptor. It was not completed
before the war was over and when compared to the Me262 it had limited impact on future
aircraft, but it was certainly an interesting design concept and would likely have been
very terrifying to fly, given there were no ejection seats.
The Me262 was the first operational jet fighter. It was faster than anything the allies had,
but was hamstrung by poor engine reliability and a collapsing German industrial complex.
The swept wings drove future plane development as it was shown to be the better design at
high speeds. The speed of the Me262 drove new fighter tactics and its appearance in
the skies of Europe drove military planners of Allied nations to demand their own jet
fighters to counter the menace. The takeoff and landing phases proved to be the most dangerous
for Me262 pilots as Mustangs would wait for that moment to pounce, as the Me262 engines
had a long spool time meaning acceleration was greatly reduced compared to the Mustangs
It meant they were sitting ducks during that slow flight phase.
The F-86 Sabre roared above the Korean Peninsula and danced the dance of death with the venerable
Mig-15. The Sabre was designed as a jet fighter using understanding gained from captured Me262s.
It was fast and agile, though it didn't carry a cannon like the Mig-15 its 6 50-cal guns
were more than capable of bringing down other aircraft.
When aviation historians pair off aircraft you get famous pairings such as Spitfire and Bf109, Hellcat and Zero
and you always see the F-86 and the Mig-15.
Named as one of the best fighters of all time, tied in that location with the Mig-15,
the F-86 certainly isn't perfect, but at that time it was more than capable
It was a flashy fighter and helped to establish air superiority over the Korean Peninsula.
Not to be left out the Swedish air force built a homegrown jet fighter, the Saab Viggen.
The delta wing Saab airframe and the Volvo engine made this plane one of the few Scandinavian
home grown jet aircraft of the cold war. Designed to be operable from highways and other non-conventional
locations, the Viggen was a STOL aircraft that used its front canard design for lift
generation instead of the now standard usage as a way to increase maneuverability.
The Viggen is a Mach 2 high altitude, Mach 1 low altitude strike plane and one of a select
few planes that feature afterburners and thrust reversers.
Famous for one movie more than anything else, the F-14 Tomcat was the primary fighter of
the US Navy until the F/A-18 E/F. Designed around the Phoenix missile system and capable
of tracking and launching missiles against numerous targets up to 100 miles away, the
F-14 was a standoff fighter. It was a "light weight" alternative to the F-111, though it
is still the heaviest carrier fighter ever. Its radar was so potent that enemies easily
detected when it was on and retreated from the F-14. Still famous for Top Gun, the F-14
had limited long term viability and was replaced by the Super Hornet in 2006.
Designed as the next generation replacement for European air forces the Eurofighter Typhoon
is a highly maneuverable digital fighter. Naturally aerodynamically unstable the Typhoon
needs constant computer correction to maintain flight. This instability, however, allows
an extremely maneuverable aircraft. Designed primarily as a fighter it has been modified
to allow ground attack and recon missions. The Typhoon is a front line fighter in the
same vein as the F-22 Raptor, though the philosophies behind the two planes are very different.
leading to slightly different flight envelope performance.
The US is hoping to replace numerous fighters with the next generation semi-stealth F-35 Lightning 2.
Another attempt at a multi-branch fighter, the F-35 seeks to replace many of the fighters
in the US inventory including the F-16, F-15, A-10 and others.
It also seeks to create commonality across multiple branches replacing the Marine Corps Harrier jumpjet and some Navy strike aircraft as well.
While it is suffering from design and manufacturing setbacks the plane still looks the part of the sleek fighterplane.
Fighters have evolved a long way from World War 1 to the Typhoon and the F-35, but one
thing has remained the same. The pilots that climb into these thoroughbreds are flying
on the edge.
Some say that planes are getting too similar. Today it takes the eyes of an aviation geek
to pick out many of the commercial planes out there, but consider that it was only 104
years ago that man took flight. Perhaps in another 104 years
we will be flying something like a Type 9 shuttle
But as long as we keep innovating, we can continue to hope for the next amazing
plane. In the description is a link to a spreadsheet with every plane I have featured and a note
if I like the plane and deem it a keeper or not. I hope you enjoyed this flight through
aviation and this 5 part series.
Until next time, keep your wings level and happy flying.