most important military aircraft ?

[colyork]

Ok Guys here s a question , what do you feel is the most important military aircraft of all time.

I think that it would be the P51 Mustang,Made it possiabel for the bombers to have protection all the way to Germany. Could have shortened the war I think.

 

[rmgill]

Hurricane and Spitfire. Fought off the Hun Bombers so England would still be there for the invasion force to launch from and for the Bombers (and P51s) to sortie from.

Besides, the Spitfire had the Rolls Royce Merlin first, the Mustang was a mediocre aircraft with the Allison originally designed for it.

 

[ajg6989]

Dc-3/C-47. It carried everything to everywhere. Einshower said without it D day would not have been possible. it really made it possible for the airlines to grow past government mail contacts to actually making money flying people.

 

[clinto]

Dc-3/C-47.

 

[M35A2]

Dc-3/C-47. It carried everything to everywhere. Einshower said without it D day would not have been possible. it really made it possible for the airlines to grow past government mail contacts to actually making money flying people.

I'm not being biased here guys. But I have to say that the Hurricane 1st and Spitfire 2nd are the most important aircraft in the whole of world history. Not many people realise that the Hurricane was a lot more common than it's more famous brother. It was a lot more numerous and had more kills to its name.

You have to remember, that the Battle of Britain was fought between the 10th of July and 31st of October 1940. England was on her own in 1940, fighting the onslaught of the Nazi war machine. Hitler had captured virtually the whole of Europe, and had vastly superior airpower in terms of sheer numbers.

If it wasn’t for those pilots and the aircraft we had in those dark few months, we would have lost the air war, and consequently would have been invaded. This would have changed the course of history forever. The aircraft came just at the right time, and had the war started a few years earlier, I think it would have been a totally different story.

I have posted some very interesting links on here for you to look at. The first is the RAF war diaries of the Battle of Britain. This gives a day by day account of losses, kills etc, etc.

The second is of the official RAF Memorial Flight website, and the third is a website from the RAF base where the flight is stationed. I hope you enjoy them?



(This is a must see link, the day by day battle diaries from the RAF)
http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/bobhome.html

http://www.deltaweb.co.uk/bbmf/index.html

http://www.airmuseum.ca/bbmflanc.html

 

[cbvet]

Herrcules C 130!

 

[Knucklehead]

The Douglas AD/ A 1 Skyraider!!!!!!!!!!!! A single engine attack plane that could carry more payload than a B-17, had great endurance, fought in 2 wars and even killed a few Migs. Many downed pilots in Viet Nam were rescued with the Skyraiders help.Nicknamed the Spad in SEA.

 

[colyork]

all great planes,and you could add more to the list I'm sure. maybe the thread should have been about all the great military aircraft. Don't forget The WW1 era lot of pioneering there.

 

[rmgill]

But the Hurricane/Spitfire combo are pivotal. Hurricanes for their ease of construction (Plywood and such) and the Spitfires for the extra finesse needed for dealing with the faster bf109-E and -Fs. Again, no victory of Britain in the Battle of Britain and no Overlord.

 

[red devils dude]

F6F Hellcat
It fought in all theaters from Japan to germany and algers had the highest kill ratio of any WWII fighter.

 

[ajg6989]

how about this there are only 3 aircraft that I know of that after 50 years are still flying and in there orginal role for governments. the b-52, the c-47, and the c-130

 

[Katch1]

I don't think there can be a #1, they all played pivotal roles at certain times. If I had to pick one it would have to be the spitfire/hurricane combo, and I couldn't pick form either of these two as the sole #1

 

[Elwenil]

I guess you could take "important" a lot of different ways. I like WWII aircraft but to me, everytime I think of military aircraft I think of the F-14 Tomcat. Carrier-based, able to do just about anything you could ask a jet to do and it definately put dogfighting back on the map in the modern era.

 

[Boatcarpenter]

How about the plane that got the guns when somebody said" I've got a cool idea, lets mount some guns on an airplane" Changed warfare forever.

 

[M35A2]

Here is a UK based Aircraft for all you guys. It's the B-17. This one is the only flying example in the UK. It's a good website, with lots of info about how they keep it flying. Also has show dates to.

http://sallyb.dcgservices.com/index.php

 

[Elwenil]

Another one of note in the more modern era is the Huey. It's use in Nam with the Air Cav is on par with a revolution in military thinking and tactics.

 

[colyork]

choppers are one of the most important inventions for military aircraft and has changed the way wars are fought let alone the medical evac and such. And it is also a WWII invention.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

As a Aviation nut and worker/owner. I have thought about this a lot!! So I group mine into catagorys.

Of all time:
The C-47/DC-3. D-Day, berlin airlift, China-Burma, Korea, Vietnam.......she has done it all!

Battle of Brittan..............Mk.1 Hawker Hurricane, though not as "pretty" as the spit, the hurry was in greater numbers.

Pacific....................F4U-1 Corsair by Chance Vought or a FG.......by Good Year.........."whistling Death" or Bent wing black bird...........soldiered on to korea, just plane pretty!!!
Europe...........some say the Mustang, but I would need to go with a bomber on this one and say the B-17. What else is needed to say, its built by Boeing!!

Korea................North American F-86 sabre jet,,,,,the dawn of the jet age!!!

Vietnam...........I am tied between the C-130 and the UH-1..............both equally valuable!!!

Best Trainer................Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3. Only 816 built in 1940, by the navy, its the only mfg. airplane where the engine and the airframe were built at the same facility. The last Biplane to serve with the US military...........the last being retired in 1959 from NAS Annapolis..............(this has been a plug for the N3N, out of 816, about 100 exist and about 55 still fly. We have one of these!!!!!

 

[jh1990]

Another one of note in the more modern era is the Huey. It's use in Nam with the Air Cav is on par with a revolution in military thinking and tactics.

 

[Desert Deuce]

The KC-135. Based on an evolutionary platform, and I believe it's been in the inventory for 50 years as well.