top best looking aircraft

[blink138]

never started a poll before, however lewis' thread on that old beauty the mozzie on the previous post got me thinking of my faves
keep it to your own personal idea on "aviation eye candy" not necessarily what that aircraft achieved
top 5......10?
pat

[blink138]

ah i suppose i should have added my own first ha ha!

1 blackbird (it is still OMG to look at)

2 vulcan bomber, saw one at farnborough(?) in the early 70's and literally wet me kecks

3 messershmidt me 262 looks like a flying shark and lets face it was way ahead

4 mig 15 just a beautiful shape

5 between the mozzie and the spit.... cant decide
pat

[FlashDrive]

If I could .. I'd have one of these ..!!
Just beautiful ....and luxurious .

Flash ..!!

[FlashDrive]

Military Favorites .. in no particular order.

Flash ..!!

[BPO]

The XB-70 Valkyrie and the B-58 Hustler are awesome-looking beasties. The Valkyrie gets my vote for Best Airplane Ever.

[Matt Wastell]

I am not too familiar with aircraft but here are a few that I like to see (no particular order)

F104 Starfighter
Phantom
Shuttle Orbiter
Messerschmitt
B52
Focke Wulf
Mustang
A380

[Astroman]

1. De Havilland Vampire FB5
2. De Havilland Vampire FB5
3. De Havilland Vampire FB5
4. De Havilland Vampire FB5
5. De Havilland Vampire FB5

:D

Original image from http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1065485/

[BlackWidow]

Well I think this has to be the best looking Aircraft of all. Well that's co's it's mine :D

I guess it's like a Mother with it's child, and that's the way I see it. You don't have to agree and I won't be upset.

She's the love of my life :screwy:

Mardy

[rcheshire]

English Electric Lightning
Floating hulls.

[LewisM]

Easy for me:

1. DeHavilland DH103 Hornet
2. Supermarine Spitfire Mk VIII
3. Messerschmitt Me109K (or H)
4. Arado Ar96
5. DeHavilland Mosquito
6. Avro Lancaster
7. Heinkel He111
8. Heinkel He162
9. Feiseler Storch
10. Hawker Hurricane
11. North American P51
12. Mikoyan Gurevich MiG3
13. Focke-Wulf Fw190D
14. Focke-Wulf Ta152
15. Junkers Stuka (ANY variant, but particularly the D)
16. Curtiss P40 - particularly the N series.

[Barrykgerdes]

The best looking aircraft is a matter of time and place.

In 1908 I would have expected people marvelling at the lines of the Wright brothers flying machine. Would have gazed in wonder.

During the WW1 troops bogged down under enemy fire would have thought that a flight of Camels straffing the enemy were the greatest looking aircraft.

Similarly in WW2 a flight of Lancasters returning from a bombing raid under attack over the English Channel would have thought a flight of Spitfires coming to their aid was the greatest.

and so on!

Barry

[Capricorn1(Tom)]

1.Blackbird :saw one on the entrepid airspace museum in New York City.
2.Mig -29
3.Vulcan bomber: saw one at Farnborough RAAF Base Victoria.
4.B52
5.Me 109

Cheers:D

[Kunama]

Saab Viggen

[LewisM]

I rarely venture into the jet age, but my preferences there are:

1. Hawker Hunter
2. Heinkel He162
3. Boeing B-47
4. F9F Panther
5. F86 Sabre (preferrably CAC built Avon Sabre)
6. Dehavilland Vampire
7. Sukhoi Su27
8. Sukhoi Su7
9. Dassault Mirage IIIO
10. F105 Thunderchief

[TrevorW]

B-52
b-2

[hotspur]

Vickers Wellington-love the geodectic 'basket weave' design-can take lots of flak and still get home safe-If I could go back in time and meet one person,it would have to be the gentleman that designed this,and those amazing bouncing ball mines.(there mines-not bombs!)

The avro lancaster is also a favourite,along with Boeing 747 200 series,not a big fan of those A 380-they look quite ugly-(As Jermy Clakeson once said -Europeans should stick to fashion design and food)

[MikeyB]

Very nice indeed, but what does that prominent "Ejection Seat" switch actually do? :)

[OICURMT]

Best looking... definitely a "relative" term...



I used to be a big fan of WW aircraft... still am, but my appeal for modern "eye candy" is ever increasing and has now supplanted my WW views with the exception of the DR1. The order is pretty close, a few in the list are so close they are basically tied.
Fokker DR1
Grumman X-29
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk
Northrup Grumman B2 Bomber
Vought F4U Corsair
Supermarine Spitfire (I prefer the ellipse winged versions)
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Virgin Galactic White Knight One
Lockheed P38 Lightning


Notable mentions...

Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde
Dehavilland Mosquito
Airco DH.2
Junker Stuka
Heinkel He-111
Boeing 747
Antonov An-15
Antonov An-225
Fokker E111
North American P-51 Mustang
Where do I stop???

[M110]

Spitfire Mk. XIV
A-10 Warthog( the gun with wings)
B-17
F-105d
F-4U Corsair

[leon]

How about one of these the B52 landing at Darwin this year, :shrug: or maybe a C17, :) or even a couple of jets. ;)

Leon :thumbsup:

[Hans Tucker]

Three F-15 Eagles....sweet.

[tlgerdes]

Sukhoi Su-27 and derivatives. :thumbsup: Just looks the bees knees.

[Inmykombi]

Has to be the Fokker F27b Friendship for me. It was the first plane I flew on as a boy and it is a very nice looking aircraft.

[acropolite]

I have to agree with Martin about the Jabiru, a pretty little aircraft, doubly so because it's all Australian. I had the funds put aside for a Jabiru kit, alas, building a new house swallowed up my plane fund. :sad:

My favourite would have to be any variant of the Spitire, except the clipped wing versions, and the P38 lightning, they look fast just standing there.

[OICURMT]

Interesting... I don't like the pointy winged version (Mk VI, VII and some of the VIII's I think), clipped is fine.

To each...

[leon]

F 15's, Hans, is that what they are, :shrug: I just take em. :lol: glad you liked them.

Leon :thumbsup:

[MikeyB]

No love for the curvaceous Catalina?

[astroron]

TSR2,it was a fantastic aircraft:sadeyes:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[FlashDrive]

If I remember right ...British Govt' canned it ...severe cost over run's.
Kinda had a ' Concord ' look about it.

[astroron]

It was canned to please the Americans,who wanted to sell the F111 to the UK, and also some shady deal that allowed the Concord to be constructed.
The biggest Irony was Britain did not get the F111 also because of cost over runs, and in cancelling it costing over $100 million dollars in cancellation fees and finishing up with the Mcdonald Douglas Phantom instead, which put the British Military Aircraft industry in a tail spin for many years.:sadeyes:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[rcheshire]

Has anyone flown any of the aicraft mentioned? We have a Jabiru pilot...

[astroron]

Wait till Peter comes along, He is a A380 pilot;)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[FlashDrive]

Not in real life ..only worked on 3 of them
1 ..F111C at Amberley in the 70's
2..Orion P3B Model at Edinburgh SA.
3..F86 Sabre at Wagga RAAF Training Base.

Most of the Aircraft listed through out this thread ..I have flown in FSX. ( you still got to know what your doing... flap settings ...avoid overspeed ..watch your N1 Temp's on Turbines .... approach speeds ... trim the aircraft out properly ...etc. )

Flash ..!!

[wasyoungonce]

Not a Pilot but an ex RAAF Av tech...flown Mirage III0 dual twice in 80's..back seat of course...F18 once, 90's...again back seat, Winjeel right hand seat many times ...does that count!:shrug:

Suffice to say.....I really wasn't cut out to be a pilot!:lol:

[rcheshire]

I think high performance joy rides count. Who would pass up an opportunity like that.

[Lee]

easy!......

[taminga16]

Swidnik PW-6. Elegance over muscle.
Greg.
I have just noticed rcheshire's post, and while it is all fairly new to me I am learning to fly gliders, and loving it.

[tonybarry]

+1 for the Valkyrie. Awesome looking plane - beautiful on the runway and in flight. Sadly only three were made.

Regards,
Tony Barry

[BlackWidow]

Ha ha.. It's a very simply system. If the passenger activates the switch...I open the door and push them out :lol:

It's the only way I could get it to work as I have a high wing.



Mardy

[Astroman]

I have flown a few hours in the Vampire on FSX :)

[FlashDrive]

Andrew ...it sure is nice to Fly ...very stable..!!

[pgc hunter]

For passenger aircraft,

The Boeing 707. Somehow that is just the most perfect looking airliner ever built IMO.

The 747, a timeless design. The Airbus A380 just does not compare.

Among the modern jetliners, I've always fancied the 777. It just looks good.

[goober]

Sopwith Triplane, specifically "Blimp".

[Waxing_Gibbous]

1-Spitfire
2-Spitfire
3-Spitfire
4-Spitfire
5-Concorde
:D

[Russ59]

Working in commercial aviation I have never had an interest in anything military. My 'likes' are purely commercial airliners.

