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Well, the tank thread seems pretty popular, so why not a knockoff version about aircraft?

I happent o be a fan of the Swedish Air Forces attempts to be Not-NATO and build their own aircraft. Apparently, instead of building Nuclear Weapons, they decided to build a native air force, and was the 4th largest in the World during the Cold War. I am a fan of most of the Saab created combat aircraft just for their distinct look....


Saab Tunnnan- The plane the 1950's Swedish Air Force was built around.


Saab Draken


Saab Viggen


Saab Grippen- The modern backbone of the Swedish Air Force and a multi-role aircraft

How about you?

Good idea ! The Saab Grippen looks a lot like a French Rafale (or is it the other way around ?).
The two I really like are the Me 262 and the F-86 Sabre !

Me 262


F-86

hey, what's going on in this thread

That is a beautiful line of aircraft. I prefer the pug of attack/transport helicopters- the first and only, the glorious Hind. Nothing about it is beautiful, and it appears that someone slapped 3 or 4 different aircraft together at high speeds- and all of them are uncomfortable with the results. And yet it is such a triumph of function over form. It was a versatile, incredibly tough aircraft- and it still is. Much like it's fixed wing cousin, the Warthog, some things just appeal because of their brutal disregard for aesthetics. The Hind blows a hole in your heart and deploys troops to fill it.

I really love the F35. The thing may be a massive waste of money, but damn does it look sexy:


Apart from the F35, this marvel of Soviet engineering is technically an aircraft:

I really like the beautiful curves of the Messerschmitt Me-262.



It was one of the first plastic models I built as a child, and I fell in love with its design immediately. I'm also a fan of SAAB 29 Tunnan and Mitsubishi Ki-46 I-II (before they changed the windshield design with version III).

Modern aircraft are a bit like modern cars, they look a bit too similar and don't have as much personality. Most stealth designs are really ugly. I get that they're great at what they do, but no modern aircraft makes me want to sit down and lovingly build a model of it.

I love the Concorde. Wildly impractical plaything for the rich, but absolutely beautiful plane.



In terms of fighter aircraft it has to be the P51. By the time it was adapted to high altitude performance it really was the final, perfected version evolution of prop fighters, and it looks it.

hands down the concorde and the boeing 747. both planes way advanced and revolutionized the aviation industry.

For me, it's the SR-71 Blackbird. I've loved it since I was a child. It's such an amazing aircraft!

I've got to admit a sneaking respect for the Mig 29 fulcrum. It was a real game changer of an aircraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan_MiG-29

But you gotta hand it to the A-10 warthog. Quite effective in it's role, nothing tops it on ground attack aircraft.

The B52 tho, man that is the Methuselah of aircraft. In an era where things are obsolete in a decade that grand old airwhale is still going strong after it's reached an age where it's crews would be forced to retire.

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
Nicknamed the "Warthog"
Durability. Dependability. And a gak ton of dakka.

A nice tie between the SR-71 and the A-10A. As far as I know, a suitable replacement hasn't been found for either in its role.

 Freakazoitt wrote:

Fellow light pilot?

My fav is this Czech girl, mostly because she's the one I get to fly

Saw this when I was a kid, always liked it. The optica. Too bad there are so few

The Wooden Wonder, the de Havilland Mosquito.

 sebster wrote:
I love the Concorde. Wildly impractical plaything for the rich, but absolutely beautiful plane.

Quite right. It's a marvel of engineering, and a thing of beauty.

In terms of fighter aircraft it has to be the P51.

Oh, and you were doing so well. :( The correct answer is, of course, the Spitfire:


Although the camo paint and guns rather spoil the look of the thing.

hmmm, I dont know how to post images but

the B-17 easily, I've been in love with that thing since first seeing the movie memphis belle as a kid(next time a flight is in town I'm riding that thing 100%)

second choice would be the osprey, I just love it for some reason

 Techpriestsupport wrote:
I've got to admit a sneaking respect for the Mig 29 fulcrum. It was a real game changer of an aircraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan_MiG-29

But you gotta hand it to the A-10 warthog. Quite effective in it's role, nothing tops it on ground attack aircraft.

The B52 tho, man that is the Methuselah of aircraft. In an era where things are obsolete in a decade that grand old airwhale is still going strong after it's reached an age where it's crews would be forced to retire.

Yeah, the big old girl is old as her crews parents.
Yet still carries a unmatched amount of heavy ordience.

Airwhale is almost perfect word to describe it.

 soundwave591 wrote:
hmmm, I dont know how to post images but

It's pretty easy. Here is how, assuming Chrome:

Do a google image search, like for B17.

Click on an image, and then right-click and select "copy image address"

Start a new post. Hit the "image" button above your post. Right click and hit paste. Hit the "image" button again to close the tags.

I'm by no plane buff by any stretch of the imagination, but my two favourites have to be the venerable de Havilland Mosquito, and the utterly bananas Hawker Harrier.

One? Not possible.

