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For the most part, the aircraft at the top of the WW II era are easily accessible and known by anyone who has studied, or even lived, the era. However, it can be a little more difficult when trying to create a list about the worst aircraft of World War II. The number of lists for the worst aircraft could feasibly be as long as there are number of people with opinions, unless the list is compiled using specific facts, such as overall performance, number manufactured, kill ratio, etc. Below is a list in alphabetical order of some of the aircraft which could comprise a single top ten list, or at the very least, be a part of that list. They are presented here in alphabetical order.
The Armed Forces History Museum in Largo, FL has a number of WWII scale models for sale on-line and in the museum store.
WWII Boulton-Paul Defiant MK.1
- Boulton-Paul Defiant MK.I – Great Britain
- No forward guns
- Slow in maneuvers
- Two squadrons annihilated in a single day
- Briefly utilized on night missions
- Eventually used only as part of rescue missions, gunnery training and target towing
WWII Brewster Buffalo
- Brewster Buffalo – United States
- Produced only from 1938 – 1941
- Poor performance possibly due to light weight of the aircraft
- First monoplane fighter for US Navy
- First monoplane with arrestor hook
- Only four nations other than US used this aircraft
- Of the four, only one (Finland) found it to be effective
Great Britain’s WWII Blackburn Botha
- Blackburn Botha – Great Britain
- Under-powered
- Unstable airframe
- Extraordinary number of fatal crashes, developing the reputation as a death trap
- Eventually withdrawn and used for training missions, coastal patrols and carrying anti-submarine bombs
WWII Blackburn Roc – Great Britain
- Blackburn Roc – Great Britain
- Single-engine, monoplane
- Armament prevented gunner from firing unless aircraft was flown straight and level making it impractical in a dog fight
- No forward firing guns
- Difficult for gunner to bail from aircraft
- Top speed was only 160 mph
RAFs Fairey Battle
Fairey Battle – Great Britain
- Despite power of Rolls-Royce engine, the bombing load and three-man crew added too much weight for the light bomber
- Armament not adequate against more modern aircraft
- Inadequate speed
- Despite scoring first official aerial victory of WWII for the RAF, heavy losses were eventually recorded
- Withdrawn from battle and used in overseas training
- Douglas TBD Devastator – United States
US WWII Douglas TVD Devastator
- Despite initial pre-war status as an advanced fighter, by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, aircraft was considered obsolete
- Alternative World War II aircraft was still in testing phase
- Speed made it vulnerable to fighters on patrol
- Entire fleet was almost wiped out in Battle of Midway
USSRs WWII Lavochkin Gorbunov Doudkov LaGG3
- Lavochkin Gorbunov Doudkov LaGG3 – USSR
- Wooden airframe – essential parts protected by Bakelite lacquer
- Proved too heavy for its own frame
- Slow engine and poor climbing rate
- Prone to shattering when hit and spinning if turned too quickly
- WWII Pilots referenced it as “guaranteed varnished coffin”
- Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet – Germany
Germany’s WWII Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet
- Only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft
- Unsuccessful as a fighter
- Armament only allowed a minimal amount of firing time
- Velocity of armament compromised aim
- High fuel consumption
- Highly explosive
- High take-off and landing loss
Germany’s WWII Messerschmitt Me 210
- Messerschmitt Me 210 – Germany
- Poor flight characteristics for a WWII aircraft
- Design flaws never really resolved
- Unstable and prone to stalling
- Yokosuka MXY -7 Ohka – Japan
Japan’s WWII Yokosuka MXY – 7 Ohka
- Defined more accurately as a “manned missile”
- Designed to be carried underneath “Betty” bomber (Mitsubishi G4M)
- First operational flight – none reached target, all destroyed 16 bombers destroyed along with ½ the escorts (15) being shot down
- Minimal success to loss ratio (including the bombers)
- Impossible to aim at a moving target
An incredible amount of aircraft were produced throughout WWII, each attempting to improve upon its predecessor. Both the Allies and the Axis were hard at work attempting to modernize their bombers, fighters and escorts in an effort to gain dominance in the skies. The ten aircraft listed here are just a small example of the many failed aircrafts that attempted, but failed, which is why they are one possible list for top ten worst aircraft of World War II.
