Originally Posted by
KenV
Wait a minute!! Are you saying that finely crafted point designs, like say the EE Lightning and the F-104, are no longer good ideas? Heresy!!
There was something about the F-5E (Tiger II) that always appealed to me in a fighter. F-5G/F-20 as well. (Sorry to see that it didn't work out in the end ... ). But that's looking backwards, not forwards.
When it comes to pure good looks, though, I probably cannot be trusted due to long rotary wing experience and the belief that being so ugly that the ground repels them is not how helicopters actually fly. For my money, the V-22 is not good looking (the V-280 will be when it gets flying) but it seems to work pretty well.
That latest arsenal ship, Zumwalt class, doesn't look good. I really don't like it's looks, but I suppose it will work out in the end. (It better, those things are freaking expensive).
Likewise with the F-35. I don't really like its looks, but I suspect it will work out in the end.