[Shawn 507]

Pick a plane any plane ( WW 1 to the present )!! All you get is plane of choice, visual ID, and guns. Its just man, machine, and skill. Breaking it down "Old School", dogfighting W.W.1 / 2, Korea style. With all the techno gee whiz stuff out of the way, I'd like to see what the plane of choice is now.
- Shawn
WW 1 Um whatever Rickenbaker flew
WW 2 Toss up between a Hellcat and Thunderbolt, Mustang would be third
Korea F86
Nam F-100 it just looks cool / F-8
Today I'd go with the F-18.
- Shawn

[Louie]

My plane of choice would be a P-47 Thunderbolt. It was tough,fast, could carry bombs,rockets, could take alot of punishment, and had guns out the yinyang.

[Black 6]

I'll go with the following:

1. WWI : Fokker DVII

2. WWII : De Havilland Mosquito

3. Korea: F-86 Sabre

[Warhawk]

I'll take a Corsair, thank you.

[Ara1]

Do 335 Arrow. Loaded.

[Black 6]

Originally Posted by Ara1

Do 335 Arrow. Loaded.

Good choice Ara1!

[Shawn 507]

Let me add this. This can go all the way to today as far as planes are concerned.
- Shawn

[david cotton]

Originally Posted by Louie

My plane of choice would be a P-47 Thunderbolt. It was tough,fast, could carry bombs,rockets, could take alot of punishment, and had guns out the yinyang.

Good choice, the P47 Thunderbolt is the plane that destroyed the Luftwaffe on the Westen Front. Can never understand why this aircraft always ends up in the shadow of the P51 and the Spitfire.

[flyXwire]

Simple, my choice is the F-86 with just the .50 cal guns and NO radar gunsights! Let's see how good the russki honchos are.

[skysurfer808]

Here's my picks for each war era. I had to make it complicated since there wasn't a time when these machines were simultaneously in service, and each one dominated its respective airspace during its moment of fame. I'm basing this on performance and verified claims. There are many fighters from many different eras, and the world wars lasted long enough to have distinct phases, which I have illustrated here. To provide an example, the Fokker D-VII was certainly the best fighter of WW1, but it only flew towards the end...so the Eindekker gets top billing for the early part of the war.

WW-1 early Fokker Eindekker
mid Albatros D-II
late Fokker D-VII

Interwar Spain early I-16
Spain late Bf 109
Sino Japanese War Curtiss Hawk 75M (used by Claire Chennault in his "observations" against the Japanese)

WW-2
ETO
early Bf 109
mid Fw 190
late P-47 (better survivability than the P-51, more useful in strafing and ground support during allied advance.)

Eastern Front
early Bf 109
mid Fw 190
late Lavochkin La-7 (good performance, strong numbers, mount of top Soviet Ace Kozhedub)

Pacific Navy
early Zero (dominated the Pacific Skies, made Japan's advance possible.)
mid Hellcat (Took the sky away from the Zero)
late Corsair (Also took the sky, brought the war back to Japan, held the line against Kamikazes.)

Pacific Land Based
early Curtiss P-40E (held the line till better planes became available, mount of 1st USAAF Ace Buzz Wagner, Robert Scott, AVG, 23rd FG, and 49th FG defending N. Australia)
mid P-38 (Ace maker extraordinaire)
late P-51D (carried the war back to Japan on very long range missions)

Best WW-2 Navy F6F Hellcat
Best WW-2 Prop 4 way tie P-47M, Hawker Tempest, F4U-4 Corsair, FW 190D-9
Best WW-2 All Round Jet Me 262
Best WW-2 All Round Prop F4U-4 Corsair (since it could land on carriers and fly 440+ MPH, and served till 1956 and in Honduras till the 1970s. Corsiar managed a high victory ratio against the Japanese and even shot down a Mig 15 in Korea. The Corsair also managed to beat the P-51D in combat during the Honduras-El Salvador Soccer War.)

Post WW2
Korea F-86F Hard Wing Sabre (Acemaker for pilots in 1953 against Mig 15s, mount of McConnell, top ace Korean Conflict.)
Suez 1956 Dassault Ouragan (4 Air to Air victories, 1 Destroyer strafed and captured)
Taiwan 1958 F-86F with Sidewinders
India/Pakistan 1965 Sabre Mk 6
Israel 1967-73 Mirage IIICJ (Acemaker for generation of Israeli Air Force pilots)
Vietnam early F-8 Crusader (highest exchange ratio of Vietnam, 6/1)
1972 Navy F-4 Phantom (exchange ratio post Top Gun 12/1)
Soccer War 1969 F4U Corsair
India/Pakistan 1971 Hawker Hunter (top scoring aircraft on either side with 10 confirmed victories against PAF F-86s)
Israel 1973 IAI Nesher/Mirage IIICJ (top scoring fighter of Israeli Air Force, also mount of top scoring jet ace, Giora Epstein)
Iran-Iraq War F-14 Tomcat
Bekaa Valley 1982 F-15A
Gulf War F-15C
Deny Flight 1995 F-16 (victories against Serb Galebs)
Allied Force F-15C (victories against Serb Mig 29s)
Ethiopia Eritrea 1999 Su-27 (multiple victories against Eritrean Mig 29s.)
Enduring Freedom v2001. F-14D (only carrier aircraft with legs to operate from boat to Afghanistan without excessive tanker support, did manage to destroy Migs with bombs)
Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom A-10 (most useful plane in theatre for CAS)

Best fighter victory loss ratio in air combat history. F-15 with 100 plus victories to zero losses to air combat.

Skysurfer808