What is your favorite aircraft of all time?

[shoelessjoe]

Obvious choices are often so for a reason.

The Spitfire gets my vote. No contest.

... and arguably, the handsomest plane ... ever.

 

[merkman]

It's like cars, how can you pick just one..........I guess my first choice would have to be the P-51 for all the obvious reasons plus my uncle flew one in England with the 339th FG. Then there's the Mosquito, beautifull proportions and TWO Merlins, and the FW190 D/ TA152 the ultimate 190 development.

 

[kpreed]

My friend George's Mustang.

 

[rumblefish]

You gotta love an aircraft whose fuel could (and sometimes did) dissolve its own pilot alive.

Yeah, terrible things can happen when you mix that T-Stoff and C-Stoff [bad] .

 

[rumblefish]

Here's a few among many favs

Siemens Schuckert D. IV

mmmmmmmmm lozenge camouflage......looks like a bag of candy.

The B-25H all those .50 cal. AND a 75mm cannon...hate to have that pointed at me.

I like Ernst Udet's Fokker D.III with the Du Doch Nicht painted on the tail. The gentleman's version of giving the finger.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

With air travel definitely NOT one of my favorite things, I think I would have to say my favorite aircraft is the one that gets me from departure to destination without mishap. What's the old line - any landing you walk away from is a good landing?

 

["Doc" Devereux]

What's the old line - any landing you walk away from is a good landing?

True, but I understand that the current fashion suggests leaving one's aircraft in a reusable condition afterwards.

 

[DeaconKC]

The most elegant, the Spitfire, but my WW2 favorite is hands down:

and my WW1 favorite:

Youse guys definitely have got a great joint here!

 

[Staredge]

Meh. Youse guys and your warbirds. Always had a soft spot for seaplanes...especially

and...the greatest aircraft ever built.

(both of which qualify as warbirds, by the way)

Will

 

[KY Gentleman]

I don't know a whole lot about airplanes but I've been to two pretty good aircraft museums (Wright Patterson in Dayon, Oh and Warner Robbins, GA).
I had a great uncle who was in a B-17 so I enjoyed looking at this particular plane.

 

[imported_the_librarian]

I'm the new guy in here, so pardon any duplication, but gotta be the Dauntless:

Here's another one:

 

[Corto]

Make mine C-47. From the Flying the Hump to the Plain of Jars and beyond. (Apparently the USAF is flying a suped-up version in places where we need a tad bit of "deniability"....)

 

[Curt Dawson]

My Favorite

Mine is the Gruman Albatross.I first saw one when my Dad was working for IBM.He was in charge of testing all the on board computers in the lunar module at Gruman's plant in Beth Page Long Island.And brought home a brochure of their aircraft.Well I just fell in love with the homely looking old girl.And to this day whenever I see a picture of on or the rare time I see on in the flesh my heart beats a little faster and a subtle smile crosses my face.

 

[Staredge]

Mine is the Gruman Albatross.I first saw one when my Dad was working for IBM.He was in charge of testing all the on board computers in the lunar module at Gruman's plant in Beth Page Long Island.And brought home a brochure of their aircraft.Well I just fell in love with the homely looking old girl.And to this day whenever I see a picture of on or the rare time I see on in the flesh my heart beats a little faster and a subtle smile crosses my face.

I like the Albatross as well.....just not as much as the Goose!!!!!! lol

Like I said, I just have a soft spot for seaplanes. Not so much floatplanes, although I wouldn't turn down a Cub on floats.

Will

 

[Decodence]

I'm going to second the H1 racer, the Boeing 314, the Macchi MC72, the DH-88, Albatross, and the S-38. To that, I will add the following:

DC3 on pontoons:

Macchi M67 (YOU HAVE to love that Isotta-Fraschini Asso 750R/1000 W18 with its 3 banks of inline cylinders hinding under the sculpted cowling).

Supermarine S6B

And lastly, and oddity, the Marchetti SM55

I probably love it so much because it reminds me of Norman Geddes flying wing/boat the "Airliner number 4"

 

[Bull Moose]

My all time favorite airplane, the Grainville Bros 'Gee Bee' Model Z

 

[Jerekson]

I probably love it so much because it reminds me of Norman Geddes flying wing/boat the "Airliner number 4"

Did they seriously make one of these?

 

[Diamondback]

Did they seriously make one of these?

Maybe a model... the Bel Geddes/Kuhler design was just too big, expensive and impractical for anyone to buy in, IIRC, kinda like the more recent Boeing "Super Clipper" concept using 747 fuselages as floats.

 

[Jerekson]

I would love to have some more info on this Super Clipper...

 

[Diamondback]

There isn't much online about it, it was just a "concept" project a few engineers worked up. Air & Space/Smithsonian had a piece about it and other possible superduperjumbos a couple years ago.