What is your favorite aircraft of all time?

[HepKitty]

Ercoupe, if I remember correctly this one is a 1946. this was last week, with the student teacher again so no official time, but I did get the left seat

 

[HodgePodge]

If favourite = "If I were granted one wish to [learn to] fly any ONE plane," then it would have to be an F-4 Phantom.

 

[Old Rogue]

If favourite = "If I were granted one wish to [learn to] fly any ONE plane," then it would have to be an F-4 Phantom.

Great choice, the F-4 is one wicked aircraft. It still looks sleek and modern even when compared to modern fighters such as the F-16 and F-18.

 

[cco23i]

OUTSTANDING Hep!

Scott

 

[HepKitty]

thanks! hope to fly again tomorrow, this time with the CFI. the student teacher has offered to take me up again this weekend too, gosh I can't possibly refuse

 

[Ponsenby]

P40 Kittyhawk, in Commonwealth service. If I had to be picky, from 3 Sqn, RAAF in the Middle East.

Here's one from the recent Avalon airshow, not in Desert Air Force colours unfortunately!

 

[Giftmacher]

From military planes I do like classics He 111 and Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor and from civil Aero 45 and Let L 200 Morava, but both are post-war planes (1947 and 1957)

 

[cw3pa]

AC-130

Because it can provide really close air support. I know.

 

[Concerto]

For the "classic" era, easily the RAF Spitfire. Graceful in flight, ingenius in design, and a combination of beauty and of British reservation and smartness that sets it ahead of the Mustang (which looks a little too "sporty" for a war fighter).

In terms of modern planes, the USAF B-2 Spirit bomber. There's something awe-inspiring about the plane, and while it looks pudgy sideways on, from every other angle looks sleek and utterly deadly (can a stealth nuclear bomber NOT be deadly?).

 

[Gray Ghost]

For WWII it would have to be the Lockheed P-38 Lightnng, but for modern it would be the A-10 Thunderbolt II aka The Warthog.

 

[andy richards]

I do not know a lot about planes, but this one caught my attention two weeks ago on the Dutch isle of Texel. It's fully restored and was modified to fit two pilots. Great sound too!

Cheers,
Andy

 

[David Conwill]

Ah yes, the North American P-51D "Mustang". A truly classic design. Not my favorite, perhaps because of its ubiquity, but an undeniably beautiful and impressive piece of machinery.

-Dave

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I like some of the early war Russian aircraft.

Some footage of the Polikarpov family of fighters.
[video=youtube;PbW_JaCm05A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbW_JaCm05A&feature=related[/video]

 

[ron521]

I've always found the original autogyro intriguing, and loved how one was used in a climactic scene in "The Rocketeer". Here is a short video showing off the short takeoff, slow flying ability, and very gentle landings possible in extremely limited spaces.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/229827/how_the_autogyro_works/

 

[juup]

Sopworth Camel or any other Bi/Tri plane. they just look so cool.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

The Boeing 314 Clipper

Very cool. :eusa_clap A flying luxury yacht.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I think this would have been a nice way to travel. Too bad they used explosive hydrogen instead of helium though.
[video]http://www.invisiblethemepark.com/2009/07/hindenburg-a-deck-walkthrough-video/[/video]

 

[Stony]

The P-61 Black Widow.

FYI: The F6F Hellcat made more aces for the U.S. in WWII. Not the P-51, P-47 or P-38.

 

[Gray Ghost]

Another plane that you don't hear much about is the P-400. A lend-lease, for the British, version of the P-39. You could tell the P-400 from the P-39 because the P-400 had 12 exhaust stacks behind the pilot instead of 6 that were on the P-39. It also had metric instruments and a British Oxygen system. They also did not have the supercharger. The Brits decided they did not want them so the US put them to use in the Pacific to outfit some of their Pursuit Squadrons. The 67th PS used them at Cactus as ground support aircraft since they were useless to use them against the Zero. They were unable to get to altitude because they did not have the correct oxygen system for the plane. They had to stay under 14,000 or risk passing out from lack of oxygen. I read this in a book about the squadron that was self published by one of it's officers.

 

[Gray Ghost]

P-400

My father gave me a Philipine mahogany model of this same plane for one of my birthdays. Hell's Bells of the 67th Pursuit Squadron, Cactus and later Jungle Air Force on Guadalcanal.