Favorite WWII German Aircraft Poll

Which of these is your favorite German WWII aircraft?

  • Focke-Wulf Fw 190

    Votes: 19 33.3%

  • Messerschmitt Bf 109

    Votes: 20 35.1%

  • Junkers Ju 87

    Votes: 3 5.3%

  • Heinkel He 112

    Votes: 1 1.8%

  • Messerschmitt Me 262

    Votes: 14 24.6%
  • Total voters
    57
MickYoumans

MickYoumans

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What is your favorite German aircraft from WWII? I realize that technically the Junkers was a dive bomber but I added it to the list since it is similar to the other fighters listed.
 
Ta152 - built to counter the threat of possible B29s over Germany. It was the fastest piston-engined fighter of the war.
 
DavidWhite said:
Ta152 - built to counter the threat of possible B29s over Germany. It was the fastest piston-engined fighter of the war.
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Actually, the Dornier Do 335 is thought to be slightly faster and the fastest piston fighter of WWII as well as the fastest piston aircraft in serial production. However I suspect it would be a neck and neck race with these two planes and it would be highly dependent on what altitude the race was held.

Just reference for those that might not know these planes-

Ta 152

focke-wulf-ta152_3.jpg


Do 335

908c2018cc2ada8aec4b471c8cfdfe4e.jpg

 
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Dav8or said:
Actually, the Dornier Do 335 is thought to be slightly faster and the fastest piston fighter of WWII as well as the fastest piston aircraft in serial production. However I suspect it would be a neck and neck race with these two planes and it would be highly dependent on what altitude the race was held.

Just reference for those that might not know these planes-

Ta 152

focke-wulf-ta152_3.jpg


Do 335

908c2018cc2ada8aec4b471c8cfdfe4e.jpg

Click to expand...

The Do335 most likely never saw combat. There is one report of a group of tempests encountering an unknown German aircraft down low that just left them in the dust - but no one can prove it was a do335. It certainly never scored any aerial victories.
 
DavidWhite said:
If we are going to count prototypes that never saw combat then this was actually the fastest piston fighter of the war - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_XP-72
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Well, the Do 335 was beyond prototype. It was in series production and at least one squadron formed. They just came so late in the game and were over shadowed by the Me 262. You are correct that they saw no combat that I know of. There operational history is very short and the pilots with the highest hours in type are likely allied, not German! :D
 
The Stuka.... The fact you have to dive to drop the payload was crazy !!

Some of their heavy bombers hit the shipyard in Belfast and my father always recalled the stories of getting into bomb shelters when they held the sirens.

Belfast was was just about max range for them to safety return home, thus they did not hang about over the city for too long.

My old flight instructor used to be co-pilot on lancasters, including blowing the s**t out of Dresden. The stories he would tell....
 
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Scrabo said:
The Stuka.... The fact you have to dive to drop the payload was crazy !!
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I almost chose the Stuka as well. It is one of the most iconic aircraft of WWII. The trade mark dive, the sirens... they even look sinister. The first real attempt at a smart bomb. Pretty effective as well... as long as there aren't any fighters around. The fact that they remained in service until the end is a testament to their usefulness despite all the advances in technology.

I really like Stukas and always wish I could see one fly, but alas, only in model form now. I also wish one of the aviation painters would make a Stuka painting worth a damn, but thus far, nothing. A lot of crazy stories from the surviving crews. Some good reading.
 
I'm kind of partial to the FW190-D9. Father of my childhood sweetheart flew them in russia. .... they were fast and sporty too.

Frank
 
Wasn't Brian Williams shot down in a WWII German fighter?
 
overdrive148 said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Brown_and_Franz_Stigler_incident

Not all of them were bad. ;)
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I read the book "Higher Call" which is the Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown story that your link tells about. It is an awesome book and I highly recommend it to everyone. It does change your perspective of what many of the non-NAZI Germans were up against in WWII. 60% of the Germans were not NAZIs and were against what the NAZIs were doing.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=higher+call
 
Scrabo said:
My old flight instructor used to be co-pilot on lancasters, including blowing the s**t out of Dresden. The stories he would tell....
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That's interesting. Lancasters, as was typical of British bombers of WWII, did not carry a co-pilot.
 
