Unique Aeroplanes
 

I was taking a group at a museum yesterday, and a young lad asked me "what do you think is the most unique aeroplane?". If we exclude the last-remaining of a line, and say just "one-offs", what are your thoughts? My own reply was the "Spruce Goose". Do we limit it to ones where the aircraft remains intact, or can we throw in the Brabazon and so on? This could raise a few "unknowns".

I suppose the Spruce Goose was really just a larger version of what had gone before. Perhaps it could be something that has unique attributes...?

TSR-2 gets my vote. Only 1 flew I recall

Herod..... Apologies for being a pedant. You cannot qualify the word "unique" i.e. "most unique" is incorrect. Unique means, one off, on its own, alone. If there is more than one it is NOT unique, less than one means it is only part of one: incomplete.

When it comes to aircraft types there are some obvious examples of truly (hey, fell into the trap myself !!!) unique examples. Spruce Goose would certainly qualify, as would the Reid & Sigrist Desford. Then there will be some that are unique, in that they have a "one off" engine installation but there will be other airframes with different engines.

Sometimes a particular Mark of a design will be a "one off, unique". The de Havilland 106 Comet 3 was unique but of course there were others Comets of different Mks.... While we are on de Havilland aircraft, the deH 81 Swallow Moth & deH 92 Dolphin were both unique.

How about the Myasishchev M-50?

Two engines with reheat and two without, as well as mounting engines on the wingtips. I think it is the only one to have those two features. Plus they only made one working example.

Features have nothing to do with uniqueness.
A unique aeroplane is a one-off, and there must be/have been hundreds, if not thousands in that category. All unique.

Saro Princess..only 1 flew, another 2 were built but cocooned for 15 years

Planemike. My apologies; you are of course quite correct (or perhaps that shouldn't be qualified either. It's either correct or not). Vernacular I suppose.

The Beardmore Inflexible was pretty impressive, built by Glasgow shipbuilders it was certainly unique.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beardmore_Inflexible

Only a wheel survives.

Might I be even more pedantic and suggest that the term "unique" (at least as in how question was asked) might refer to an unusual design and not that only one was made

BV 141 for instance

Cranfield A1?

Fairey Rotodyne
Absolutely unique
There are a few bits left at Weston-Super-Mare.

Your definition of unique is certainly unique.

Merriam-Webster
Unique adjective
\ yu̇-ˈnēk \
Definition of unique
1: being the only one
2a: being without a like or equal
b: distinctively characteristic
c: able to be distinguished from all others of its class or type

Cambridge
Unique
adjective
UK /juːˈniːk/ US /juːˈniːk/

Being the only existing one of its type or, more generally, unusual, or special in some way.

Oxford
Unique adjective
/yuˈnik/

• Being the only one of its kind.
• Very special or unusual.
• Unique (to somebody/something) belonging to or connected with one particular person, place, or thing.

Geez - I think we all know what we're trying to list here, can we move on from the pedanticism? :suspect:

I always think the Blohn & Voss BV 141 as being a unique asymmetrical design.

Well.... the linguistics do have a place in this discussion so that we are all aware of what it is we're discussing... at least, that's my view! Without them, you may end up with one of those 'which is the best' discussions where no-one states what it is that makes it the best.

Unique aircraft... The Rutan Voyager gets my vote for its capability and achievement.

AN225.Dream.
AN70.

One springs to mind especially: the Edgley Optica. I've no idea what the designers had had but I'll have the same. Double.

Caspian Seamonster


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....9c741fd18.jpeg

For for the purists: