Best Fighter Aircraft...!!

So which is the world`s best fighter aircraft according to you guys & why??

I think the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor seems quite stunning.... add to it the fact that it travels at Mach 2 and can launch missiles at supersonic speed. Also, it can come to a virtual halt in the sky!!

Have a look:

 

Eurofighter Typhoon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurofighter_Typhoon

 

it is no match for the F-22

 

F-22 is too expensive. The F-35 is a good one.

 

I'll go with the P-51 Mustang. Oh sure... the new stuff can outfly it and outgun it, but it's still a work of art, plus the plane that probably contributed more to the successful conclusion of the European stage of WWII than any other escort fighter. Reportedly one of the finest birds to fly per the men that have done so.

You rate 'em your way, I'll rate 'em mine.

Current day P-51 Shown (as noted by the fact that despite the WWII markings it's missing the wing guns).

 

Fighting aircraft?

At his best he could float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Had to be the best ever!!!!!!!



Plus look at the way he is trash talking to that downed foe. I don't care how modern and fast these new jets are, they can't do everything that Ali could and then come up with a hellluva rhyme.

 

The F-4 Cosair has the p-51 beat.

The Corsair served in some air forces until the 1960s, following the longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in U.S. history (1942–1952).[1] [2] Some Japanese pilots regarded it as the most formidable American fighter of World War II. The U.S. Navy counted an 11:1 kill ratio with the F4U Corsair.

MIRAMAR, Calif. (Oct. 4, 2008) An F/A-18 Super Hornet flies alongside a World War II-era F-4U Corsair Bearcat during the Legacy Flight at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Air Show. The annual show is the final event of Fleet Week San Diego.

 

Corsair was another favorite. Basically the best birds ever made IMO were the WWII planes. The Corsair was more Pacific theater while the P-51 ruled the European theater. I'd put the P-38 Lightning in there (saw heavy service in both theaters of operation)... along with other favorites from varying nations which each had their pluses... the Zero (fantastic agility, poorly armored), the ME-109 (poor visibility, great firepower), the Supermarine Spitfire (an early tech marvel and loved by the guys that flew it).

This is probably a separate thread subject than intended... but the great WW2 birds are still fascinating to me. So much technology in so little time in WW2. We started out with half the folks flying bi-planes and ended with jets coming onto the scene.

Pictured: P-38 Lightning

 

The Albatros and the Fokker. Two words ...... "Red Baron".

 

Zero!

source

 

I believe those are T-6 Texans converted to look like Zeros (externally about the same except for the shape of the tail and the T6 was a 2 seater trainer with a longer greenhouse canopy), but that's about as close as you can get. I havent kept up recently, but last I heard there were no Zeros flyable but one skeleton that was being rebuilt pretty much from scratch. [Been a while, it's probably flying by now.] Every so often you hear about another crashed Zero being discovered covered by brush in the Solomans or thereabouts... hopefully they'll get a few of the real thing airborne, it was a great plane, and ahead of its time.

T-6 Texan vs Actual Zero

The "Confederate Air Force" (later renamed The Commemorative Air Force... apparently some people just never got the joke)... an aircraft restoration and flying club that restores and flies vintage WW2 birds, was once located in hangers a few miles from my house before their move to Harlingen. Those guys have some spectacular aircraft (including a few T6 dressed as Zeros), an ME109, Corsairs, Mustangs, P38s, I think a few Hellcats, etc. If they ever have an airshow within driving distance... go. Worth the trip.


ADDED: Looks like the CAF wing in Midland now has a flyable Zero. LINK

 

OK... have revised that post a stackload of times. Found a site that lists all restored Zeros and tells if they are flyable.

Apparently there are a couple. See http://mitsubishi_zero.tripod.com/preserved.htm . Good to see they've tracked a few down.

 

Fly-past performance in the Pakistan Day Joint Services Parade in Islamabad
Two JF-17 Thunders


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_of_the_Pakistan_Air_Force

 

looks good!!!

 

F-14 was a good one. Too bad the US stopped making them.

 

SR-71 Blackbird
Operating from the 60's to the late 80's through the cold war, designed as are strategic reconnaissance aircraft than a fighter the SR-71 Blackbird could reach speeds of Mach 3 and cruise at extreme flying altitude. Ahead of it's time it's still one of the most advanced flying machines in the world today!!





Further reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR-71_Blackbird




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F-35 all the way F-22 is outdated compared to the F-35

 

lol if you dont know...f-22 raptor is the latest in US f-35 is still under testing

 

Su-30 series!

 

It looks like the winner so far, perhaps the leading dogfighter and interceptor aircraft in production today. The combat exercise from Singapore government and Typhoon Meet seems to support this.

A quote from wiki,

It's worth a read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurofighter_Typhoon#Performance






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