Nominations needed for Aviation History Magazine article
What are the most beautiful airplanes ever?
The magazine recently published a piece of mine on the ugliest airplanes of all time, and it elicited so much attention, comment and readership that now they want me to do the other end of the spectrum.
Constellation, SF-260, F-86, Hughes Racer, 707, Spitfire, Deperdussin, Concorde, Cessna 310...there are a zillion possibilities (well, at least dozens) and I'd like to come up with a list that covers everything from WWI to the present, with equal weight given to a WWI fighter, a vintage biplane, a classic 1930s single, both piston and jet air transports, same for fighters, a Postwar general aviation airplane and a number of other important categories.
It would also be fun to come up with some surprises: choosing the Spitfire is like shooting fish in a barrel, but was there possibly a French (gasp!) or Italian fighter even lovelier?
I'd like to also limit the criteria to the visual, not the visceral: lots of people consider the Lanc or the B -24 beautiful because it brought them home alive and/or did a lot of damage to the enemy, but I hope to leave out such emotions and deal simply with airplanes as objects of beauty. Never mind if it had terrible single-engine handling, was a piece of crap quality-wise or was a failure on the market, what do you people consider to be the most beautiful airplanes ever?
I ask because I admire your knowledge and opinions, frankly.