Scrabo said:
My old flight instructor used to be co-pilot on lancasters, including blowing the s**t out of Dresden. The stories he would tell....
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A friend of ours is finally opening up about her life as a teen in Germany during the war. She was in Dresden during the unpleasantness. She can't talk about that part, mostly about her family just trying to survive. Really eye opening hearing first-hand about what happened to the other side.

+1 on the Ta 152
 
I'd love to take a Fieseler Storch into Big Creek or Mackay Bar. Heck, with those huge flaps and leading-edge slats it even looks like it would be a snap at Mile Hi. And the Bf.108 looks like it would handle like a four-seat fighter.

IMG_1133.jpg



The Klemm Kl.35 basic trainer looks like it would be a blast, too. :) Note the Corsair-like inverted gull-wing configuration.

IMG_1014.jpg
 
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ME-262 You have to love a jet with a recoil starter like your lawnmower, even if it only started the pony engine.
 
I chose the 109 due to it's stellar service from 1936 through 1945. That basic airframe was stretched amazingly far during its lifespan to achieve ever-superior performance. The latest versions were still top-notch aircraft in 1945, but there weren't enough competent pilots to do any Luftwaffe plane justice.

Too bad the Junkers Ju-88 wasn't on the list. It was widely-utilized and offered great speed, performance and versatility throughout the war.
 
BiffJ said:
I'm kind of partial to the FW190-D9. Father of my childhood sweetheart flew them in russia. .... they were fast and sporty too.

Frank
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That was a hell of a fighter, and bomber interceptor. One of my favorites also. I like the ME109, FW190, and ME262. The Germans made some neat stuff.
 
AdamZ said:
Heros for sure, but they were to few and far between.
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The Nazi regime was brutally and ruthlessly efficient in discovering and weeding out any form of dissent, or for that matter, anything other than enthusiastic support from its citizens. Suggested reading: The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich, by William Shirer; and Where Ghosts Walked -- Munich's Road to The Third Reich, by David Clay Large.

In the plaza outside the University of Munich it appears that someone had been littering, with leaflets scattered randomly about the pavement.

SAM_1409.JPG


It is actually a permanent memorial to The White Rose movement of 1942-43, and the seven leaders -- university students and their philosophy professor -- who were executed for distributing anti-Nazi messages and leaflets.

SAM_1410.JPG


"For if Men are to be precluded from offering their Sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of Speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter." -- George Washington
 
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Any one of them as long as it was going down in a flaming heap!!! :yesnod: Lost an uncle to a strafing run 2 months before the war ended...
 
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FlySince9 said:
Any one of them as long as it was going down in a flaming heap!!! :yesnod: Lost an uncle to a strafing run 2 months before the war ended...
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How many Germans were lost in strafing runs, but they were the bad guys, right?
 
Out of the choices I picked the FW-190 because it's a pretty plane and I like round engines. However if I could have any of them it would be the HO-229 and replace the bomb load with more fuel and use modern, more efficient, engines.
 
109 hands down. In the mid 60s I bought a Champ from a military flying club at Rota Spain. I kept it at Tablada Air Base at Sevliia as a guest of the Spanish flying club. The Spaniards were flying their version of the 109, HE-111 and the JU-52. I begged and pleaded for a ride in their 2 place 109 but was told too dangerous.:sad: Around 66 or 67 they were getting rid of their old hardware and I was offered 2 Buchons (their 109) crated up in good condition for 25K. At that time it might as well have been a million.
Then in late 67 I was appointed a Warrant Officer sold my Champ for a dollar. It is still flying in England. I put my old N number on my present Champ N2426E.
I did manage to make a few jumps from JU-52s and still have a souvenir altimeter from a 109.

Paul
Salome, AZ
 
The FW 190 was sporty looking indeed. It was my favorite as it had a wide gear, much better than the 109, and a radial which was much more apt to bring you back home than a liquid cooled engine like the P51. I saw a FW 190 some time ago being rebuilt at kisimmee florida. It was very impressive up close as well.
 
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