Now well we have all seen our share of the "Best" and "Favorite" or "Worse" type of threads LOL. How is this for a change? Which aircraft do you think have
achieved a popular reputation that far exceeded in reality their actual performance or capability or effect on the war? Aircraft that were thought to be the " Be all" of their class?

__________________
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I'm the "Confederate with a pipe"!! LOL

One for the early war period was the Stuka. This was the "poor man's bomber." Its performance and results were nowhere near as devastating and effective as made out to be. Its vulnerability was tremendous.

The Japanese Zero. No self sealing fuel tanks, no armor protection. It was a rat trap. Only successful if you attack your opponent by surprise or all you can do is out turn and run.

As for the Stuka, I disagree. It had the same deficiencies as all other 'dive' bombers but it did well for its role. I read somewhere that when the US evaluated the Stuka, they were surprised at how steep and accurate it was. All dive bombers were slow and deficient in defense weaponry. I do respect your opinion of dive bombers as a whole.

__________________

American by birth, TEXAN by the grace of GOD!

Both are good choices IMO. The JU-87 did well in a non-opposed enviroment. But once opposed by fighters its flaws came out. And in regards to the Zero there was so much hype about it and once its flaws and weaknesses were found out it was not as awesome as some thought. Especially as the war went on.IMO I think another good canditate would be the ME-110. There was alot hope for that too. But once again its flaws came out. Pointedly during the Battle of Britain.

__________________
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I'm the "Confederate with a pipe"!! LOL

The P-39 got a lot of hype as a prototype but was thereafter a disappointment (although the Russians liked it - but perhaps that says more about their own planes...).

The Me 210 was also supposed to be the great Zerstorer, a big step up from the Bf 110, but failed badly.

The He 177 - great on paper, but more trouble than it was worth.

__________________
Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website

AHHHHH...If only they hadn't screwed with it before it went into combat. The Supercharger would at least made a difference.

__________________
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I'm the "Confederate with a pipe"!! LOL

I guess it must be the Zero then.

__________________

Not sticking up for the P-39/P-400, but it did have its uses even with its altitude restrictions.

As many (not all) planes did.

http://67tfs.org/Guadalcanal.html

link doesn't want to work....

just look up 67th TFS on Guadalcanal, and their part in the battle of "Bloody Ridge".

The Zero was a box of "Kitchen Matches", yet according to one site, was the 2nd most fun to fly (Spitfire #1, Mustang #3), by those who had the opportunity to test the variety.

__________________
All opinions expressed here are those of "Little Green Men" and don't necessarily represent views, positions, policy, thoughts, actions, or anything else.

Not an easy question because different aircraft were 'rated' at different times.

There's no doubt that the Bf110 was 'over-rated' - certainly by Hermann Goering - for its 'Zerstorer' role in the Battle of Britain where it was hopelessly out-classed. But then, it became a formidable night-fighter......

__________________
"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

the Zero

__________________
Anothony 'Swoff ' Swofford : A story: A man fires a rifle for many years, and he goes to war. And afterward he turns the rifle in at the armory, and he believes he's finished with the rifle. But no matter what else he might do with his hands, love a woman, build a house, change his son's diaper; his hands remember the rifle.

maybe the zero or the Heinkel.

__________________

Which Heinkel?

__________________
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I'm the "Confederate with a pipe"!! LOL

There there is the ME-262. Really hyped and feared. Lot of hopes and ex[ectations were pinned on it. But in the end it didn't effect the outcome of the war as expected and didn't become as much as a success as expected.

__________________
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I'm the "Confederate with a pipe"!! LOL

Many planes were good (enough) by themselves Stuka-Devastator-Swordfish, etc., but engaging (other than intended) fighters (ever improving) while trying to do the other job, left them lacking.
I agree with the 110. Why the Germans didn't make 2-109s out of those engines I'll never understand. Until the night fighter & the rocket ship, I see no good use for it.

__________________
All opinions expressed here are those of "Little Green Men" and don't necessarily represent views, positions, policy, thoughts, actions, or anything else.

I would throw in the Swordfish as another one. It was useful only in a very narrow niche and where it faced no aerial opposition. There were far better aircraft available to do the same job.

I'd also agree on the Me 262. Just its horrible reliability alone makes it literally a self-defeating aircraft. Jet engines are not a disposable item; use them once and then throw them away. Yet the Jumo 004 was exactly that. Arming the plane with Mk 108s instead of fast firing high velocity cannon was a mistake too. On the whole, Willy Messerschmitt whipped up a design that could never meet what Germany really needed in 1944. Scrapping the whole design in favor of something like Henkel's 162 Volksjäger would have made far more sense.

Me-262 for the Germans, Zero for the Japanese, Spitfire for the English (sorry, but as good as it was, the hype was more than it was), and B-17 on the American side. The B-17 was an awesome weapon, but in the beginning it was not as good as they made it out to be. I much prefer it to the B-24, but no weapon is perfect.

__________________
Lord, let me be the person my dog thinks I am.

Now there is a good idea for another thread. Most Underated aircraft! LOL

__________________
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I'm the "Confederate with a pipe"!! LOL

In regards to the ME-262. It always make me chuckle when the posters who have a great adoration for the Germans and the Nazis in particular rave about it being a wonder weapon and how it would have won the war LOL. When in reality it was very overrated. My other favorite on another site was a poster who for awhile kept claiming that the ME-163 was the best FIGHTER of the war. LOL. Another overrated aircraft. It seems that the Germans produced quite a few that were.

__________________
For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I'm the "Confederate with a pipe"!! LOL

You don't want to start on the 262. I'll go over to 1jma.dk and pull some of the old posts I did shooting down Chirster Bergstrom....the guy that wrote those books on the Luftwaffe in the East. Those were some viciously detailed posts. I particularly like the one showing how a 50 plane unit of Me 262 basically lose the war for Germany. If that's not overrated for an aircraft nothing is.

I have to go with the ME-262, when it got in the air it could be formidable but it was a fuel and maintenance nightmare from what I have read. Not to mention it was not really suited for the pilots Germany had at the time. Highly and totally overrated.

The P-39 Aircobra was an excellent plane in its element as was the Stuka. All planes have their limitations.