Sorry Art, but I have to go with jets, and fast ones at that. The
record is pretty solid during Korea and Vietnam, jets were a LOT more
survivable than piston - powered aircraft. In Vietnam, the good old
A-1 had the highest loss rate of any USAF combat aircraft.

As far as speed, the A-10 had a much higher loss rate than the F-16
during Desert Storm. Of course, so did the Av-8, due to the
vulnerability of the Harriers engine to handheld SAMS!

Of course, a LOT of this has to do with the mission being flown, etc.
The only reason for going slow is to find and hit a target better - if
the weapon system allows you to do that at highter speeds and
altitudes - then faster is better. It is also a lot more expensive,
and not always necessary, and there will always be a need for
something like the A-10 to get down and dirty - I sure wish they would
make a C model with more grunt and some decent avionics!

R-2800s are wonderful - and so are J-79s - and so is no engine at all,
sometimes!

Kirk