WW2 US Aircraft
With its industrial capabilities intact and far from the fighting, the United States held the luxury of building whatever aircraft type was needed for the war effort.
There are a total of 109 WW2 American Aircraft in the Military Factory. Entries are listed below in alphanumeric order. Flag images indicative of country of origin.
1937
The Airspeed Oxford was a critical component of the British and Commonwealth forces aerial training program during World War ...
1936
The Avro Anson was a militarized version of the commercial passenger transport Avro 652. The Anson itself was produced to ful...
1941
The Beechcraft C-45 was based on the Beech Aircraft Corporation's civilian-minded Model 18 "Twin Beech" series. First flight ...
1944
The XA-38 was a developmental twin-engine heavy fighter produced by the Beech Aircraft firm. By all accounts, she was a stabl...
1941
The Bell P-39 Airacobra is yet another in the long line aircraft studies stemming from World War 2 in the "what-might-have be...
1942
The Bell-produced P-59 Airacomet series is one of those aircraft that becomes more of a study in American jet pioneering than...
1943
At its core, the Bell P-63 Kingcobra proved a modest improvement over the relative failure that was the P-39 Airacobra. Thoug...
1940
The XFL "Airabonita" was a Bell Aircraft Company product developed in parallel with the P-39 Airacobra, a land-based USAAF de...
1940
In the same way that the XFM-1 Airacuda was a "different" sort of aircraft, the Bell company itself was "different sort" of a...
1945
In 1942, with World War in full swing across Europe and the Pacific, work began on an American turbo jet-powered aircraft to ...
1939
The Boeing Model 314 "Clipper" was a flying boat developed by Boeing Aircraft Company to fulfill a Pan American requirement f...
1937
Though the Consolidated B-24 Liberator was built in greater numbers, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is often regarded as the...
1943
B-29 Superfortress status is often associated with the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ...
1932
The P-26 became the first all-metal fighter design for the United States. Appearing similar to the later "Gee Bee" series of ...
1941
When The Boeing Company acquired the Stearman company in 1939, it also acquired the design and production rights to the promi...
1937
The inter-war years saw a vast shift to more modern and potent aircraft platforms. The Boulton Paul Defiant followed as only ...
1937
The stubby F2A Buffalo series became the United States Navy's first operational aircraft of monoplane design. Despite this ho...
1943
The United States Army Air Corps appreciated the tactical scope of the German Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers an...
1939
Serving until the 1960s with the Royal Air Force, the Bristol Beaufighter (or simply "Beau") became a national hero through h...
1939
The CAC Wirraway ("Challenge" in the Woiwurrung native tongue) became one of Australia's primary trainer aircraft from 1939 o...
1941
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator became a major player for Allied forces during World War 2. Its exploits ranged the world ove...
1945
The Consolidated B-32 Dominator was a limited production four-engine heavy bomber requested by the United States Air Force as...
1940
By the middle of the 1930's America was no longer blind to the real possibility that the war would sooner or later be waged a...
1943
The Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer was a further development of the United States Navy's PB4Y-1 anti-submarine warfare aircraf...
1936
Maritime aircraft play an understated role, especially in that of war time. Fly boats came to pass, first in peace-time devel...
1933
The A-12 was an inter-war product of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company first appearing in 1933. The type became the fir...
1938
The Curtiss P-36 Hawk aircraft saw considerable operational service in the years leading up to, and during, World War 2. Its ...
1941
The P-40 Warhawk / Kittyhawk / Tomahawk series of aircraft was the further development of the P-36 Hawk platform (detailed el...
1929
Originally based on the existing P-1B series of aircraft, the P-6 Hawk series was a first-line pursuit aircraft for the Unite...
1943
The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was a rather unassuming dive bomber / reconnaissance aircraft serving throughout World War 2 begin...
1938
In 1932, the United States Navy contracted the Curtiss-Wright Corporation to produce a modern, two-seat fighter design for us...
1942
The Curtiss SO3C "Seamew" (Curtiss Model 82) was an oft-forgotten navy reconnaissance/scout/patrol floatplane produced in qua...
1944
Curtiss Aircraft enjoyed success with its inline piston-engined P-40 "Warhawk" series of fighters which went on to serve in m...
