A couple of years ago, I was mowing the lawn and I heard something approaching over the noise of the mower and knew exactly what it was. No sooner did I shut down than a P 51 flew past at power. You are right, the sound of a Merlin at power does give goose bumps. I recently ran across a set of negatives from a P 51 meet out on the west coast that are about 20 or so years old. There were well over 20 Mustangs in Santa Maria that day with everything from Pete Regina's P 51B to a P 51H. I'll try to scan those and post them one of these days.
But, to my point about the P 51, if you look at it from a purely performance standpoint, I think it misses the mark a bit. The Germans had faster aircraft and the Fw 190D was very strong against a Mustang. But, when you look at it from a standpoint of carrying the fight into the heart of Germany, it does stand out. It had the right armament for the purpose it was built for. While the Fw 190 was tasked with knocking down bombers and needing cannons to do that, the Mustang was needed to knock down fighters. The 50 cal was the perfect weapon for that and having 6 of them was very effective. Later, when the 51 was tasked with low level attacks the liquid cooled engine was vulnerable to ground fire but that was never the mission the aircraft was optimized for.
ME 262
Yes, it was on the losing side of WWII, and no, it didn't have the unbeatable kill ratio of the F 15. By the time the 262 was put into action, the vast majority of Germany's superb pilots were already burned out or shot up by the Allies. With that in mind, the 262 was the first jet fighter that truly performed in combat. I also think the plane looks both vicious and beautiful, where form and function are perfectly in step. It has always made me think of a flying shark for some reason.
The Zero was far outclassed by the time the F6F showed up anyway. It really wasn't a fair fight.
F-15 gets my vote
As awesome as the win:loss ratios that the F6F has it was introduced AFTER other aircraft had already fought and killed many of the elite pilots the Japanese started the war with. Their pilot training never caught up and the equipment was never brought up to the level of the US forces. The Zero was far outclassed by the time the F6F showed up anyway. It really wasn't a fair fight.
Supermarine Spitfire.
I can't believe this hasn't even popped up on the list yet...it had the Merlin first!
P-61.
Supermarine Spitfire.
I can't believe this hasn't even popped up on the list yet...it had the Merlin first!
ME 262
Yes, it was on the losing side of WWII, and no, it didn't have the unbeatable kill ratio of the F 15. By the time the 262 was put into action, the vast majority of Germany's superb pilots were already burned out or shot up by the Allies. With that in mind, the 262 was the first jet fighter that truly performed in combat. I also think the plane looks both vicious and beautiful, where form and function are perfectly in step. It has always made me think of a flying shark for some reason.