The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was a long-range single-seat fighter aircraft that entered service with Allied air forces in the middle years of World War II serving as a bomber escort in raids over Germany.
The Mustang was a fast, well-made, and highly durable aircraft; it was also very economical to produce.
The P-51s first flight took place 26th October 1940. It was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a two-stage two-speed supercharged 12-cylinder Packard-built version of the legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) Browning M2/AN machine guns, a version of the Browning adapted for use in combat aircraft.
The first production contract was awarded by the British for 320 NA-73 fighters, named Mustang I by the British and designated the XP-51 by the US Air Force.
The Mustang I made its debut in combat on 10 May 1942 for the British RAF. With its long range and excellent low-level performance, it was employed for tactical reconnaissance and ground-attack duties over the English Channel.
The original aircraft had limitations when flying over 15,000 ft and did not become a valued fighter until modifications were made.
To enhance altitude capabilities, the British tested the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine in the P-51 airframe.
Four airframes were adapted in England to take the Merlin engine. These four planes known as Mustang Xs had deep intakes below the engine for carburetor air. The results of the British tests were passed on to North American.
At the same time on the other side of the Atlantic, North American had undertaken a similar conversion project and was building two Packard Merlin-powered Mustangs.
These improvements increase speed by 51 mph. The newly fitted Packard-built Merlin V-1650-7 was capable of delivering 1,695 hp which provided a speed of 437 mph at 25,000 feet.
The airframes were strengthened to accommodate the extra power, the ventral radiator was deepened, and the carburetor intake was moved from above the nose to below, to accommodate the Merlin updraft induction system.
The P-51 became one of the aviation world’s elite. The total number of 14,819 Mustangs of all types were built for the Army. American Mustangs destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in Europe to make them the highest scoring US fighter in the theater.
They were used as dive-bombers, bomber escorts, ground-attackers, interceptors, for photo-recon missions, trainers, transports (with a jump-seat), and after the war, high performance racers.
Rank 2 – Supermarine Spitfire Year 1938
The Supermarine Spitfire was a British single-seat fighter aircraft, used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries during the Second World War, and into the 1950s. The extremely adaptable deign of the Spitfire led to 24 marks of aircraft and many sub-variants within the marks.The Spitfire was originally designed by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at the Supermarine Aviation Works, a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrongs. He continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith became chief designer.
R. J. Mitchell’s 1931 design to meet Air Ministry specification F7/30 for a new and modern fighter capable of 250 mph, the Supermarine Type 224, resulted in an open-cockpit monoplane with bulky gull-wings and a large fixed, spatted undercarriage powered by the 600 horsepower evaporative-cooled Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine.
Based on Reginald Mitchell’s aesthetically pleasing F.7/30 design, the Spitfire was a complex design for its day, with a light alloy monocoque fuselage and a single spar wing, with stressed-skin covering and fabric-covered control surfaces.
The first prototypes employed a DeHavilland two-blade wooden fixed-pitch propeller. After initial testing, this was replaced by a DeHavilland three-blade, two position propeller, and later in 1940, a DeHavilland three-blade constant-speed propeller was substituted.
Production Spitfires had a fixed tail wheel, and triple ejector exhaust manifolds. The PV.12 engine which became the X80 HP Rolls-Royce Merlin II and later the Merlin III engine were installed.
Standard armament in what was known as the “A wing” was eight 0.303-in. Browning machine-guns with 300 rounds of ammunition. The speed of the Spitfire I was marginally higher than that of its principal opponent the Luftwaffe’s Messerschmitt Bf 109E, and it was infinitely more maneuverable than the German fighter, although the Bf 109E could out climb and out dive the British fighter, and its shell-firing cannon had a longer range than the Spitfire’s machine-guns.
In an effort to develop the Spitfire further, two principal modifications were made, these included the introduction of a pressurized cabin and the use of an engine suitably rated for higher altitude. These changes were incorporated in the Spitfire Mark IV.
