Martin Baker MB5.

Ditto... Was just going to add that.

Both the Lightning and the Tornado F3 went to war. The Lightning in Yemen with the Saudis and the Tornado F3 in the Gulf War.

...but did manage to fly several combat missions prior to VJ-Day. One B-32 also managed to be shot at (but not shot down) by some diehard Japs tooling around in some 'Georges' after VJ-Day!

Just out of interest, which Allied aircraft were comparable to the Me 262, Ar 234C, Me 263, Go 229, Bv 238, Ta 152C/H etc? All these aircraft flew (Me 263 as an unpowered prototype only), and some flew combat sorties.

OPSEC, AA, OPSEC... ;)

The Martin Baker MB5 in my not so humble opinion. ;)

Another one was the Grumman F-7F Tigercat.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...P_Tigercat.jpg

I would vote for the Republic Super Thunderbolt.....amongst a few others.

Good one, SASless.

I have to feel sorry for Curtiss. So many attempts that never made it in that video.

In post war tests the Me262 was considered superior to the Allied jet types. But against that the allied pilots were better trained and their jets more reliable and better built.

Its a tribute to the British Aircraft industry that it was never outclassed by the potentially larger German Aircraft Industry.

Alongside the MB5 what about the Supermarine Spiteful?

Not aircraft but submarines but indicative to the problems Germany had.

A friend was passage crew on some Germany submarines being ferried to Russia as part of the spoilts of war. The valves had to manipulated everyday to stop them seizing up for they were not made of brass as allied submarines were.

Shortage of rare metals probably did for much German production.

Considering that the British aircraft industry didn't have the significant disadvantage of bombs raining down upon it for the last four years of the war, one might say that the British aircraft industry should have been streets ahead of the German, rather than just 'never outclassed by'...

Torque

That is an interesting point !

And could also be said about the US industry although
they seemed to be into pumping out the planes as fast as
they could once they found something that worked.

Quantity has a quality all of it's own.

Agree, when it came to dropping thousands of dumb bombs from 1000 planes at once, you don't need the top of the range to do it.

I would've plumped for MB5, dH Hornet, XF-12 Rainbow (surely one of the most beautiful designs), HK-1 Spruce Goose, but one not mentioned so far is Hughes XF-11, which I always thought could have been if it had been fully developed.

S41

I'm gonna jump back to between the wars and suggest the Hawker Fury or Bristol Bulldog

Didn't the Vampire see action in the Rhodesian civil war?

Hornet, MB5, Rainbow all too easy.....
 

....more prosaic but very practical. I give you the Bristol Brigand.