1. B767-300 - workhorse of many domestic carriers - my preferred aircraft when flying.
2. B737-800
3. 330-200
4. A380

[OICURMT]

My favorite seat is the upper deck front row of the 747. My better half just flew back last month from the USA on a 747, front row, window. Now it's her fav...

[LewisM]

Having ridden more than a few from the Box Office, my favourite is, was, and will forever be the Douglas DC3.

Best, most reliable and safest airliner? Doubglas DC9. Diesel forever!

Having a father in TAA, I got to ride the jumpseat from VERY young. What a life that was.... from dawn over the Bight enroute to Perth in a 727, to doing 2 orbits of Ayer's Rock and the Olga's - also in a 727, and landing at Kingsford Smith in a DC9 for the Richmond Bicentennial Airshow in the middle of a storm, having to hold on tight as it thumped down hard, then rethumped!

The 777 is an impressive aircraft, in every way.

The A380... unimpressive. Like most Airbus aircraft. You get what you pay for. A340 is the most UNIMPRESSIVE airliner I have ever been in. I'd rather have flown in a darned 737-200 than a damned A340!

[astro_south]

For me:

1. Sea Fury - simplicity in design but high performance
2. Spitfire
3. 777 - those big engines (... and I have spent some long hauls up the front of them)
4. F15 - like the lines of this aircraft
5. Mosquito
6. F16 - like the geometry at the front with the intake under the fuselage

And like some others here, have spent many an hour on FSX with these and many more aircraft (and the great ORBX scenery for Australia).

[GrahamL]

One of those amazing moments of human endeavour and no one sees the beauty in this one ?

The notion this will ultimately be yet another tool we can use to kill and maim each other, in that brief moment in time, just hasn't
occured to anyone yet.

[Nico13]

Ah but it wasn't long because I think the Wright boys approached the military with their design and suggested it's possible application for just that purpose. :D

[Peter Ward]

Easy...

Spitfire
F4 Phantom
Concorde
SR-71 Blackbird
X-15

[marki]

Gloster Meteor
DE Havilland Hornet
Supermarine Spitfire (Mk XVIII)
Hawker Tempest
Focke-wulf 190
North American P51D mustang
Chance Vought F4U Corsair
Lockheed P38 Lightning
Lockheed SR71 Blackbird
F16 Falcon/ Euro Fighter/ Saab Viggen/Mirage
B36 Peacemaker/B47 Stratojet/Lancaster
f28 Fokker/Concorde/Learjet 60XR

And there are many more like anything made by Sukhoi especially if Svetlana Kapanina happens to flying it :D.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNjzHkMZinE

Mark

[Nico13]

There are so many!

F4U Corsair
Spitfire
Mustang
P40 Kittyhawk
P38 Lightning
Sea Fury
F111
Mirage 111
Blackbird
Concorde

Used to play with a few of these, in particular Mirage 111, F111, FA18A
Also did a bit Sailplane flying both the real thing and RC Models.

I think what I liked the most was flying the Gliders and working on the Mirage.

[Nico13]

Perfect, exactly what I was thinking of. ;)

[Capricorn1(Tom)]

Well every body is having a few goes at this, here goes:
Been for a ride in a Herc,Iroquois,chinook,caribou, also had a walk through in a concorde: very narrow internally.

Cheers :D

[ReaPerMan]

I have always loved the Focke-wulf 190. A lovely plane from WW2 designed by Kurt tank. The D (Dora) is familier to most people and I built a Flying model of this when I was in high school.

Here is a nice modellers guide to this planes many variants.

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/11/stuff_eng_fw190_01.htm

all the best

Paul :thumbsup:

EDIT

anyone want to buy a replica piece for their wall http://www.fightingcolors.com/Fw190images/fw_190_page.htm

You might also find part of your favorite plane here

http://www.fightingcolors.com/newmenupage.htm

[LewisM]

Ken,

The Mirage IIIO was something indeed. Used to watch them all day long in Townsville... and vividly recall the ARDU one dogfighting with the then new F/A-18 at the Richmond Bicentennial airshow. Have a friend who's son died while flying Mirage A3-40 - in commemoration many years after the event, I made a model of the aircraft for his father. Vale Craig.

[Varangian]

Messerschmitt Bf109

[FlashDrive]

Dug out this old Airforce photo.
This is at ARDU ( Aircraft Research and Development Unit )
RAAF Base Edinburgh. S.A.

Nice Mirage Aeroplane.

Yep ...that's me ..... 20years old. ( 37years ago )

Flash ..!!

[ReaPerMan]

See my remarks above

You might also find part of your favorite plane here

http://www.fightingcolors.com/newmenupage.htm

[TrevorW]

I like this one too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_B-1_Lancer

[WingnutR32]

Wow, that looks cool!

