Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best bombers of WWII??????

Here's a poll I found on another forum.

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/polls/best-bomber-24.html

http://www.2worldwar2.com/bombers.htm

B29 because of its big bomb load and its pressurized fuselage.

Kind of hard to compare bombers for such diverse roles. I've always loved the Mitchells, but the B-29 finished the war in Japan.

Another vote for the B-29.
Range, payload, speed, altitude.
It was ahead of it's time.

I'd have to say the B-17 and the British Lancaster were the workhorses for the US and Britain. The B-29 was a definite improvement.

What specific role? I.E. high altitude carpet bombing, dive bombing, low-level, etc. Several countries produced outstanding bombers of different types during the war.
From america alone, the B-17, B-24, B29, B25, B-26, and the SBD "Dauntless" were all excellent designs.

I'd have to go with Mosquito bomber as the best all around bomber and most innovative bomber of WWII. The Mosquito could do things other bombers could only dream of.

The best bomber for delivering a nuclear bomb would have to go to the B-29.

The Mosquito was indeed a remarkable design, fast, good looking, versatile, and easy to build.

Partial to the Mosquito too.
Fast (the wooden wonder), and versatile.

Interesting how load capabilities have changed:

B24 = 6 tons

B17 = 5 tons

F15 = 8 tons

Bruce

The Douglas A1 Skyraider, was developed in WW 2, but did not see active combat service as it was released late in the war...

It did however see a lot of service in Korea with the Navy, and was pulled out of mothballs and many saw service in Vietnam with both the Navy and the USAF...

Developed by 1944, the Skyraider started entering squadron service in 1945.. it could carry the same bomb load as a B 17, yet was a single engine one crew member 'dive bomber'

I think the B-29 has to be the most advanced and innovative bomber of WW2, even if it had engine reliability issues that were never really ironed out. Its easy to see it as a link between old WW2 bombers like the B17 or the Lanc, and those of the future ie the B-52...

The B-29 main problem was that when it was being designed, jet engines were still very much in their infancy..

?????

When the Superfort was first flown into battle, the design was so new (it had been rushed ahead of schedule) the aircraft sometimes would spontaneously catch fire, even without the enemy being near.

Somewhere I have a pocketbook about B29's, published by Playboy Press called;

"Point of No Return."

"Best" is indeed subjective. It would be hard to argue with the B-29 being the penultimate piston bomber (note that the B-36 had a set of jets too before you nigle!)

Aviation literally accelerated through three generations of design and capability from 39-45 so If I were to break "best" down I might do it by generation and large or medium and it would look like this.

39-41
Medium - B-25 - simple enough to build quickly, easily modified for the job t hand, good load and enough guns to defend itself.
Large - B-17 - Nordon bombsight and the only plane around that had enough armament and armor to get crews into fortress Europe and back in daylight (not that was such a good idea!) as we learned how to do strategic bombing.

41-43
Medium - B-26 - The numbers say it all. It was demanding to fly but had the best survivability rate of the war. Fast down low and able to do a variety of missions.
Large - B-24 - The next refinement of the large bomber. faster, better range and better bomb load than the previous generation. Radial engines vice liquid cooled made it more survivable.

43-45
Medium - Mosquito - fast, accurate and did a wide variety of missions from formation bombing to night fighter duty.
Large B-29 - Pressurized and long range, despite teething problems with engines and fuel it did a great job. I'm not sure how survivable it would have been in the ETO as it didn't seem to take damage as well as the previous generation and the numbers lost over Japan were surprising given the threat they faced late in the war.

Off to shoot a silhouette match. You folks play nice today.

I just can't pick the B-29; unreliable, a maintenance pig of the 1st order, and not around when it really mattered.

My grandpa used to tell me stories about the adventures he had flying the B29(I think he started flying them in late 43 or early 44?)
Anyway, they had a few engine fires in flight and other adventures of that sort!
Like I said earlier, I think he preferred flying the B-17.

[quote=derby_dude]I'd have to go with Mosquito bomber as the best all around bomber and most innovative bomber of WWII. The Mosquito could do things other bombers could only dream of.
[quote]

+1
How can you not love a wooden plane with a six pounder in the nose??

Johnny $

Lancaster, for load capacity. And those four Merlins.

I'll go with only the designs that saw action during the war and in these cases finished the war:

Small Attack/Bomber - F4U-4 Corsair (yes this was classified as a fighter during the war, but was a better attack aircraft than many that were purposely designed for bombing such as the SB2C Helldiver). The runner-up would be the P-47D Thunderbolt.

Medium - A-26 Invader (Renamed B-26 in 1947 after the B-26 Marauders were retired). These were still in action in Vietnam, just like the A-1 Skyraider.

Large - B-29 Superfortress (faster, heavier bomb load, and longer range than anything else flying).

Mark in GA

not around when it really mattered? Ask a Jap about that.