#1, P-51 Mustang: Broke the Luftwaffe
Before the P-51D Mustang arrived in early 1944, Allied bombers were being slaughtered over Germany. The Eighth Air Force lost 77 bombers in a single raid on Schweinfurt. Then North American Aviation's masterpiece showed up with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, drop tanks good for 1,500 miles, and the ability to escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back. The Luftwaffe's loss rate tripled within months.
Mustang pilots racked up nearly 5,000 aerial victories in the European theater alone, making D-Day possible by achieving air superiority over the beaches. The aircraft's combination of range, speed, and maneuverability made it the most decisive fighter of World War II. More than 15,000 were built, and it remained in frontline service with air forces around the world well into the 1980s. No single aircraft did more to win the air war over Europe, and that earns the P-51D the top spot in military aviation history.
