Over time a lot of aircraft become good looking, I've noticed a lot of comments on the ugliness of the Dave. After working on it for 3 years it's grown on me...still not the best looking but it does have good lines.

DH Mosquito still has it for me.

By the way I thought the Bucanneer just had a switch that turned the undercarriage invisible. It never flew, just drove around at high speed.

A-6 didn't look anything until you saw it in action
 

Just remembered ...
 

Why it took so long to come to mind I don't (or prefer not to) know, but de Havilland's Hornet still seems the handsomest aeroplane practically ever, while the Vampire 5 still touches the heartstrings - and don't anybody call it a "Kiddicar", specially brutes who thought the Meteor 4 was good-looking. But the Meteor 8 was pretty smooth, I'll admit, and a lot of fun to do a refresher course on at Manby in the early 60s. (Bright early mornings, Autumn cornfield after harvest, sound of pheasants ... over to the flight line, and away we go ... It was good, good, good to be back in a cockpit after a heavy ground tour behind the Wall ...)
:O

Having spent some time at Boscombe Down (and about to return as a 'civvy' for the second time), the Hunter TPs loved breaking into the circuit at the 'Blue-Note' speed (was it the F6?). I still live within two miles of Boscombe and I cannot help but notice a 'new sound on the block'... the Tornado now regularly breaks into the circuit with an equally haunting note! I'm not complaining... I just wondered how it was discovered? New/modified gun pack perhaps? I don't know... but it sounds... YEAH!

TCF

It's been mentioned, but the epitome of this must be the Spitfire.

Regularly said as the most beutiful aircraft ever

All old Pilots wax lyrical about how it became an extension of their limbs

Sounded like nothing on earth since, that makes anyone, even non aircraft lovers smile in a way jets dont

In its day it was one of the best fighters out there.

The late Marcel Dassault used to say that very same thing : "Si c'est beau, ça vole bien" and as a matter of fact Mirage III, Mirage 2000 and Rafale are pretty damn beautiful planes...

I have just found this which has surprised me. Not a patch on either the Mossie or the Hornet.

http://essmc.org.au/What%20new/january2009/UNI7289.jpg

This must have been designed after R.J Mitchell sadly passed away.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the Mirage F1 yet, a real classy looking fighter.