World War II, analyzed!

vote on the best german plane of any war. the germans were in of course.

I'm absolutely no expert on German planes, but I casted my vote anyway.

Best German plane.....very subjective question. Ultimately there are two measurements. First, intended use, and second how they stack up against the other guy's best. As a weapon, the Stuka (Ju87) was probably superior to the Bf 109 in achieving the tactical goal assigned to them. It's sturdy airframe and vertical-dive capability made it hard for the triple A to knock down, and also made it a very effective bomb platform. It demonstrated great accuracy in knocking out the radar installations on England's coast in WW2. There was no other dive-bomber of the time that could be considered nearly as effective as the gull-winged Stuka.

The Bf109, commonly referred to erronously as the Me-109, was a revolution in fighter aircraft design, was really the first tactical fighter aircraft, and featured number of design innovations in 1935, including a fuel injection system. In the Spanish Civil War, a blitzkrieg proving ground, and a rehearsal for the Battle of Britain, the Bf109 went up against Russian, American and French fighters and proved itself a tough, fierce opponent. The main outcome of this conflict was the stimulation of new design characteristics, notably in the Spitfire. This course of events forced improvements in American, British and Russian fighter designs. without that, the Bf109 would have dominated, and the Battle of Britain would have likely had a very different outcome.

The superior design of the Bf 109 was technologically met and surpassed by advanced versions of planes like the P-51 Mustang and the Spitfire. The gap created by the Ju-87 was never close by the Allies in WW2. So, overall I would pick the Stuka as the best German plane...of the time.