Best Aircraft Vs Worst Aircraft

[PFFF]

1) Which allied figther Aircraft did German pilots fear the most?
Ditto Least?
2)Which German Figther Aircraft did Allied Pilots fear the most?
Ditto least?

[Machinbird]

Which was most feared has to have been very time dependent. The DH2 must have been formidable when first introduced, but later was a grape waiting to be picked. The BE2 series were consistently Fokker Fodder, but there were worse aircraft than that out there. Those that had little margin between max airspeed and stall.

[Soderbaum]

hm

When discussing the best allied a/c during the War very seldom people does understand the time factor and evaluation (technical) of a/c during the War....

I have read "a hell amount" of German stories from the War about the enemy a/c the German did fear most.....and the answer in a historic perspective is clear...

The simple answer is the French Nieuport scout...!

The Nieuport did cause the worst problem for the German Air Force for the longest period during the War...

Gunnar

It's the man, not the machine. That's why Jasta 11's crew, for example, could still inspire fear, even though many in the group were flying outmoded types in 1917-18.

What would scare you more: Some sprog on his first trip over the front in the ferocious D. VII or Werner Voss facing you in an outmoded DR.1.? It took a whole flight of 56 Squadron's top guys in superior aircraft to kill Voss, you could probably get the sprog before he even saw you.

F=MA

I would dread going up against Max Immelman say in a Fokker DR.1 or in an Albatross VII.

[Taz]

F=MA- You have your facts a little garbled. Voss was flying a new prototype Fokker F.I Triplane when he was killed and the F.I he flew was easily a match for an early SE-5a at low to medium altitudes. Although slower, its rate of climb was superior, maneuverability much better, firepower superior, and it featured a wing which allowed it to be flown much closer to its limits without worrying about a vicious stall. Voss flew at least three types of prototype Triplanes, but never flew a Dr.I, which was not introduced until after he was killed.

Your other point is well taken. A superior, aggressive pilot in a mediocre aircraft he knows well is more than a match for an inferior (or nonagressive) pilot in a superior aircraft.

Taz
Terry Phillips

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Machinbird

Which was most feared has to have been very time dependent. The DH2 must have been formidable when first introduced, but later was a grape waiting to be picked.

From the other perspective, an entente observer would be terror stricken at the sight of an E 1 in 1915 but would laugh at it in 1918.

[Tim West]

Originally Posted by PFFF

1) Which allied figther Aircraft did German pilots fear the most?
Ditto Least?
2)Which German Figther Aircraft did Allied Pilots fear the most?
Ditto least?

Your question may be too general. Things changed quickly and while it may be the man, but at a point the machine can no longer maintain the man. Lanoe Hawker may have been a victim of this circumstance......regardless of the fact that MvR was doing the shooting

In early 1916 the DH-2 rid the skies of the Fokker Scourge only to be outclassed 7 months later by the arrival of new Albatros fighters. This rapid change in power happened through out the war, making an answer to your question hard to define.

Maybe you could refine your question by year.

Originally Posted by Taz

F=MA- You have your facts a little garbled. Voss was flying a new prototype Fokker F.I Triplane when he was killed and the F.I he flew was easily a match for an early SE-5a at low to medium altitudes. Although slower, its rate of climb was superior, maneuverability much better, firepower superior, and it featured a wing which allowed it to be flown much closer to its limits without worrying about a vicious stall. Voss flew at least three types of prototype Triplanes, but never flew a Dr.I, which was not introduced until after he was killed.

Your other point is well taken. A superior, aggressive pilot in a mediocre aircraft he knows well is more than a match for an inferior (or nonagressive) pilot in a superior aircraft.

Taz
Terry Phillips

While I agree I missed the particular Tripe designation, I can't agree the Triplane was a match for the SE-5a. One-to-one, a fight to the death, neither pilot wishing to disengage, you might bet on the Triplane's superior maneuverability and climb at that point but, the advantage remains with the faster aircraft, as it can disengage from the fight at will and rearrange the advantage if it starts to go sour. You would not need to be near as good in the SE-5a to keep the advantage against the Tripe, much as I love it.

7 on 1, against some of the best English fighter pilots? The outcome was hardly in doubt, unless B flight let him go. It's a tribute to Voss' fighting skill that he lasted as long as he did and, that's the important point I as making, as you note.

F=MA

[TomVrille]

The most feared hostile aircraft was the same for pilots of both sides. It was that aircraft, of whatever type, that took you unawares, and announced his presence with a burst of machinegun fire.