Favorite Airplane

[Mr Nice]

F-4 Phantom

 

[fdcg27]

Okay, but the Vulcan is a far more attractive airplane.
The Brits pretty much owned the aesthetics aspect through the early jet age.
The Comet was a very sleek and clean looking aircraft in a way that something like the B707 never could be.
The BAC 1-11 makes the DC-9 look like the box it came in while the Trident may or may not have inspired the B727.
Props? I like the Viscount and the Vanguard, especially the Viscount with those four slender pencil Darts and those big oval windows.
Wartime?
What is more attractive than the wooden Mosquito or the Spitfire?
Favorite airplane?
One I can rent and fly all by myself with no worry, the C172.
Going somewhere?
Any airliner we happen to find ourselves on.
Modern air transport is simply magic.
Quick one-stop connections to almost anywhere in the world along with remarkably reasonable fares.

 

[SEMI_287]

Originally Posted by Chris Meutsch
I give you the MD-80:

I've always wanted to fly the MD-80. I've always wondered what would have been MDD chose the CFM56 and not the JT8D-200.

 

[Astro14]

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted by sasilverbullet
Originally Posted by slug_bug
SR-71 Blackbird!

+1

Baddest plane ever made!

It was a race car or really a hot rod plane.

 

[Bud]

Love the A-10 Warthog.

 

[Hombre909]

The P38 Lightning

 

[wemay]

A10 Warthog
F4 Phantom
ME 109
P47

 

[Hombre909]

Messerschmitt Me 262

 

[BusyLittleShop]

My favorite aircraft and why...

1903 Wright Flyer... not only did the Wrights solve 3 axis controlled flight they designed and
built their own 4 cylinder aircraft engine consistently delivering 12 horsepower...

1913 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer... Mr.Bechereau's monoplane was the
first to break the 200 kph (124 mph) 'barrier' and was the 'speed
phenomenon' of the years before the First World War... Look closely
and you can see the design trend that designers will follow in the years
leading up to WW2...

Deperdussin are popular with replica builders...

Italian Macchi Castoldi MC 72... In April 1933 over Garda Lake, in
northern Italy it set a record with a speed of 424 mph. Then, a year
and a half later in the same venue, it broke 700 km/h with an average
speed of 709.202 km/h (440.681 mph) in October 1934. Both times the
plane was piloted by Francesco Agello. This remains today the fastest
speed ever attained by a piston-engined seaplane...

1935 Hughes H-1 was a racing aircraft built by Hughes Aircraft in 1935.
It set a world airspeed record and a transcontinental speed record
across the United States. The H-1 Racer was the last aircraft built by
a private individual to set the world speed record; every aircraft to
hold the honor since was a military design. Both the Japanese and the
Germans were inspired by the design... Kurt Tank admits the Focke Wolf
190 was model after the lines H1 but Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the
Mitsubishi Zero strongly refutes the allegation that the Hughes H1
influencing his design of the Japanese fighter aircraft...

Bugatti 110 of 1938. It was soley designed as a racing plane, but was
never flown because WW2 intervened but the French saved the aircraft
and later sold it to the US EAA organization were it rest today...

See if you spot the radiators...

1943 P51 Razor Back Mustangs are pure sex with wings...

1945 Horten 229 one of aviation's most futuristic designs... it looks modern 75 years later...

 

[Blokey]

i've always liked the Charger more than the Concorde:

 

[AdmdeVilleneuve]

My grand-daughters have attended summer camp at the Museum of Flight in Seattle the last few years. The oldest favors the P-40N Warhawk due to the shark's teeth nose on the exhibit. The second oldest likes the Messerschmitt BF 109E-3 best. Great choices.

Unfortunately, the Museum of Flight will be temporarily closed effective Thursday, March 12, due to public gathering restrictions announced by Gov. Jay Inslee today. A reopening date is unknown at this time.
https://museumofflight.org

 

[CT8]

I want one of these. My wife just took the pictures off the back deck . The pilot is practicing. Usually the field is sprayed around midnight. It is so amazing.

 

[wings&wheels]

Originally Posted by Astro14
I've seen a Victor. So few are left!

At the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, there is a Victor. She's undergoing restoration. At least, I hope she is, she looked a bit forlorn when my wife and I were there a couple years ago.

That's a great museum, by the way. Many airplanes in the collection are unique, like the only surviving TSR-2 prototype. Some are rare, like the Sea Vixen.

The V bombers (Victor, Valiant, Vulcan) represent an interesting time: in the early days of the jet age, the RAF chose three airplanes for the same mission. All designed around the same weapons, and all fielded concurrently. The total was about 150 airplanes. Running three simultaneous acquisition programs and production lines was expensive, but the RAF didn't know enough to choose a winner in the competition- the technology was too new - so they hedged their bets and bought all three.

I enjoyed this book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DN5U5LI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I've seen the one at Duxford. I actually talked my Wife into seeing the museum during our honeymoon....still paying

I ordered the book, thanks.

Lots of good ones here, love seeing the working planes, Pilatus and the ag plane, keep going!

 

[CT8]

These were taken off our front deck.

 

[rekit]

The next SR71 is suggested to be the Aurora. I have built several models of what I believe to be it. I can say it is the fastest, finest flying plane I've ever flown. Here is a vid.
https://youtu.be/5YiVfE8HnMk

 

[BusyLittleShop]

Originally Posted by CT8

I want one of these. My wife just took the pictures off the back deck . The pilot is practicing. Usually the field is sprayed around midnight. It is so amazing.


Thats a 1993 PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader...

 

[AlaskaMike]

I have to go with the U2. She's old, and she's not particularly sexy in this day and age. Her nickname is the "Dragon Lady". However this aircraft has more significant history than any other aircraft flying today. And she is still flying today.

Most folks these days probably don't know who Edwin Land is. During the 1950s he pioneered the camera technology that went into the U2. His company also later became the Polaroid Corporation.

 

[Astro14]

U2 is a fascinating machine. Still amazing what it can do, where it flies in the envelope.

 

[RitcheyRch]

B1