What would a "Best of the lot" 1943 fighter aircraft look like?

FBKampfer

Banned
The best fighter of WW2 was not any mark of Spitfire, nor the Mustang, nor the Airacobra.

It was this.

3899927a5c696c2ebb181281e62bdbff.jpg


Having sat in the Merlin-engined Spanish version and the DB605 survivor, I wouldn't choose it for any Air Force even if you bribed me with a thousand bars of Nazi gold


Good luck. This forum wanks pretty hard over the Spit 14, convincingly them to change their mind will be harder than tearing a starving Grizzly bear away from a freshly quartered deer.
 
Why not the MkVI was basically a MkV with a more powerful version of the Sabre. If you want a plane that flew in 1943 then the Tempest MkV with annular radiator and 2,350hp Sabre VI capable of 450mph at 19,000ft.

The problem with Sabre VI in this thread is that it is an engine from 1945.
But otherwise - why not the Tempest I, the beauty with leading edge radiators + the 2-stage supercharged Griffon? Although the thing with the 2-stage Griffon on any airframe is that we have none of our 'the best of the lot' fighters available for best part of 1943.
Usability of the ALT Tempest should be increased by installing of an additional, 'L' shaped fuel tank, shamelesly coppied from the Bf 109.

Other variants to the Tempest theme might include the turbocharged Sabre powerplant, or perhaps a 2-stage supercharged R-2800 in the nose.
 
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Nobody has mentioned the F6F Hellcat. Have Grumman create the F8F Bearcat right out of the box (put a bubble canopy on it) Or can we create a P-47/Hellcat hybrid (A Hellcat with eight fifties?)
 

hipper

Banned
Nobody has mentioned the F6F Hellcat. Have Grumman create the F8F Bearcat right out of the box (put a bubble canopy on it) Or can we create a P-47/Hellcat hybrid (A Hellcat with eight fifties?)


67 mph slower than a Spitfire 14 :) it's the best naval fighter in 1943 though
 
I know it is a bomber also but I submit this entry as a twin engine night fighter:
How about putting Rolls Royce Merlin engines in the A-20 Havoc/P-70?
 
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What of the Gloster Meteor? First flown in 1943, and the technology exists to address any reliability or development issues.

Here's the prototype that flew in March 1943.

800px-Meteor_DG202G_at_RAF_Mueum_London_in_November_2011.jpg
 
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