SR-71 - Fast and pushed technology right to the edge in just about every area. It was flying right at the edge of the envelope of what was possible for many years.


Spitfire. A British legend and icon. Never mind its capability as a fighter craft, its propaganda value alone was incredible.


B52 or BUFF. The shear presence of the B52 is something to behold. They have one at Duxford and it totally dominates the hall. It's huge... It is war incarnate. It is such a symbol of US power, strength and shear destructive ability at the height of US power in the world. It is an icon of the jet age, of the US self confidence in the 1950's, of the cold war and the Vietnam war. It is 60 years old and still going strong, and still valid today.


Space shuttle. The words biggest glider, attached tot he worlds biggest fireworks. Another icon of the US, but this time one of peace. It came out of the space race, but now, to me, it is an icon of scientific endeavour.


Concorde. Just such a beautiful aircraft. A total folly, but the panicle of the jet age. Of when air travel was cool and not just something we suffer through.


Vulcan. Anyone who has seen one fly, or more accurately felt it fly. When they light up the afterburners it just leaves you stunned. This and Concorde are like the space shuttle and B52. Icons of British confidence and power post ww2.


Electric Lightning. A dirty great engine with a seat on top. An aircraft with just one purpose with no compromise. To intercept an incoming strategic bomber as fast as possible. Payload of 2 missiles, range of 1000 miles, and mind bogglingly fast and fully aerobatic.


Harrier Jump Jet family. The only true VTOL jets.

I've been an aircraft enthusiast since forever and I can never pick a favourite, though most the planes on my top 20 would be ww2 aircraft, especially fighters.

Hawker Tempest because it has a bloody 24 cyl H block with sleeve valves and looks mean as hell.

Mosquito because who could dislike a super fast wooden fighter bomber.

Stuka because it was probably the only remotely accurate bomber and it looks scary.

Bf109 for its scary look, leading edge slate and inverted v12 with direct fuel injection.

P-51 for its super low drag and big fuel capacity.

P47 for its turbocharged double wasp that produced insane power all the way from the deck to high altitude.

Zero for its on-the-edge design being super light and super long endurance. The Sakai engine is also pretty cool for its power to weight ratio.

Hayabusa because that thing could turn on a bloody dime. I've seen gun camera footage of someone trying to shoot one down and the way it danced through the sky was incredible.

Honestly I could keep going until I run out of ww2 fighters, they're all awesome and I haven't even touched on the soviet ones yet.

 Steve steveson wrote:

Harrier Jump Jet family. The only true VTOL jets.

Don't forget the Yak-38



Anyone who's played harpoon (and been annoyed by its lacking combat range) knows those, but if it's the only CAP you got on board you might as well use it.

It's a good-looking plane, but it looks better in bare aluminium.

Didn't have the range or payload of the Lancaster, but it was better-defended.

The best plane is the one I get to fly:

 Steve steveson wrote:

Space shuttle. The words biggest glider, attached tot he worlds biggest fireworks. Another icon of the US, but this time one of peace. It came out of the space race, but now, to me, it is an icon of scientific endeavour.

It's a pity the design was so compromised, and that it never really lived up to its intention, but yes, it's a cool plane.

Vulcan. Anyone who has seen one fly, or more accurately felt it fly. When they light up the afterburners it just leaves you stunned. This and Concorde are like the space shuttle and B52. Icons of British confidence and power post ww2.

This, and the contemporary Handley-Page Victor still look like something from science fiction now, fifty years after they were first introduced. The logistics involved in getting two Vulcans from Ascenscion Island to the Falklands and back is quite something; Three Victors refuel three more, two of which refuel the third so it can refuel a Vulcan on the outbound leg, then more refuelling flights on the way back, to get a plane designed to fly relatively short distances over Europe a third of the way round the world in one go:


From the movies, I've always loved the Rolls-Royce Orion spaceplane as shown in Pan-Am livery in 2001: A Space Oddysey:

Ride the Lightning baby



Can't lie. Don't know much of anything about planes like I do tanks, but I've always loved the unique look of this plane, and it was my favorite to fly in Heroes of the Pacific.

jouso wrote:

 Steve steveson wrote:

Harrier Jump Jet family. The only true VTOL jets.

Don't forget the Yak-38



Anyone who's played harpoon (and been annoyed by its lacking combat range) knows those, but if it's the only CAP you got on board you might as well use it.

For some reason I had in my head that the Yak-38 was STOL.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 AndrewGPaul wrote:

 Steve steveson wrote:

Space shuttle. The words biggest glider, attached tot he worlds biggest fireworks. Another icon of the US, but this time one of peace. It came out of the space race, but now, to me, it is an icon of scientific endeavour.

It's a pity the design was so compromised, and that it never really lived up to its intention, but yes, it's a cool plane.

So many of these aircraft are.

The Harrier is another plane that - if you remove the missile rails and paint it a more attractive colour - just looks cool, and that's purely down to its function. It's not quite so cool-looking as Concorde, a Vulcan or a Spitfire, but it's got the same sort of charm as an ugly puppy.