ORIGINAL: wingspar
CorsairJock, The 262 use 30mm cannons, not those wimpy 20mm ones.........................Dave
I stand (sit) corrected.
WOW, it appears that a number have voted for the good 'ol U.S.A.
Patriotism is great, but under-estimating the weopons and tactics of our enemies has gotten us into trouble time and time again. There were many Americans who firmly believed that our aircraft were far superior to anything the Japanese could produce, prior to Pearl Harbor.
The question WAS NOT which country had the best decision makers, NOR which country had the best pilot training program, NOR which country had the best industrial base. The U.S.A. and it's allies would win (and DID win the war) on ALL of those counts.
And about that industrial base: Germany had a pretty good industrail base also, until they 'allowed' us to bomb their factories to smithereens while Hitler demanded more bomber production ('we don't need no stinkin' fighters').
And back to pilot training: the best fighter in the world will lose the battle if it's pilot does not have the training to utilize the aircraft's strengths. Again: the question is which country produced the best fighter planes, NOT which one produced the best pilots.
Yes, we now have arguably the best fighters in the world, but too bad that our current enemies do not even have an air force (except for hi-jacked aircraft). Time for a change in tactics, do ya think?