What is your favorite aircraft of all time?

[splintercellsz]

B-17 and the TBF Avenger

 

[DharmaBum]

F-35 Lightning II.........just kidding....its a money pit and too ambitious.....something designed to do many things well usually does not do anything well!

The ole B-17 is the only one for me!

 

[plain old dave]

I replied on this thread a while back, but wanted to "revise and extend" so to speak.

Biplane fighter: Boeing F4B/ Curtiss F9C

Early monoplane reciprocating engine fighter: Grumman F4F

Late monoplane reciprocating engine fighter: Grumman F8F

1st gen jet: North American FJ-4
2d gen jet: Vought F8U
3d gen jet: F-14

Twin engine warbird: Lockheed P2V
4 engine: Lockheed Super Connie

Honorable Mention: Douglas BT2D/AD/A-1 Skyraider

 

[skydog757]

A-10 Thunderbolt II (aka Warthog). It went into service while I was stationed at 57th Combat Support Group at Nellis AFB. They don't look like much on the ground (hence the name "Warthog"), but they can maneuver very well, are heavily armored and can flat bring it with their weaponry. Designed for forward ground support, they earned their reputation as tank killers. Troops would say "go ugly early" meaning to deploy the A-10 early in a ground conflict.

 

[Stearmen]

A-10 Thunderbolt II (aka Warthog). It went into service while I was stationed at 57th Combat Support Group at Nellis AFB. They don't look like much on the ground (hence the name "Warthog"), but they can maneuver very well, are heavily armored and can flat bring it with their weaponry. Designed for forward ground support, they earned their reputation as tank killers. Troops would say "go ugly early" meaning to deploy the A-10 early in a ground conflict.

I remember in the late 80s, I was working on the wing of a PV2, when suddenly a A-10 came over and put on a mini air show. I would like to think it was my own private show, but, probably for some brass. I did not like the plane at the time, since it replaced the venerable A1 Sandy. I could not believe the maneuvers, it did things no Spad could do. A couple of years later, the Air Force said they were going to give them to our Army National guard unit, I was all set to join, then the Gulf war came, and put an end to that. Would have been fun! [video=youtube;kGwL21E_2w8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGwL21E_2w8[/video]

 

[nick123]

And I forgot the XB-70 Valkyrie. Mind blowing aircraft.

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

Top of the list Ju52

[video=youtube_share;8XKGhG0W0LQ]http://youtu.be/8XKGhG0W0LQ[/video]


Followed by a Lancaster, Spitfire, Corsair and so the list goes on, have a soft spot for the Dragon Rapide. for modern aircraft it has to be the Vulcan and then a Phantom :eusa_clap

 

[Horace Debussy Jones]

Keep the A10 in service! :eusa_clap
My favorite, if I was going to fly it would be the German FW 190. Said to be very stable, easy to fly, and LAND. Landing being the most important part of flying.

 

[Jaychis]

I'm a Thunderbolt guy. Both are flying tanks. The P-47 and the A-10. The P-47 didn't have the range of the 51, but it was the last thing the enemy wanted to see coming with 8 .50 cals blazing. In Europe, Thunderbolts flew more sorties than P-51s, P-38s and P-40s combined and had the kills to back it up.

 

[nick123]

Has anyone seen this A-10 flight sim? Supposedly the accompanying instruction manual is something to the tune of 600 pages.
http://youtu.be/oSxV-gkpVWo

 

[Bonked]

There are SO many I love Mustang, Corsair, Spit Etc. Some are graceful and some are just plain awesome cool. I have allways loved the Beech 17 Staggerwing Fitting Pic for our website. And

Another favorite is the Super Constellation which came into my Towns little airport when I was a kid such a graceful plane
In the awesome cool dept. the Thunderbolt I mean come on! Ain`t she sweet.

 

[Stearmen]

I love the Stagerwing in embassy colors. Is that the one in Paris colors? The Paris 17 flew formation on our SNJ at the Eisenhower 100th anniversary celebration, as we were looking for The Daylight train. I remember looking back as we were banking, it is probably the most beautiful plane ever made! I will admit to being biased, I have a lot of hours in Beechcraft products, from a worn out Musketeer to Twin Beech's!

 

[Bonked]

Hi Stearmen I don`t know about the colors. Interesting question. I have been to Tullahoma TN. a few times and have never been able to get to the Beech Museum I`m always disappointed to miss it I believe there are 9 or 10 staggerwings there . A big thrill of mine as a young Man was to get a couple of rides in a twin Beech as they still ran a shuttle from Keene N.H. to Boston I love the radials.

 

[nick123]

My dad gave me all of these "ABC's Wide World of Flying" VHS tapes. There was an excellent Staggerwing feature. Such a great aircraft.

 

[Stearmen]

Oxcart was the code name, officially refereed to by the ground crew as The Article, then the number, 121-135. Unofficially they were Lockheed A12 Cygnus, (the swan.) Disregard the Air Force markings, they were bogus. The actual operators was the CIA. Single seat, and shorter, hence lighter, they flew faster and higher then their more famous descendants! They were only operational for a very short time, but they mapped all of Vietnam, and during the USS Pueblo indecent, they mapped North Korea. The last photo is an M12, with a D21 drone on top. Capable of speeds of Mach 3.3 at over 90,000 feet, the drone was unstoppable.

 

[Marv]

My top four favourite WW2 aircraft in order are.....

1) Hawker Hurricane
2) North American P51-D Mustang
3) Supermarine Spitfire
4) Republic P47-D Thunderbolt

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

I just watched this video and thought Stearman may appreciate it for our joint passion for Tante Ju

[video=vimeo;76940898]http://vimeo.com/76940898[/video]

http://vimeo.com/76940898

That's a holiday for my list.

 

[Bushman]

The BF 109. Them were some seriously cool looking planes from way back in the day.

 

[Stearmen]

I just watched this video and thought Stearman may appreciate it for our joint passion for Tante Ju

[video=vimeo;76940898]http://vimeo.com/76940898[/video]

http://vimeo.com/76940898

That's a holiday for my list.

Spectacular video! We are so lucky that Spain put them into production. It is a shame, more were not saved in the 70s.

 

[Dennis Young]

I have 3 favorites of WW2.
P-38 Lightning. Sharp looking and fast.

The Vought F4U Corsair
I guess coz I loved the tv series Black Sheep Squadron.

And still one of the coolest most popular planes of any era.


The P-51 Mustang