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A Good Start for top TEN Worse Aircraft (Your photo for fairly battle is incorrect). Since your list included some of my choices Me210, Blackburn Skua & RoC, I’ll use another list
My Bottom Dweller List:
1. Curtis SO3O Sea Mew (USA#1!!!). God awful Naval recon aircraft. Holds distinction of being the only WWII monoplane being operationally replaced (in 1944) by its predecessor, the SOC Seagul a bi-plane!!!
2. Moraine-Saulner MS 406 FR. 175 kills/400 losses says it all!
3. VL Myrsky Finland. A death trap that would come apart in the air. In service until 1947 and then 100% scrapped after another in air sheading of wings
4. Lockheed C-69 Constellation USA. Brilliant Design plagued with wretched P&W R-3350 engines (same used in B29). By 1944, all C-69 flights OCONUS were banned!!! After war, all dumped to civilian air carriers
5. Heinkel He 177 Grief Germany. Germany’s only HVY Bomber was technically very advanced BUT it was structurally unsound and had the worse engines of WWII, the 2700hp DB 606 coupled Daimler-Benz DB 601 fire prown engines. Nicknamed Flying Coffin
6. Bloch MB151-2 Fr. Poorly built & engineered. Declared unsuitable for combat. When Used against junk Italian Aircraft, they got slaughtered!!!
7. Focke Wulf Ta 154 Moskito. 100% wooden fighter of great promise. Unfortunately, it had a tendancy to shead wings/disintegrate in mid flight due to high acidity in glue. Scrapped in 1944 in sutu
8. Polikarpov I 153 BiPlane Fighter Russia. File under Comrade, what were you thinking? Polikarpov lived, breathed and slept BIPLANES but my 1935, nobody made biplanes any more. Stalin put a gun to his head and forced him to make the I-16 Rata Monoplane. In 1940, Polikarpov replaced the Monoplane with this BiPlane fighter. One year later, Germany invaded and these biplanes got slaughtered by the Me BF 109 E-Fs
9. Brewster SB2A Buccaneer. There is no record of one ever being used in combat, so poor were their reputation. Shipped to Britian, they were canabilized for their wires/spark plugs and then scrapped on the DOCKS!!!
10 Tie Bell P-39/P-400 and Bristol Blenheim I, IV & V. The Bell P-39/P400 were so wretched, they were used as bate aircraft to lure Japanese figters to attack them!!! The Bristols were literally meat on the table if attacked and they had small pay loads!!! All types withdrawn by 1942!!!
Thank you for pointing out our error on the Fairey Battle. We strive for accuracy here at the Armed Forces History Museum, but once in a while something slips past us. Thank you also for your feedback regarding additional aircraft that could make a top ten worst aircraft of WWII list. Always great to get additional input. We appreciate your visiting our web-site and hope some day you can visit the museum. Thanks again!
That most certainly is a Battle. Did you change the picture in response to his post?
That was quite some time ago, but I believe the photograph was corrected. Thanks for visiting our web-site.
Nice list!!!!!
Why does it say my comment is awaiting moderation?
Comments are not directly posted. We have to approve them first. Good thing as some of them are SPAM.
Thanks so much! We appreciate your visiting the web-site and taking the time to give us your thoughts.
The Bachem Natter has to be in there. Killed all its pilots, I believe.
The LWS Zubr almost has to be included, too. Declared worn out sometimes after one flight! Wound up being used as decoy targets on Polish airfields.
Most overrated was the Focke-Wulf Ta-152. Widely regarded as the highest-performing figher of WWII by many, the real combat record was 7 to 10 victories (depending on who you believe) with 4 losses. Only 43 confirmed as ever delivered to operational units and never more than 25 in operation at any one time. Only two were operational when the war ended. Even the Grumman F4F Wildcat had a better actual combat record. Basically a no-show in WWII through no real fault of its own … it was the German situation late in the war. Since they were basically deployed prototypes, there was NO chain of spare parts. When they broke, they sat out the war. No faults ever got fixed because the war was closing in on all sides. Could have been one of the best, but actually did almost nothing in the event.
Thanks for the additional information Greg! We appreciate your visiting our web-site and for taking the time to post your information.