the best looking aircraft
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: A galaxy far far away
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Single Piston - FW190 A8
Multi Piston - I second Beagle's nomination
Single Jet - F106
Multi Jet - F106 with 'JATO' ... yes I know a JATO is actually a RATO. Call it poetic license - and my 'joke' doesn't work otherwise.
Multi Piston - I second Beagle's nomination
Single Jet - F106
Multi Jet - F106 with 'JATO' ... yes I know a JATO is actually a RATO. Call it poetic license - and my 'joke' doesn't work otherwise.
Have to agree - especially if you ever witnessed one retracting gear after takeoff. There's a lovely quote beside a picture of just such a CAAC Trident departure in one of the enthusiast's books......"B-284 clambers skyward..... gathering her undercarriage in the Trident's truely awkard looking fashion"
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Timbukthree
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Best looking, as in aesthetic, pleasant to look at.
Quite surprising a Viscount was mentioned earlier, as the president of Capital Airlines (U.S.) said he loved the aircraft's economy of operation, but too bad is was ugly to look at.
Long ago, a girlfriend of mine exclaimed she had just observed the ugliest plane ever! (She knew aircraft, as she grew up on air force bases and her father was a pilot). I walked down the hangar line, only to see a Canso. Yes, beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.
Quite surprising a Viscount was mentioned earlier, as the president of Capital Airlines (U.S.) said he loved the aircraft's economy of operation, but too bad is was ugly to look at.
Long ago, a girlfriend of mine exclaimed she had just observed the ugliest plane ever! (She knew aircraft, as she grew up on air force bases and her father was a pilot). I walked down the hangar line, only to see a Canso. Yes, beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If i can only choose one then it will be the Huey IMHO
But if it was more then one I like to include Spit, P51, P38, B17, Mitchell, Catalina, Corsair, Hurricane.......just too many.
However the Bell UH1H 'Huey' not just the looks, but the sound WHOP WHOP WHOP........ just wonderfull.
However the Bell UH1H 'Huey' not just the looks, but the sound WHOP WHOP WHOP........ just wonderfull.
Red On, Green On
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Between the woods and the water
Age: 24
Posts: 6,487
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
For me the Sea Fury just looks the part, perhaps not beautiful in an aesthetic sense, but a crafted weapon of war.
click here to view the Sea Fury
I thought this one was fairly wonderfull to look at on 20 November 1978 - she'd just taken me (and only me) round the circuit at Roborough.
Chipmunk WD374
click here to view the Sea Fury
I thought this one was fairly wonderfull to look at on 20 November 1978 - she'd just taken me (and only me) round the circuit at Roborough.
Chipmunk WD374
Last edited by airborne_artist; 18th Oct 2006 at 11:54.
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Looking for the signals square at LHR
Posts: 236
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
[quote=seacue;2904505]"I've always thought that the DH91 Albatross looks ungainly with the long fuselage that tapers to next-to-nothing.
Nothing to do with its looks, but it seemed an anachronism. It was in the general DC-3 size class and era, but had 4 small engines and wooden construction. How could it have been a long-term commercial contender? But it gave them practice with the construction techniques used in the Mosquito - which looks far better to me."
Agreed. But it still was a beautiful aircraft. De Havilland had a penchant for small, multi engined models - Rapide Express, Heron etc. The complication hardly seems justified now but I'm sure it was for a reason, if only to keep the aero engine division looking busy. Actually, thinking back, the engine division always was busy since it provided most of the power plants for the British light aviation industry before and after the war. The Gipsy was even made under licence by P&W (or was it Wright?) in the late 1920's.
Anyway, the Albatross is on my list of pretty aircraft. So are the Ambassador, VC10, the Connie and Concord.
Nothing to do with its looks, but it seemed an anachronism. It was in the general DC-3 size class and era, but had 4 small engines and wooden construction. How could it have been a long-term commercial contender? But it gave them practice with the construction techniques used in the Mosquito - which looks far better to me."
Agreed. But it still was a beautiful aircraft. De Havilland had a penchant for small, multi engined models - Rapide Express, Heron etc. The complication hardly seems justified now but I'm sure it was for a reason, if only to keep the aero engine division looking busy. Actually, thinking back, the engine division always was busy since it provided most of the power plants for the British light aviation industry before and after the war. The Gipsy was even made under licence by P&W (or was it Wright?) in the late 1920's.
Anyway, the Albatross is on my list of pretty aircraft. So are the Ambassador, VC10, the Connie and Concord.
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Central England
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
knma'91
At last - a Tristar. And if you are as lucky as me to occasionaly see an RAF pair of Tristar and VC10 in close formation on the way into Brize Norton, Just beautiful.
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: flyover country USA
Age: 82
Posts: 4,579
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wright made the DH Gipsy (or Gypsy?) - I had a friend with a Fairchild 22 (2 place, open, parasol wing) with the Gipsy 4.
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,635
Received 300 Likes
on
168 Posts
Barit1 - Gipsy! 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: flyover country USA
Age: 82
Posts: 4,579
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
One of the fastest planes to employ the Wright-built Gipsy was Benny Howard's DGA-3 "Pete", placing 3rd in the 1930 Thompson Trophy race at almost 163 mph. Not bad for 320 cubic inches!
(no thread creep here; not a bad looking ship!)
(no thread creep here; not a bad looking ship!)