Deliveries of production Spitfire I’s began in June 1938; just over two years after ‘Mutt’ summers flew the prototype at Southampton on the 5th of March, 1936.
In the two years preceding production, Supermarine laid out their Wollaston factory for large-scale production, and organized one of the largest subcontract schemes ever envisioned in Britain.
Its elliptical wing had a thin cross-section, allowing a higher top speed than the Hawker Hurricane and many other contemporary designs.
Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service throughout the whole of the Second World War, continuing to serve as a front line fighter for several air forces well into the 1950s.
The Spitfire will always be compared to its main adversary, the Messerschmitt Bf 109: both were among the finest fighters of their day and followed similar design philosophies of marrying a small, streamlined airframe to a powerful liquid-cooled inline engine.
Specifications
- Engine 1 Rolls Royce Merlin 45
- Range 580 km
- Weight 3,300 kg
- Top speed 520 km/h
- Dimensions Length: 10.77 m, Height: 3.90 m, Wingspan, 11.23 m
Rank 3 – MIG 21 (F-13 / Fishbed C) Year 1959
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (“Fishbed”) is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed and built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union.
The MiG-21F, a continuation of Soviet jet fighters MiG-15, 17 and 19, is a short-range day fighter-interceptor and the first major production version of the popular MiG-21 series. It is one of around 15 versions of this aircraft that have served in the air arms of many nations around the world.
The E-5 prototype of the MiG-21 was first flown in 1955 and made its first public appearance during the Soviet Aviation Day display at Moscow’s Tushino Airport in June 1956.
When the MiG-21 was first introduced, it exhibited several flaws. Its early version air-to-air missiles, the Vympel K-13 (AA-2 ‘Atoll’), were not successful in combat, and its gyro gunsight was easily thrown off in high-speed maneuvers. Once these problems had been revised, the MiG-21 became a formidable fighter aircraft.
Employing a delta configuration, the MiG-21 was the first successful Soviet aircraft combining fighter and interceptor characteristics in a single aircraft. It was a lightweight fighter, achieving Mach 2 with a relatively low-powered afterburning turbojet.
The fighter holds a number of aviation records, including the most produced supersonic jet aircraft in aviation history, the most produced combat aircraft since World War II, and the longest production run of a combat aircraft.
Its Mach 2 capability exceeds the top speed of many later modern fighter types. It has been estimated that more than 10,000 MiG-21s were built. More than 50 countries of the world have flown the MiG-21.
Specifications
- Engine 1 Tumanski R-11F-300 jet
- Range 1,640 km
- Weight 4,600 kg
- Top speed 2,093 km/h
- Dimensions Length: 15.77 m, Height: 7.16 m, Wingspan, 4.80 m
Rank 4 – F 18 Super Hornet Year 1983
The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a supersonic carrier-capable fighter/attack aircraft. It is a larger and more advanced derivative of the F/A-18C/D Hornet.The Super Hornet was first ordered by the U.S. Navy in 1992. The Super Hornet first flew on November 29, 1995 and initial production on the F/A-18E/F began in 1995. Flight testing started in 1996 with the F/A-18E/F’s first carrier landing in 1997. It later entered service with the United States Navy in 1999, replacing the F-14 Tomcat.
Sharing some similarities as previous Hornet variants, the Navy retained the F/A-18 designation to help sell the program to Congress as a low-risk “derivative”; however the Super Hornet is largely a new aircraft.
Design features that were kept included the avionics, ejection seats, radar, armament, mission computer software, and maintenance/operating procedures.
The F/A-18E/F aircraft are 4.2 feet longer than earlier Hornets, have a 25% larger wing area, and carry 33% more internal fuel which will effectively increase mission range by 41% and endurance by 50%.
The Super Hornet also incorporates two additional weapon stations. This allows for increased payload flexibility by mixing and matching air-to-air and/or air-to-ground ordnance. The aircraft can also carry the complete complement of “smart” weapons, including the newest joint weapons such as JDAM and JSOW.
