Which country in ww2 had the best airforce

[brataccas]

britian? britten? you mucked up the spelling of Britain twice

[roger9344]

My simple and rather parochial opinion would be that the honor would have to fall to the Army Air Corps of the United States. (Of course . . .) The Germans were very good at the beginning, but the RAF triumphed and won the Battle of Britain. The Soviet Air Force built up an impressive and hard-hitting force by the end of the war. Japan had better planes at the beginning, but in the end the industrial might and massive training program in the US won the overall best of show. Again, this is only my little opinion, and I am rather biased, as my Dad was career USAF, and I grew up at various US air bases in the US and Japan.

[harryamb2]

at the end of the day we are all biased to our own airforce.as far as kills went allied pilots had breaks from ops.the germans went on untill they where killed or the war ended,plus they where fighting eveyone,so more chances of a kill.DON'T do these sort of things guys and girls,I HATE typing.

[Lohmax]

The greatest airforce as in numbers would have been the US. They produced planes in such quantity that they were sold as surplus to nations worldwide. DCs were sent everywhere for civil transportation.

[ObKrieger]

The Soviets had the best marksmen, the Germans had the best engineers, the Japanese had the best infantry, the Americans had the best Navy, and the Brits had the best air force.

Sorry but nothing beats what the RAF achieved in 1940. Those guys were beasts!

[Thanatos]

Luftwaffe- about 70,000 aerial victories on all fronts. 2 fighter pilots had 300+ victories, 103 fighter pilots had 100+ victories, about 360 had between 40 and 60, and another 500 had between 20 and 40, which is the max range the RAF high-scorers, for example, fit (highest was 38 for Johnnie Johnson- how many halves and thirds are in that I don't know); Lang scored 18 in one single day, which surpasses 90% of allied pilots total scores, and Marsaille got 17 in one day.

The allies rotated their pilots after x amount of missions whilst the Luft. had no real rotation policy.The high kill rates of some Luft pilots reflect this fact.They were operational until the were killed or maimed.
Cheers
Dave
Sorry harry missed your post,but your spot on.
One thing we must all consider re the BoB is that Goering changed his tactics half way through the battle and targeted citys instead of airfields.This was a major factor in the RAF victory.The RAF was very nearly done for before this tactical blunder.

[sebfrench76]

In all modesty,i would vote for France...Wait .....We're not on the list ,WHY !!!!!!!??????

[harry211]

what a difficult question!!! USAF in terms of sheer weight of numbers (more a manuafcturing base issue than an actual "best" airforce issue), and the fact that the P-51D (US airframe, Brit engine) was a war winning long range escort fighter allowing penetrating raids into Germany 24hrs a day without unsustainable losses. RAF in terms of backs to the wall, dogged resistance during the Battle of Britain as if we had failed then, it would have been game over and the USAF may not have even got a chance to shine as there would have been no bases to operate from! And not forgetting the mighty Lancaster, possible the most effective strategic bomber of the war - it lacked the accuracy of the B-17 - but what could match a payload of up to 22,000lbs ! of course, then there was the B-29 but came fairly late in the war.....and the Mosquito, a truly outstanding fighter bomber and pound for pound probably more effective than the heavies.. in summary...don't know

[harryamb2]

I think harry211 has summed it up.but the story of the usaaf b17s or others dropping bombs in a pickle barrel is nonsense,not at the altitude they bombed from.[just thought I would shoot down a myth}ratatratat.

[command450]

all depends on what time frame.

like mentioned,sometimes one bone brained decision,to change tactics can cost you an air war! technological advancements could be argued on both sides.The nazis developed some of the best concepts and Ideas. I would consider the Brit and luft pilots as the most experienced and best.The Brit spitfire was a stunning achievement and perhaps the American advancements in production should be noted.one need only look up the arsenal of democracy and the willow run bomber plant. I dont think any production plant ever compared in its ability to churn out planes.

at one time the Japanese air force had to be right up there too. but at the end of the war, there was no doubt who was the largest in the world.