Best Fighter Of The Century, It has to have been or is operational. No X-planes. Options

[Archangel]

I'll start off. I personally think the F-15E is the best fighter for the jobs it does. Its not a close ranger fighter like the F-16 and it cant turn on a dime like the F-22 but it can carry a buttload of ordinace and is pretty much the fastest fighter thats not a million years old (mig 25). With the exception of the F-22 it has the best thrust to weight ratio of any fighter. It can kill you from 20 miles away. And man what a sweet startup sound, if you have never heard it you need to find a f-15 base immediatly and see if you can get a tour. Its also huge and powerfull looking with alot of wing area, which helps its ability to fly over 60,000ft if needed. Plus going supersonic strait up(with no load of any kind lol) is a cool feature. The plane will definatly let you know its there because it certainly isnt quite, unless its going fast then your dead before you get a chance to identify the plane. Thats about it.

[rjb4000]

The SR-71... Show me one that's ever been shot down?

[Harmattan96]

I am confused...the XXth century or the XXIst?

[Archangel]

The SR-71... Show me one that's ever been shot down?

has to be a fighter, less than 80 feet long with a wingspan less that 70 feet. and starting from WW1

[27driver]

I'm just wondering: What are the criteria for naming this "Best Fighter"?
Number of kills? What about kills for losses? Number of aircraft made? Service life? Ability to handle multiple mission tasks? War Record?

The P-51 Mustang. She had 19 klls for each loss (against the Luftwaffe, that's pretty d*mn good) destroying 4850 aircraft Europe There were 14, 819 made for the US Army. 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.

The F6F Hellcat with 5154 kills by the Navy and Marine Corps in WWII. It had the highest kill/loss ratio of all fighters of all services in the War. She was the plane that won the Pacific away from the Japanese Navy.

The F-86 Sabre. The fighting in the valleys and over the Yalu in Korea...shooting down 810 enemy fighters, 792 of them MiG 15's. In three years of fighting, she scored a 12-1 kill ratio against some of the best pilots the Communist Bloc could produce.

There's still the SPAD, Sopwith Camel, Messerschmitt 109, Focke-Wulfe 190, Mitsubishi Zero, F-4 Phantom II, MiG-21, F-18 Hornet, MiG-3, Fokker Triplane...Let's pull them all out and see what we get.

[Ghostrider]

There should be two winners. One for best tactical fighter and another for best dogfighter. Post and Pre Vietnam maybe?
Anyways, I agree with McChord for the best tactical fighter. The F-15 is in a class of its own and its capabilities are truly amazing.
For me the best dogfighter is a tie between the Me-109 and the P-51. They dueled it out in Europe throughout the war and were amazing machines.

[Archangel]

There should be two winners. One for best tactical fighter and another for best dogfighter. Post and Pre Vietnam maybe?
Anyways, I agree with McChord for the best tactical fighter. The F-15 is in a class of its own and its capabilities are truly amazing.
For me the best dogfighter is a tie between the Me-109 and the P-51. They dueled it out in Europe throughout the war and were amazing machines.

there is no right and wrong answer here, its all opinion, something we all have. yes the p-51 owned everyone. lol

[{DaRk}]

I repeat Harm's question....

20th or 21st Century?!

[brandonel12]

Judging by performance, it is obviously the F-22. This is the most advanced fighter plane of all time(albeit, also the most expensive). It is amazing to me that many of the figures are still classified. The air force just says a 60000+ ft. service ceiliing and Paul Metz, the chief test pilot, says it can "easily go over 1600 mph"(with more thrust than the Blackbird, I don't doubt it might be able to nudge 2000 mph). It also has thrust vectoring and will out-maneuver any plane out there. Oh yeah, and don't forget stealth.

[Ghostrider]

I wonder if the best fighter we have or ever had is top secret.

[karlhurst_380]

IMO, It's the Spitfire, first piston to break the 300MPH barrier, and generally a ledgend.

[Ranger]

I agree with Karl. The Spitfire changed history in a relatively short period of time. If the Brits had lost the Battle of Britain history would have been different, I think. God bless the people who designed, built, maintained and flew that wonderful little airplane.

[AName]

I have to put my money of the F-86. A good record against MiG's for it's time was no easy task.

[27driver]

Didn't the Hawker Hurricane shoot down a majority of the planes claimed by the RAF (1,593 out of 2,739 total claimed) in the Battle of Britain? I mean, she was the backbone of the RAF during the battle of France and the Battle of Britain. The first allied ace flew a Hurricane.

Not to impugn the fine and glorious name of the Spitfire, which I believe IS one of the best fighters ever, but let's not forget her older sister. I've a couple of funny stories of the hurricane from one of my aunts, who as a girl, was sent to Dover before the blitz. I've always thought that men who went to fight Germans armed with a fighter made partly of linen had some real bal-...uh...guts.

[{DaRk}]

Fw-190 was actually a better plane than the Spitfire, it came too late and in too little numbers to actually affect the course of the war.

[Bruno]

That´s hard to choose, but among the WW2 fighters I would stick to the Tempest, Spitfire or P-47. I think the war propaganda placed the P-51 on a place it doesn´t belong, it really helped since it could fly over Germany, but that´s all.

S!

[bluebird121]

I do love the Spitfire..One of my favourite planes.. and it was my mums too as she was in the ack ack during the war..and she loved to see them flying over London..I have them in my Flight combat games.. and they are the planes I choose all the time although I like the Hawker Hurricane too though..

[Sapper]

That´s hard to choose, but among the WW2 fighters I would stick to the Tempest, Spitfire or P-47. I think the war propaganda placed the P-51 on a place it doesn´t belong, it really helped since it could fly over Germany, but that´s all.

S!

You make it sound like flying to Germany was a normal occurance before the P-51. For the bombers, maybe. When the Mustang was re-introduced with the Rolls-Royce engine, it completly revolutionized the bombing campaign over Germany. Now, the B-17's had an escort who could not only fly in with them, they could also make the trip home as well. To say the P-51 has been placed on a pedistal it dosen't belong, is pure rubbish, sir.

To pick a single fighter is far too hard for me.

Pre modern era: P-51 Mustang
Modern era: F-15 Eagle

[Bruno]

You make it sound like flying to Germany was a normal occurance before the P-51. For the bombers, maybe. When the Mustang was re-introduced with the Rolls-Royce engine, it completly revolutionized the bombing campaign over Germany. Now, the B-17's had an escort who could not only fly in with them, they could also make the trip home as well. To say the P-51 has been placed on a pedistal it dosen't belong, is pure rubbish, sir.

To pick a single fighter is far too hard for me.

Pre modern era: P-51 Mustang
Modern era: F-15 Eagle

My point is the P-51 did a great job, but if you stop and compare it to the other fighters you´ll see it was not that good.

S!

[Tpattyii]

You ask how many SR-71's have been shot down? I ask you how many airplanes the SR-71 has shot down? Or, how many bombs has it dropped? It may win the most fuel burned in take off category...but I don't think its much of a fighter.