The Super Hornet can carry approximately 17,750 pounds (8,032 kg) of external load on eleven stations. It has an all-weather air-to-air radar and a control system for accurate delivery of conventional or guided weapons.
There are two wing tip stations, four inboard wing stations for fuel tanks or air-to-ground weapons, two nacelle fuselage stations for Sparrows or sensor pods, and one centerline station for fuel or air-to-ground weapons. An internal 20 mm M61A1 Vulcan cannon is mounted in the nose.
Survivability is an important feature of the Super Hornet design. The US Navy took a “balanced approach” to survivability in its design. This means that it does not rely on low-observable technology, such as stealth systems, to the exclusion of other survivability factors. Instead, its design incorporates a combination of stealth, advanced electronic-warfare capabilities, reduced ballistic vulnerability, the use of standoff weapons, and innovative tactics that cumulatively and collectively enhance the safety of the fighter and crew.
The Super Hornet, unlike the previous Hornet, can be equipped with an aerial refueling system (ARS) or “buddy store” for the refueling of other aircraft.
In 2003, the Navy identified a flaw in the Super Hornet’s under wing pylons, which could reduce the aircraft’s service life unless repaired. The problem has been corrected on new airplanes and existing airplanes will be repaired starting in 2009.
The versatility of the F-18 Super Hornet has led the aircraft to be used in such missions including; day/night strikes with precision-guided weapons, anti-air warfare, fighter escort, close air support, suppression of enemy air defense, maritime strikes, reconnaissance, forward air control (Airborne) (FAC(A)), air-to-air refueling as well as leaflet drops with payload delivery unit 5 (PDU-5) containers.
Specifications
- Engines 2 F414-GE-400 turbofans
- Range 2,453 km
- Weight 29,932 kg (max.)
- Top speed 2,145 km/h
- Dimensions Length: 18.5 m, Height: 4.87 m, Wingspan, 13.68 m
Rank 5 – Messerschmidt ME109 Year 1937
Messerschmidt ME109 was the official Reichsluftfahrtministerium (German Aviation Ministry, RLM) designation, the design was submitted by the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke company, and was used exclusively in all official German documents dealing with this aircraft family.The company was renamed Messerschmitt AG in July 1938 when Erhard Milch finally allowed Willy Messerschmitt to acquire the company; from then on, all Messerschmitt aircraft were to carry the “Me” designation except those already assigned a Bf prefix.
Perhaps not the best performer of the war, even its pilots would admit that it was not the safest or most comfortable plane to fly. But its combat record, from beginning to end, was monumental, and it was the weapon of choice for the greatest fighter pilots in history.
A total of 33,984 units were produced up to April 1945. Accounting for 47% of all German aircraft production, as well as 57% of all German fighter types produced.
The ME 109 became the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter force in World War II, although it began to be partially replaced by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 from 1941.
The ME/Bf 109 was the most successful fighter of World War II, shooting down more aircraft than any of its contemporaries. It was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of World War II: Erich Hartmann, the top scoring fighter pilot of all time with 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories, and Günther Rall with 275 victories. All of them flew with Jagdgeschwader 52, a unit which exclusively flew the Bf 109 and was credited with over 10,000 victories.
Originally conceived as an interceptor, it was later developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter bomber, day-, night- all-weather fighter, bomber destroyer, ground-attack aircraft, and as reconnaissance aircraft.
The ME 109, including such features as an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear, was one of the first true modern fighters of the era.
Although the Bf 109 had weaknesses, including short range and challenging take off and landing characteristics, it stayed competitive with Allied fighter aircraft until the end of the war.
Specifications
- Engine Daimler-Benz DB 605A
- Range 550 km
- Weight 2,600 kg
- Top speed 635 km/h
- Dimensions Length: 8.94 m, Height: 2.59 m, Wingspan, 9.92 m
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