What Was The Fastest Piston Fighter Ever?

Republic Aviation claimed that the XP-47J could reach a top speed of 505 mph during testing, making it the fastest engine fighter by quite a margin. However, the issue with the claim is that when the US Army did its own trials, it only reached a top speed of 484 mph.

While pretty respectable, it’s quite slower especially when the other contenders for the title are running so close behind. The XP-47J also remained a prototype, and we have never seen one enter service.

19. Grumman Bearcat F8F-1

This carrier interceptor became the world speed record holder for a while. Still, its service model’s listed top speed of 428 mph at 18,800 ft. made it the slowest of our contenders.

18. Grumman Tigercat F7F-3

This plane has a top speed of 435 mph at 22,200 ft. This twin-engine carrier fighter bomber offered a pretty impressive performance.

17. Hawker Tempest II

Famously fast, the Tempest I has a recorded top speed of 466 mph at 24,500 ft. but was essentially a failure. The Tempest II has a respectable top speed of 440 mph at 15,900 ft.

16. CAC CA-15 Kangaroo

The Kangaroo is a piston fighter jet built by the Australians but never got to see service or production. However, it has a top speed of 440 mph @ 26,400 ft.

15. Supermarine Spitfire Mk-21

The Spitfire Mk-21 has a listed top speed of 454 mph at 26,000 ft.

14. North American F-82G

The North American F-82 Twin Mustang was two P-51s strung together, and despite its unusual configuration, was fast with a top speed of 456 mph at 21,000 ft.

13. Martin Baker MB-5, Hawker Sea Fury and the FMA I. Ae30

All three of these aircraft have recorded top speeds of 460 mph.

12. Focke-Wulf Ta 152H

The Ta 152H was a high-altitude interceptor that packed a heavy-hitting punch in its skinny-looking fuselage. This was all combined with a listed top speed of 462 mph at 31,170 ft. 

11. Yakovlev Yak-3M-108

This plane became famous for the role it played fighting over the Eastern front with almost 5,000 of the type built. It’s capable of a top speed of 463 mph at 19,685 ft. Unfortunately, it had issues with engine cooling and remained a prototype only.

10. Kyushu J7W Shinden

The Shinden is a truly remarkable design designed as a high-altitude interceptor to tackle the formidable B-29. The listed top speed is an estimated 466 mph.

9. F4U-5 Corsair and P-47 M

The F4U-5 has a listed top speed of 470 mph at 26,800 ft. It was matched by the Republic P-47 M.

8. De Havilland Hornet F. Mk.3

This plane is listed as achieving 472 mph at 22,000 ft. This twin-engine long-range fighter and attack aircraft served with the RAF after WWII.

7. Mitsubishi Ki-83

The Ki-83 was developed as a long-range heavy fighter for the Japanese Imperial Army. It had a respectable top speed of 438 mph at 32,810 ft.

6. Dornier Do 335

The top listed speed of the Dornier 335 A-0 which was the pre-production variant was 455 mph at 23,295 ft.

5. Hawker Fury Mk.1/ Supermarine Spiteful F. Mk. 14

The Fury made a respectable 483 mph at 18,500 ft. but never really got into service.

Meanwhile, the Spiteful is the final evolution of the Spitfire and saw limited service with the RAF after the war and had a top reported speed of 483 mph at 26,000 ft.

4. North American P-51H Mustang

North American built the P-51G as a completely new aircraft with very little in common with the earlier model.

It has a top speed of 487 mph at 25,000 ft. This makes it the fastest service piston engine fighter to ever see service.

However, it’s not considered the fastest piston engine of WWII as the type never got to see combat.

3. Republic XP-72

All in all, the XP-72 had a reported top speed of 419 mph at 25,000 ft.

2. Supermarine Spiteful F.16

The new model of the Spiteful, the F.16 was recorded during testing in 1947 as hitting 494 mph at 28,500 ft making this record the fastest achieved by a British piston engine aircraft, and if you don’t believe Republic on the XP-47J, the fastest piston engine fighter ever built.