1939
The Curtiss XP-42 was a further development of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk model though it would share some initial outward similar...
1941
The smallish XP-46 was to be the answer for the deficiencies encountered in the P-40 Warhawk platform. Unfortunately for Curt...
1942
The United States Air Force utilized the C-46 Commando series as their primary transport workhorse in the Pacific Theater of ...
1943
The XP-55 Ascender was an unorthodox attempt by the Curtiss-Wright company that produced just three prototype models. Answeri...
1942
Discussions of war-winning World War 2 aircraft regularly seem to leave out one of the most famous and successful of the conf...
1941
The Douglas A-20 Havoc served Allied forces through most of World War 2, fighting for British, American and Soviet forces. Th...
1941
The Douglas A-24 "Banshee" dive bomber fit the requirement of the United States Army for a capable dive bomber-type aircraft....
1944
The Douglas A-26 Invader was a distinguished twin-engine light bomber whose origins were well-placed in the Second World War....
1936
In 1934, the American Douglas aircraft concern developed the DB-1 (also known as the "Douglas Bomber 1") to fulfill a United ...
1940
The C-47 Skytrain was a product of the Douglas Aircraft Company and is regarded as the best transport of World War 2. Interes...
1942
Derived from the commercial DC-4 airliner, the C-54 Skymaster was a workhorse transport aircraft for both the United States A...
1934
Before the DC-3 became a marketing success for the Douglas Aircraft Company - produced in some 16,000 total examples - the co...
1938
The Douglas DBS Dauntless dive bomber was a key cog in the America Navy war effort throughout the Pacific during World War 2....
1937
The Douglas TBD Devastator was classified as a torpedo bomber and served in the early half of World War 2 with the United Sta...
1943
General Motors became a major player in the American manufacturing realm when World War 2 arrived for the United States. With...
1944
The Gloster Meteor became Britain's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. It reached operational status in the latt...
1940
The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the unsung hero of the Allied Pacific Theater campaign in the early years of World War 2. Often o...
1943
The F6F Hellcat was the successor to - and a logical evolution of - the capable F4F Wildcat series of carrier-borne aircraft ...
1945
In many ways, the Grumman F8F Bearcat was the pinnacle of United States piston-engine fighter design. The aircraft arrived wi...
1937
While most every aircraft venture usually began with a military requirement or private venture undertaken by a manufacturer f...
1942
Destined never to win beauty contests, the Grumman TBF Avenger series of aircraft would go down as one of the most potent tor...
1941
Firmly entrenched as an aircraft supplier to the United States Navy, the Grumman aircraft company set about to supply an equa...
1945
The famed Hercules aircraft produced and flown only one time by Howard Hughes himself. It was commonly known as the 'Spruce G...
1946
Though only achieving prototype form, the XF-11 was one of the darling designs of famed American aviator Howard Hughes. Looki...
1937
Before the Allies would gain air superiority over the skies of France and Germany, the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber woul...
1945
The Lockheed Constellation series of aircraft was a successful design that initially began as a militarized transport, appear...
1939
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, nicknamed the "Fork-Tailed Devil" - Der Gabelschwanz Teufel - by the Germans, was the brainchild...
1945
The Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star is undoubtedly the world's most successful first generation jet-powered fighter. Appeari...
1942
The XP-49 was a development of the Lockheed Corporation and a possible replacement for its successful line of P-38 Lightning ...
1944
The XP-58 "Chain Lightning" was initially envisioned as a larger version of the successful Lockheed P-38 Lightning twin-boom ...
1948
The Martin AM Mauler was designed to a US Navy requirement during the height of World War 2. It appeared in competition with ...
1941
The Martin B-26 Marauder overcame a rocky start to become one of the finest medium bombers of World War 2. The aircraft was d...
1941
The Martin-produced Baltimore was a light-to-medium class bomber whose design was based highly on the Martin "Maryland" A-22 ...
1941
The Martin PBM-3 / PBM-5 Mariner was a World War 2-era flying boat used in the maritime reconnaissance role. Martin designed ...
1943
The XP-67 was the first attempt by the McDonnell corporation to build a fighter for the United States Military. The same corp...
1934
The high performance, record-setting Messerschmitt Bf 108 "Taifun" ("Typhoon") was born as a racing aircraft under the protot...
1942
The A-36 Apache was a United States Army version of the successful North American P-51 Mustang piston-engine fighter. The ori...
1940
The North American B-25 Mitchell series of medium bombers went on to become one of the classic American aircraft designs to e...
1940
The North American P-51 Mustang proved an invaluable addition to the Allied cause in the latter half of World War 2. The syst...
1936
The T-6 Texan was and is a world famous single-engine aircraft primarily known for its use as a trainer. A product of the Nor...
1943
The Northrop P-61 Black Widow became the United States' first aircraft specifically designed from the outset as a platform de...
1943
The XP-56 "Black Bullet" was designed by the Northrop company to an Army Air Corps proposal known as the R-40C. The XP-56 sto...
1945
The concept of the flying wing had been around since the dawn of flight and made more so intriguing throughout the 1920s and ...
1941
The Piper L-4 Grasshopper evolved from the successful Piper Cub series that took to the air as early as 1930. By 1941, the US...
1942
While much of the romance of World War 2 dogfighting often heads in the direction of the USAAF's North American P-51 Mustang ...
1946
During World War 2, the Republic Aviation name was primarily tied to the excellent P-47 "Thunderbolt" fighter-bomber which pr...
1944
The XP-72 Wasp Major Thunderbolt was intended to be an "ultimate" design of the highly successful P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bo...
1945
The Ryan FR Fireball fighter was something of a unique creation in the annals of US Navy aviation. The fighter fielded two ...
1938
The Supermarine Spitfire the legendary British fighter aircraft developed prior to World War 2. The type earned its status as...
1937
The Supermarine Stranraer was the final evolution of the Supermarine Southampton which debuted in March of 1925. The original...
1942
The F4U Corsair series of aircraft was one of the finer fighter developments of the Second World War, primarily seeing combat...
1940
The OS2U Kingfisher was a product of the Vought aircraft firm, appearing initially as the VS.310 design to which the United S...
1941
The A-35 Vengeance was a dive bomber produced by the Vultee Aircraft Company and resulted in over a thousand examples being u...
1939
The BT-13 Valiant was a stellar trainer aircraft used for basic flight training and for blind instrument training throughout ...
1943
The Vultee XP-54 was one of the more distinct aircraft creations designed during World War 2. Produced through the essentiall...
1945
The Consolidated Vultee XP-81 was a proposed long-range, high-altitude fighter design that was to be the answer for bomber es...
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COLLECTIONS:
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• Top 10 Fighter Aircraft of All Time
AIRCRAFT BY CONFLICT:
• Arab-Israeli War (1948)
• Cuban Missile Crisis (1959-1962)
• Falklands War (1982)
• Indo-Pak War (1965, 1971)
• Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
• Lebanon War (1982)
• Operation Allied Force (1999)
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• Six Day War (1967)
• Spanish Civil War (1936)
• Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989)
• Yom Kippur War (1973)
MISCELLANEOUS:
• Aircraft Cockpits
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WORLD WAR 2:
• 1939 Aircraft
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• 1942 Aircraft
• 1943 Aircraft
• 1944 Aircraft
• 1945 Aircraft
• 1946 Aircraft
• Australian Aircraft
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• Bombers
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WORLD WAR 1:
• 1914 Aircraft
• 1915 Aircraft
• 1916 Aircraft
• 1917 Aircraft
• 1918 Aircraft
• Aircraft Timeline
• Austro-Hungarian Aircraft
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• British Aircraft
• Fighters
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• WW1 Aircraft Ranked by Speed
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KOREAN WAR:
• Australian Aircraft
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• Korean War Jets
• North Korean Aircraft
• US Military Aircraft
• VIEW ALL
VIETNAM WAR:
• Helicopters
• North Vietnam Air Force
• US Airpower
• VIEW ALL
COLD WAR:
• 1950s French Aircraft
• British V-Bombers
• Cold War Bombers
• Soviet Aircraft
• Soviet Bombers
• Soviet Interceptors
• Soviet Helicopters
• Strategic Air Command
• US Aircraft
• US Bombers
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