[rcheshire]

Convair Hustler and Bristol188 were unique great looking, high performance aircraft, and for its time the Hustler was surprisingly sophisticated. Ref 1962 Observers Book of Aircraft.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-58_Hustler

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_188

[astroron]

Avro Lancaster
They where still in service when I was a young boy;)

This was a cool looking aircraft :)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20886684
I hope it gets to fly again:D
Cheers:thumbsup:

[ourkind]

Enjoyed watching this one being flown at Tamora Airport by David Lowy pictured with me. I'm yet to get up in one. I believe these are used for public adventure flights too.

[RAJAH235]

1/. Spitfire
2/. Spitfire
3/. Spitfire
4/. Mustang
5/. Concorde

All beautifully designed aeroplanes.

[sil]

SR71 Blackbird
"Caspian Sea Monster" Ekranoplane
F111
Spitfire
Hind D gunship

[LewisM]

Yes Ron, they were in service in 1942 when you were a lad :)



It will. It'll make it the third flying one (one in UK, one in Canada).

Australia has 2 - the AWM one (GORGEOUS!) and the ex-Aeronavale one at Bull Creek in WA. Sadly neither will ever fly again (the Bull Creek one has extensive corrosion in the main spar and elsewhere), and G for George in the AWM deserves to stay as a memorial.

It is on my Bucket List to see the BBMF routine, especially Lancaster and Hurricane (I have seen several Spitfires), and HOPEFULLY a Mosquito.

Speaking of bucket lists, this is mine in terms of flying aircraft:
1. Lancaster
2. Mosquito
3. Hurricane
4. Me109 (genuine, not Spanish Ha1112)
5. Il-2 Shturmovik
6. MiG 3
7. Fw190 (genuine, not modern reproduction/replica)
8. Mitsubishi Zero
9. Boeing B17
10. Fieseler Storch (again, genuine German, not Morane-Saulnier or ultralight Slepcev)

[FlashDrive]

This is in someone's front yard....Spotted it going on holiday's in NSW last year.
Now that's a great place to play ...check the tyres, oil, elevator/ aileron check, .... chocks away .... oooooh darn ...no fuel ..!!

BTW ...It's a Neptune ..... they were based at RAAF Townsville in the 60's and 70's.

Flash ..!!

[LewisM]

That Nep is just outside of Dubbo. I saw it too when wife and I drove to WA to relocate for work.

There is an ex-RAAF DC-3 in Hay by memory too - or at least another town NEAR Hay.... on the way through to Vic the back way anyway.

[ourkind]

Took these at a monthly meeting at Tamora

Photo 1 and 2

Gloster Meteor F8 - Delivered 20/08/52. Served in Korea with 77 Sqn. Named 'Halestorm'. Halestorm was flown by Sgt George Hale who shot down a MIG during the Korean War on 27/03/1953. Converted to U.21A Struck off 08/01/64. Cockpit on display SA Aviation Museum. Temora Meteor VH-MBX is painted as A77-851.

photo 3 and 4

Mk VIII Spitfire and I'm not sure what model spitfire is beside it.

[LewisM]

I'll help you Carlos - the ground shot of the Spitfire Mk VIII has a Lockheed Hudson behind. The airborne shot has a Curtiss P-40N-1-CU (or just a P-40N Kittyhawk for short :) )

[RB]

I'm no expert but I love the look of the F-14 Tom Cat and the Boeing 747.
And while I'm at it, the Saturn V is my all time favourite 'air'craft. ;)

[ReaPerMan]

This has been in my Bucket list for some time now,
http://www.adrenalin.com.au/mig-29-edge-of-space/russia/air/13863

The interesting part was when I first bookmarked this the flight was on Mig31.. Now it would appear to be a Mig29. Cost cutting?

[Hans Tucker]

A certain thread on a moderators little tank made me think about the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keuB6F1PgjQ

Airpower is superior.

Even a battle damaged A-10 is deadly.

http://northshorejournal.org/tag/aoa-10-fighter-pilot

[COSMOPARADISE]

TU-160, B-52 and B1-B do it for me.

[MichaelSW]

FlashDrive (Col) beat me to it.

I lived in Townsville 1966-70 under the Southern approach to the RAAF Base at Garbutt - the home then of No.10 SQN Maritime Patrol and ASW aircraft. The Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune does it for me. Check out the lines, curves, angles and bulges at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6393384521/

And listening to the sound of the two Wright compound 18 cylinder R3350-32W air-cooled radial piston engines start up was a real treat. You can catch it on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFmrcgDjubY

[GraemeT]

I've flown a Tigermoth, which is pure nostalg, but my vote is for the Supermarine Spitfire, any variant.