StarDestroyer.Net BBS

To go in the versus i though about this in a combat between a F-18 and a P-51 wich fighter would win.
no missiles or computer targeting system simple dogfight.

Is this a joke?

Its not a joke with a great pilot wich fighter do you think would win,the high-tech jet or the old propeller plane.

One of the first incidents of air combat over (Viet Nam? Korea?) involved a prop-driven "Sandy" being attacked by the state-of-the-art MiG.

I don't recall if the MiG screwed up by trying to go as slowly as the Sandy or whether it screwed up by going too fast on strafing runs, but either way the victor was the prop plane.

Hornet driver uses his superior speed and thrust to down the Mustang.

Hornet Baby,, Faster, Faster rate of climb, higher celing,

Arrogance can be dangerous.

Without a doubt, the F-18 easily stomps the Mustang.

The Mustang can turn inside the Hornet, and it's six .50 cal can riddle holes on the aluminium and plastic fuselage of the Hornet, with a farily good chance of hitting something vital.
The Hornet has speed, ceiling, 20 mm cannon and speed. It would be a shit to hit the Mustang.

The Hornet looses due to fuel shortage trying to catch the Mustang on it's sights long enough for a burst, the Mustang looses due to fuel shortage trying to keep up with the Hornet. Both pilots meet in the bar and tell old larks. The End.

Montcalm wrote:Arrogance can be dangerous.

Arrogance is a human factor, and is such for this thread irrevelant.

Warspite wrote:Both pilots meet in the bar and tell old larks. The End.

Probably, considering how it will be extremely difficult to maintain visual contact with such speed differences.

Wicked Pilot wrote:

Warspite wrote:Both pilots meet in the bar and tell old larks. The End.

Probably, considering how it will be extremely difficult to maintain visual contact with such speed differences.

Quite, let's pretend both of them are in simulators...

Warspite wrote:Quite, let's pretend both of them are in simulators...

That would give an unfair advantage to the Hornet, as the pilot wouldn't have to worry about G-lock.


Overall though, plane vs plane, I'd say the kill ratio would be in favor of the F/A-18.

The Hornet wins in a dog fight. It does not need to try and turn with the P-51, it can use its speed advantage to come and go making high speed passes.


At low level thought the P-51 might have a good chance to evade the F-18 or surprise it.

Don't fall prey to romanticism, F-18 wins. No contest.

I dunno...in dogfight tests, it took 4 F-16s to down an A-10. F/A-18's rather similar to the -16 for maneuverability, and the -51's roughly equal to the -10 in speed, and probably superior in maneuverability. The Hornet's going to have trouble just targeting the much smaller Mustang. Frankly, I think both will run out of ammo or fuel before being able to take the other out.

I absolutely love the Mustang. It's my favorite WW2 fighter. But, reality time…any modern jet fighter could dive in from a distance and strafe the shit out of a prop before the slower plane even knew what hit it. There's just no way in hell. Sorry.

Yeah, but how good is a P-51 at taking 20mm cannon hits? I'm guessing not very. F-18 wins with one or two passes.

The Dark wrote:I dunno...in dogfight tests, it took 4 F-16s to down an A-10. F/A-18's rather similar to the -16 for maneuverability, and the -51's roughly equal to the -10 in speed, and probably superior in maneuverability. The Hornet's going to have trouble just targeting the much smaller Mustang. Frankly, I think both will run out of ammo or fuel before being able to take the other out.

A-10s have an assload of armor and a big friggin gun.



F-18 totally stomps a P-51. It simply doesn't have to play the P-51's turning game, its speed and power allows it to attack and disengage with impunity.

This is ridiculous. F/A-18 wins without breaking a sweat. This is not rocket science.

Anyone seen that 80's movie "The Final Countdown"? (modern carrier goes back in time before the attack on pearl harbor) 2 F-16's go up against 2 Japanese Zero's. They fly by the zero's a few times, playing with them, then blow them out of the sky after one of the Zero's manages to score a pot shot.

Only a movie I know, but pretty much how it would happen irl I would assume heh.

EDIT: actually they were F-14 Tomcats now that I think about it, not F-16's.

The F-18 is much stronger structually than the P-51.
The F-18 will be a much more difficult gunnery target than anything the P-51 has come up against. Most kills over the German jets were made by ambushing them as they entered the circuit to land.
The F-18 has radar, so the pilot will have non-visual cues to help him or her keep track of the P-51 as he/she makes repeated slashing attacks. The P-51 pilot has zilch but his own eyes.
The F-18's cannon has greater range, rate-of-fire and hitting power than the P-51's guns.
The A-1 that shot down a MiG in Vietnam had four 20mm cannon, compared to the P-51's six .50cal MGs. True, for ground attack work some P-51s had four 20mm... But then the Spad was a larger and tougher aircraft than the Mustang.

Sidious wrote:Anyone seen that 80's movie "The Final Countdown"? (modern carrier goes back in time before the attack on pearl harbor) 2 F-16's go up against 2 Japanese Zero's. They fly by the zero's a few times, playing with them, then blow them out of the sky after one of the Zero's manages to score a pot shot.

Only a movie I know, but pretty much how it would happen irl I would assume heh.

EDIT: actually they were F-14 Tomcats now that I think about it, not F-16's.

Yep. I really like that movie. A little disapointed there isn't a little more combat action but the flight footage and the footage aboard ship was nice.

I've heard P-47 veterans deride the survivability of P-51s, their reasons being the vulnerability of radiators and oil-coolers. I belive 20mm rounds, delivered from a modern platform, would end this quickly.

Frank Hipper wrote:I've heard P-47 veterans deride the survivability of P-51s, their reasons being the vulnerability of radiators and oil-coolers. I belive 20mm rounds, delivered from a modern platform, would end this quickly.

OTOH, the Jug wasn't nearly the dogfighter that the P-51 was. Every plane has its advantages and disadvantages.