Best bomber of WWII. What bomber do you think was the best?

Personally I think it was the B-29. The most ground breaking, high tech, revolutionary bomber that was made into a sizeable force in WWII. The only one that was capable of dropping the atomic bombs. So good it was that the Soviets made "their own" version; the Tu-4. An exact, bolt for bolt copy of the B-29.

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It depends on the mission. The B-25 was a very good multi-functional support aircraft. The B-17 could take a lot of punishment, but the B-24 had the paylod and range. The Lanc was very good in many aspects. I am a big fan of the A-26/B-26, but like the B-29, it was a late comer.

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Different planes for different purposes. Perhaps we should refine into best light, medium and heavy bomber.

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mmm, the B-29.......it is not a beautiful plane, i think the bubble nose, just turns some people off, but it is still beautiful in its own ways...the pressurized cabin....revolutional...
yes, but light bomber: dive bomber, etc. could be classified as fighter/bomber
medium bomber: A-26/B-26, B-24, "rigid" mainly a bomber, but more nimble than a heavy bomber
heavy bomber: B-17, B-29 large payload, long distance travel, innovations such as pressurized cabin at end of ww2

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Lancaster and Tallboy/Grand Slam bomb...excellent!

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like Za said, you can't compare a stuka with a B-17

also, in less than 10 years, the airforces went from middle ages to science fiction

some of the planes which were in service during all the war, they often were marvels in 1939 and death traps in 1945

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I have to disagree the B-29 is a beautifully sculpted, sleek, smooth flying aircraft. Its largely underrated because it was a late comer to the war but, it did its job with devastating effect on the Japanese homeland.

My Favorite Heavy Bomber: Boeing B-29 "Superfortress"



My Favorite Medium Bomber: North American B-25 "Mitchell"



My Favorite Light Bomber: Douglas A-20 "Havoc"



Regards,
MARNE

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The A-20 is a beauty, and was very versatile

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Early war, European theater, my favorite heavy was the B17. B-25 and A-20 would also be on my list.

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The B-17 was the bomber of all bombers

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Well I am going for my personal favourite one, The Lancaster.

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Regards, Richard

Always a vexed question, and I'll go for the Lancaster as 'best' of WWII. The B-17 design ultimately couldn't be modified in quite the same way as the Lancaster ; the B-17 couldn't have sunk the Tirpitz, breached the Dams, or destroyed the Bielefeld/Arnsberg viaducts. The light bomb-load always frustrated the 8th AF.

Interesting about the B-29 ; easy to call it the 'best', but how would it have fared in combat in the highly dangerous skies over Germany ? There is a big question mark over reliability ( it suffered many engine fires ) and its' very complexity may have made it vulnerable to damage. How would it have stood up to 3-cm strikes, for instance, or radar-predicted 120-mm flak ? How well did the remote-control turrets work? And how easy would it have been for ground crews to 'turn round' damaged B-29s on a freezing cold East Anglian hardstand ?

But if you want 'personal favourite', then I'll sit on the fence and give equal credit to Lancaster and B-17. No disrespect to the B-24 and Halifax, but the other two have become icons and deservedly so, I think. They both did what they had to do very well, and kept on doing it. Both could absorb fantastic ( in the case of the B-17, truly incredible ) amounts of combat damage and bring their grateful crews back home.

Both are Flying Legends, indeed.

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I will cast my vote for the Ju-88. It was versatile, fast, well liked by the crews, was in the war early and stayed to the end, produced in large numbers and did lots of damage to the allies. It also was attractive and served on all fronts.

I don't know how well the B-29 would have worked in England but after the war there were B-50's in the RAF called Washingtons. I have read very little on their service history though.

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I was looking for more information on the B-50 and found this site.

http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafwaddington/b29.html

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The B-50 was originally designated the B-29D but, post war the USAF redesignated it B-50 for political reasons related to getting Congressional funding for production.

Since the B-50 had only 25% of the content of a B-29, it is not hard to claim that it was a different aircraft. It is not much different than the Ta-152/FW-190 situation.

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Maybe not the best, but probably one of the most succesfull design of WWII, the Pe-2 doesn't fit too well in the rigid medium bomber light bomber etc classification, it was a weapon of its own class.

With over 10.000 built, it has been a key aircraft in the VVS.

+ she's a beauty [img]graemlins/rachel.gif[/img]

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What is the open hatch on top of the center fuselage ? There is already a rear turret in the back of the cockpit.

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The 3rd crew member was the radio operator and had to man the 2 waist guns and the bottom hatch gun, when needed (navigator disabled) he could use the top hatch for observation or even to gun (the MGs were easy and fast to move from a point to another).

In this last case, I believe he was more likely to fend off attacks than cause real damage, because I'm not sure this hatch was fitted with an attach for the MG.

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Mosquito. The timber terror. Light, fast, deadly.

The Mosquito was used as photo-recon, bomber, fighter-bomber, night-fighter, intruder, trainer, pathfinder, target marking, torpedo-bomber, U-boat killer, day ranger, mine layer, and target tug. They could be fitted with varying bomb loads, including the Wallis spinning bomb, up to the 4,000lb (1814kg) bomb or carry rocket projectiles for anti-tank and anti-transport use. The Mosquito served in all theatres of the war and flew from all types of airfields. Some were Carrier based and a Mosquito (LR359) was the first twin engined aircraft to land on a Carrier.

In all 7,781 Mosquito aircraft were built in 43 variants. They were produced in the UK, Australia and Canada.

It was the fastest aircraft in Bomber Command until May 1951.

Shortly after he was politically and personally humiliated by the Mosquito bombing raid on Berlin in January 1943 Reichmarschall Herman Goering had this to say about the aircraft...

"In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy.

The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of 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."

One of the best was the A-26/B-26. Late to the war, it still served in Korea and Vietnam, not to mention Africa. Besides the bomb bay, it could carry a large load under hard points under the wings. It also had great firepower with 14 .50 cals in front.

Last weekend, it was a flash back in time. Imagine several guys shooting things up, when an A-26C goes by on low approach. Suddenly, there is a trail of smoke, and loud noises as the plane lost an engine. A warbird fancier from a nearby community was flying around our airport doing VFR runs when the port engine went.

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I like both the Bristol Beaufighter and the P-61 "Black Widow".
They had alot of guns, and they were all pointed one way.
When it comes to firepower...they got Game.
I know, so did the Me 262.
I agree with the A-26 (not Martins Marauder, B-26)(Douglass) as well,
and the Termites Dream (Mossie)(y)?

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