Top 10 Fighter Planes of All Time

[El Justo]

again, this is not my list.

as w/ the naval list i posted yesterday, this list is the product of a similar program on The Military Channel where there are 5 different variables taken into account. audience polls, aviation architects, and aviation historians apparently all weighed in on the matter.

iirc, the criteria for the list was as follows:
- fear factor
- fire power
- kill ratio
- innovation
- service length

[El Justo]

Spoiler:

F/A 22 Raptor

[El Justo]

Spoiler:

Sea Harrier FA2

[El Justo]

Spoiler:

Sopwith Camel

[El Justo]

Spoiler:

Me 262

[El Justo]

Spoiler:

Supermarine Spitfire

[El Justo]

Spoiler:

Me 109

[El Justo]

Spoiler:

TIE - MiG 15 Fagot & F-86 Sabre

[El Justo]

Spoiler:

McDonnell-Douglas F4 Phantom

[El Justo]

Spoiler:

F-15C

[El Justo]

Spoiler:

North American P-51D

[Adler17]

According to their rules I think the Me 109 has to be the nr. 1 as there were over 30.000 built, the most air victories were achieved by this plane as well, it was feared and was in service for 20 years (1935- 1955). And it was very innovative, too.
Also I doubt the F 22 raptor should be on the list or the sea harrier.
But again we should collect the planes first:
Additionally to the remaining 8 planes, I suggest to add the Fokker E I, D VII, FW 190, Zero, perhaps also MiG 29, Su 27 are candidates.

a) Fokker E I: The first real fighter. It lead to the first Fokker scrouge as it dominated the air in 1915/ 1916.
b) Fokker D VII: The best fighter of ww1, so feared that the allies demanded every single plane in the cease fire agreement.
c) FW 190: Probably the best fighter of ww2. 20.000 planes produced. Outstanding fighter and fighter bomber.
d) Mitsubishi A6M2 and A6M3 Zero: A perfect plane for the dog fight: long range and very agile, high fire power to 2 MG and 2 20 mm cannons, however very vulnerable.
e) MiG 29: In the 80s partly ahead of the western planes
f) Su 27: Also an outstanding Russian plane

The latter three however don`t reach the top, but should be considered.

Adler

[El Justo]

the Fokker DVII most definitely deserves to be on the list. no doubt.

again though, this list is completely subjective. i mean, it seems a tad biased w/ all of the American stuff on the list (not that they weren't good planes or anything but...)

[El Justo]

the Phantom being that high in the list was a surprise to me. i say that only b/c it was discovered not long after its introduction in Vietnam that the complete lack of guns on this beast was a huge error.

this was at a time when many in the US Defense Dept believed that the classic dog fighting days were over and that guided missile technology was going to supplant the classic fighter roles.

these assessments were proved wrong as pilots and crews began mounting their own guns onto the F4s b/c they had no way to defend themselves in close. once they had these guns hooked up, the F4 was up to snuff to conduct the so-called classic dog fights.

[stormbind]

1. Hawker Hurricane (1935)
2. de Havilland Mosquito
3. Blackburn Buccaneer (1958)
4. Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum (1977)
5. etc., etc., etc.

I cannot really be bothered to think so much, but I think the above were all spectacular at the time they were built. The Buccaneer, for example, could fly under the radar band to avoid detection. Things like that.

"There is nothing the British do not have. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops. After the war's over I'm going to buy a British radio set - then at least I'll own something that has always worked." - Hermann Göring (1943)

[El Justo]

the Mosquito is on the Top 10 Bomber list actually...i'll probably post that tomorrow or the next day

[stormbind]

Some varients were bombers, but since it was originally intended as a fighter and was immortalised as a night-fighter, that's where I put it

[Adler17]

Okay as night fighter we have to add the He 219 Uhu (owl).
OTOH the F 4 is quite a good plane, at least in the F 4E and other variants having guns. Otherwise it would be a huge error. The gun is a must for all planes. And several states still use them. Germany still has about 150 F 4F, refitted to launch AIM 120 missiles and AIM 9 L. Although it is planned to ohase out the plane, it will be in use until the next decade. And then the plane is 60 years old (first variant). No bad plane would have such a long service time. So yes, it is justified that it is in the top ten, but IMO it is a bit too high rated.
But again this is subjective.

Adler

[YNCS]

What about the F4U Corsair?

[Lord Chambers]

I figured I'd see the Zero on there somewhere, considering I read so much about it's early dominance in the Pacifc during WW2. Then again, I have about 0 knowledge of planes outside of Red Baron, so I wasn't suprised.