How does an Aircraft make you feel....
 

Ok this is leaning towards the abstract a bit here, but the F-4 thread made me get to thinking about different aircraft and the effect their look and appareance have on our emotions.

To use the F4 as an example, several people have mentioned that it looks the part, how its form matches its intent and how it just looks deadly.



So the question i'm going to pose to you is this - how do different aircraft tug at your heart strings (or other strings for that matter) when you look at them...

For example, I think, the Saab Viggen looks pretty damn mean, and pretty damn agressive. Just like the famous line of a Spitfire, to me isn't deadly, but graceful - a Hurricane is more workhorse like.

On the workhorse, the A7 Corsair, the A1 Skyraider, the Hercules all look the part, stoic and powerful.

an Apache or Cobra both look Waspish and nasty and reassuring...

Sea Harriers look kinda cute and thereofre dont match their record (ducks to avoid incoming)

Its an exceptionally hard thing to categorise and i've made a pretty bloody bad job of it, but if you think you understand me (congratulations) do please post.

SO, aircraft form, and function.

NimWACS - looked crap, was crap! A perfect marriage of form and function.;)

Concorde......




Perfection.

Sexy and curvy:

The Spitfire

The Sea Hawk

The F-86 Sabre

The bruiser looking for said fight:

P-47, Hawker Typhoon, F-4 Phantom II

Menacing in a Darth Vader the world is going to explode kind of way:

The B-52

Westland Lysander reminds me of a wolf in sheeps clothing. It looks like the class geek, the odd one out, but in reality actually did some pretty interesting stuff.

On the other hand, the Hawker Hunter makes me think of an elegant lady with a bite

There is a well-worn expression - "If it looks right it is right" - and that is often true.

The Hunter, for example, looked right and was more than that.

There is an apocryphal tale of a Rhodesian RAF officer who visited Warton and was shown a prototype Tornado in a hangar with a very asymetric configuration and he commented "It'll never fu**ing fly".

An Israeli air force officer commented "The best place for canards is on someone else's fighter".

In Cold Lake circa Maple Flag 5 the Base Commander wanted to hold an ugly aircraft competition and picked on the Harrier. The A-10 won.

Does looking the part mean much or is the visual impact merely in the eyes of the beholder?

The Ford Capri was a beautiful car but it was far from the best of its' era.

The Lightning looked and was a formidable performing fighter in its' day but the weapon system was crap even by the standards of the day.

Some Navigators look smart but I wouldn't let my daughter marry one.

I guess looks mean something but they are not the be all and end all. Scratch the surface at least to see the value.

SR-71.......looks fast & sinister.

B-1...........^^^^ditto^^^^.

Buccaneer - nuff said!

X-32 - A basking shark!

I always considered it quite ugly, as I did the TSR2 but hey it's just personal opinion.

Didn't someone once say the Victor looked like it was going Mach 1, even when it was on the ground?!?!

:eek:

Avro Vulcan......The Poodles Parts!



Civil side......Boeing 727-200

Colour me biased but I've always had a soft spot for the Hotspur glider.

D.H. Hornet, anyone ?
FW-190 ?

And amongst those with holes in the back, any or all of F-100, F-105 and the F-111.

Almost a whole page and no TSR-2 fans yet (an no I am not one!)



...Boeing 707

F106 Delta Dart, Looked the business, and had a weapon that did not need to be accurate to be devastating.

Canberra, simplistic beauty, and very capable for it's day. Also one of the very few foreign aircraft bought by the USAF

For me the Mosquito was the best A/C of it's generation a great combination of beauty and power.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3241/...dbfe7c.jpg?v=0

The difference a few feet make. F3: long pointy, looks quick but almost calm, a veritable diplomat. GR: stocky and nasty, looks like it's about to punch someone in the face for looking the wrong way a its girlfriend. Either way, love the land shark.:}

F-14
 

That picture in Top Gun when 'Maverick' walks out to the jet before the final showdown. Moody sky, head-on, strapped to the deck and looking mean.
It's the reason I'm where I am today! The jet, not Maverick before any smart-arses try to get clever!
BV:)
(Anyone care to post a picture to illustrate my point?!)

B2 - the nuclear doom machine, much scarier than the BUFF.
F3 - rather than the stub nosed GR crap.
SR-71 because..........
TOOM......does what it says on the tin
A10 - you know it's going to give you a kicking.

Oh and just about anything going past at full bore and you are looking down the hill at it.

Helo wise I'd say the variant stallion with all the guns and probe etc....