We're up to the 1950s with the decade a day of the best fighter aircraft in the world for the years 1950-1959.
The purpose of these threads is discussion. The criteria are your own. They could be most kills, best performance stats or 'I think it looks cool.' You make the pick, you pick why.
The only rule is the fighter must be operational in the time specified. This means you can pick an aircraft designed in the previous decade if you so choose. Check those operational dates, as a lot of aircraft may have flown in one year and not become operational until years later. This also means you can pick the same aircraft across more than one decade as long as it was operational for more than one.
They can be any theater, any nation and there are no wrong answers- just opinions.
If you want to discuss previous decades they are here:
1940s- TMP link
1930s- TMP link
1920s- TMP link
1910s- TMP link
What is the best fighter in the world, in your opinion, operational between 1950 and 1959?
My number one is the F-86 Sabre. Why? Because it is ubiquitous with the 1950s, fought all over the world, and was a successful aircraft both with guns and later with missiles. Hell, the South Koreans flew them all the way to the 1980s and didn't retire their last one until 1990. That's a pretty amazing testament to the capability of the airframe. The Navy even flew them as the FJ-2 and FJ-3 Fury. Many nations adopted them, including the Canadians, who license built their own version often sited as the best of the lot. The list of nations that flew them is long, and in each nation they were well loved.
There are a lot of great aircraft in this period worthy of the title. A few more that I would put in the ring just under the Sabre are…
The Hawker Hunter. This rugged fighter was a British success and a formidable fighter both in dogfighting and as a ground attack aircraft. Graceful, with lovely lines and a heck of a punch with her 4 30mm Aden cannons. Many nations adopted this fighter and flew them successfully for many years to come, with the last military bird retired finally in 2014.
Being ex-Navy myself, I have to give credit to a fighter that saw no real combat as a fighter (but eventually as a recon aircraft). This beautiful and capable Naval Fighter flew throughout the 1950s and earned respect and love from its pilots and crews. That is the F9F Cougar. A swept wing variant of the premiere US Navy jet fighter of the Korean war, the F9F Panther, the Cougar was more than just a Panther with swept wings. It was modified with a more powerful engine and proved both agile and capable. Eventually it became the first operational Navy Fighter to carry missiles. The Cougar was ready for a fight that fortunately for its pilots, never came. The Tiger was faster, but I would argue that the Cougar was a better dogfighter.
I almost picked this aircraft, which was the MiG-17. Take a MiG 15, make it supersonic (just barely) and add a gun radar and you get a masterful fighter design that would give the United States a real headache in the 1960s and beyond. Versatile, rugged and capable, the MiG-17, like other aircraft on this list flew for a long time into the future with some nations reported to be flying them even to this day. That's a hell of a legacy.
Finally, I have to give a nod to the French and the Super Mystere. A development of its earlier fighter designs, the Super Mystere became a fantastic fighter bomber that served the French Armée de l'Air but found a real home in the Israeli Air Force. This supersonic fighter served up until the 1970s. It's life wasn't as long as some of the aircraft in this list, but it was a capable fighter aircraft that held its own against the best of both East and West.
What do you consider to be the best fighter aircraft of the 1950s and why?
paints up some Israeli mortar vehicles.
