Most precedential airplanes of all time?

[Tempsford]

Ju49, first pressurised cabin?

[stepwilk]

Having flown the Sabreliner and flown in the JetStar, I know perfectly well that they pre-dated the Lear, but that's an example of what I meant by "precedential" as opposed to "first." Regardless of their handling qualities or performance numbers, "Lear" became the prototypical business jet while the Sabre and JetStar slowly sank from sight.

It's sort of like saying that Chamberlin's Bellanca was actually a far better airplane than the Ryan SoSL.

[411A]

...not trend setters.

Well, if you're looking for actual trendsetters, you left out one very important design, and in that design, and those that followed, the Brits excelled...
VISCOUNT, the first successful commercial turbopropellor type.

The Brits were very innovative, so give credit where credit is due...Comet versus 707 notwithstanding.

NB.
Yes, I've flown the Viscount, have to say, not a bad design...at all.
The boss sure liked it...Ray Charles.

[stepwilk]

I was behind you once at LGA,years ago, you were going VFR, short hop down toward DC, and I remember you--or somebody up front--told ground you were "eyeballs to Ball'emer."

[411A]

..."eyeballs to Ball'emer."

That would be...Baltimore.

[con-pilot]

It's sort of like saying that Chamberlin's Bellanca was actually a far better airplane than the Ryan SoSL.

Not wanting to be argumentative, but, in my opinion the Jetstar and the Sabre 40 were better aircraft than the Lear 23, much better.

What made the Lear so successful was the price, much like the Cessna Citation 500 that was introduced years later. Also going along with your reasoning, the Lear Jet (irregardless of the series) became synonymous with 'Private Jet' to the public at large. When the general public think 'airliner' the 747 comes first most in their minds and when 'private jet' is mentioned the Lear Jet comes to mind.

So with that reasoning, I stand corrected and admit that the Lear 23 does fit the category you have established. At least a lot better than say the Jet Commander*.

Now on just a personal note. Did you ever fly a Lear 23 with the original fuel control panel? Now talk about mind boggling. Not to mention that to release the parking brake you had to push the anti-skid test button as well, found that out the hard way.


* Technically the latest version of the original Jet Commander is still in production as the G-200 (or whatever it is called now) by Gulfstream. They have the same fuselage as the original Jet Commander, just a bit longer now.

[stepwilk]

"That would be...Baltimore."

Uh, yeah, I know.

And my point about Chamberlin's Bellanca was that perhaps it _was_ a better airplane than the Ryan. But who other than aviation historians remembers it?

[philbky]

In fairness, you've an almost impossible task - large volumes have been published trying to cover the topic - and very few have had success in getting people to agree with the choices.

With regard to Ray Charles' Viscount, N22RC I believe, I saw and photographed it at Long Beach at Christmas 1984

[suninmyeyes]

How about the Boeing B-52?

Not many other bombers can carry 30 tonnes of bombs and have been in service over 50 years.

[Flying Lawyer]

stepwilk
I’m surprised you don’t include rotary flight.

Applying your criterion of 'specific aircraft that had an enormous effect on the future of flight' to helicopters:

The first fully controllable helicopter was the experimental Focke-Wulf Fw 61 (aka Fa61) but, as John Farley says, the Sikorsky VS-300 set the definitive configuration for many years - single main rotor with anti-torque tail rotor.

The Bell 47 was not only the first certified civil helicopter, but the first large volume production helicopter. More than 5600 were produced - civil and military models.

The Bell XV-3 wasn’t the first tilt-rotor to fly, but it was the aircraft that proved the tilt-rotor concept and gathered data needed for future designs, leading eventually to the first production tilt-rotor, the V-22 Osprey.

The Kaman K-225 was the first turbine powered helicopter, but the Alouette II was the first production turbine helicopter.

I think the Kaman QH-43 was the first UAV helicopter.

[stepwilk]

You're absolutely right, and it was my misteak to not include the Focke-Wulf, which was indeed on my list. (I was copying from an older list when I put down the selection at the beginning of this post.)

As a sometime helo pilot, I never intended to neglect the little dears.

[Rory57]

Stepwilk,

to help with the selection, focus instead upon on the most significant technical steps forward, those that have driven forward the state of the aviation art. Then, identify which aircraft best exemplify those advances.
Often this will not be the earliest implementation. For example the C5A introduced a step change in airframe size together with the high BPR turbofan but it is the in the 747 that these same technical advances become significant.

[Senior Pilot]

Further to the lack of rotary recognition: the UH1 surely set the precedent of helicopter use in the battlefield?

[stepwilk]

Actually, that's what I tried to do--identify the advances and then pick the aircraft that drove them. And remember, space limits me to considering only the broadest, most important advances.

Here are the ones I thought I'd identified initially:

The "practical" airplane
All-metal airplane
Cantilever wing
Retractable landing gear
Truly reliable engine
Practical and profitable airliner
Helicopter
Tricycle gear
Jet fighter
Jet airliner
Short-haul jet airliner (maybe a criterion that deserves elimination)
Business jet
Composite airframe
VTOL airplane
Digital fly-by-wire
Highest performance ever (just for the fun of it--could also be eliminated)

That's 14 categories even if I cut the two I've marked for possible elimination, and I need to do about a dozen airplanes, given that Aviation History magazine has only so many pages to devote per article. When we start getting into "the prototypical homebuilt" and "the airplane that started general aviation," I have to get out the scissors.

[Herod]

Gossamer Condor or Gossamer Albatross, for proving that man CAN fly.

[Pondskater]

All metal aircraft? You might want to have a look at this article from Flight: hugo junkers | 1942 | 1489 | Flight Archive

It questions the significance of the Junkers against the Short Silver Streak which was stressed skin construction, rather than simply clad in metal.

[treadigraph]

The best curiosities might be worth including as a brief side panel.

If the definition of "airplane" was blurred to "heavier than air, man carrying craft, capable of getting airborne" then the Saturn V would surely win the highest performance ever category.

The SR-71 definitely gets my vote and, despite my love of high performance piston fighters, still stands head and shoulders above everything else as the most awesome aeroplane ever - and it's coming up to 50 years old now. Still remember the first time I saw one for real nearly 30 years ago...

I seem to recall a similar thread several years ago - might be worth a search to see how the arguments panned out then.

[stepwilk]

"All metal aircraft? You might want to have a look at this article from Flight: hugo junkers | 1942 | 1489 | Flight Archive

It questions the significance of the Junkers against the Short Silver Streak which was stressed skin construction, rather than simply clad in metal."

_That_ is interesting. Thank you!

[stepwilk]

"If the definition of "airplane" was blurred to "heavier than air, man carrying craft" then the Saturn V would surely win the highest performance ever category."

Nah, there are two words we're working with here--"air" and "plane"--that make it impossible to include space vehicles. It's sort of like saying, "If you'd blur the definition of 'automobile' to include 'wheeled vehicles moving under their own power,' a General Electric diesel freight locomotive is far more powerful than a Ferrari Enzo."

[Fantome]

There must be a better title than 'Precedential Airplanes', or the like. Maybe 'Keynote Designs' or 'Prototypes that Prospered' or 'Benchmark Breakthroughs' or 'These Showed the Way' or 'Mileposts of Aircraft Design'.