Top 3 Aircraft
Discussion
Name your top 3 aircraft & reasons why......in no particular order mine are:
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter - awesome howl & nose up attitude @ low level/low speed.
Avro Vulcan - she appears to defy gravity & rolls across the sky when in a turn & again the roar from this aircraft has to be heard to be appreciated, that & the fact it was the first (accidental) stealth shape of it's kind.
Northrop Grumman F-14 Tomcat - I defended an RAF base in Germany on exercise against an attack of F-14's....they were no match for our ground defence but the characteristics of such a large fighter aircraft in flight was simply awesome, only equalled by the F-16 that is much smaller & could turn on a penny (luxury of fly-by-wire).
I have reluctantly left out Spitfire/Mosquito/Hurricane/Vampire/Mustang & a host of others due to constaints of length of thread.
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter - awesome howl & nose up attitude @ low level/low speed.
Avro Vulcan - she appears to defy gravity & rolls across the sky when in a turn & again the roar from this aircraft has to be heard to be appreciated, that & the fact it was the first (accidental) stealth shape of it's kind.
Northrop Grumman F-14 Tomcat - I defended an RAF base in Germany on exercise against an attack of F-14's....they were no match for our ground defence but the characteristics of such a large fighter aircraft in flight was simply awesome, only equalled by the F-16 that is much smaller & could turn on a penny (luxury of fly-by-wire).
I have reluctantly left out Spitfire/Mosquito/Hurricane/Vampire/Mustang & a host of others due to constaints of length of thread.
Only 3!!!!!!! 
ok then ( in no particular order)....
1) B-1 Lancer.....simply the best looking American bomber and fast
2) Dehavilland Vampire.....just looks so much more elegant than the sabre/mig
3) Consolidated PBY Catalina.......I WILL own one of these (one day) and island hop the Med in it
( and maybe taxi in to Monacco to watch the GP from atop the wing, classy 
)
ok then ( in no particular order)....
1) B-1 Lancer.....simply the best looking American bomber and fast
2) Dehavilland Vampire.....just looks so much more elegant than the sabre/mig
3) Consolidated PBY Catalina.......I WILL own one of these (one day) and island hop the Med in it
( and maybe taxi in to Monacco to watch the GP from atop the wing, classy )Concorde - The most beautiful aircraft to have flown, and an absolute technological marvel that will doubtfully be replaced.
De Havilland Comet 1 - A stunning aircraft, a true trailblazer. Unfortunately it's design flaws caused the loss of many lives, it taught engineers a vast amount about airframe design but also lost us the lead we had in jet airliner development.
Antonov AN-225 Myria - Have you seen one? Just immense!
I have so many more aircraft I could add, these are but a few of my favourites!
De Havilland Comet 1 - A stunning aircraft, a true trailblazer. Unfortunately it's design flaws caused the loss of many lives, it taught engineers a vast amount about airframe design but also lost us the lead we had in jet airliner development.
Antonov AN-225 Myria - Have you seen one? Just immense!
I have so many more aircraft I could add, these are but a few of my favourites!
I find many aircraft fascinating. It depends on what I've been reading up on - what model I'm mnaking - or just my mood to decide what aircraft I particularly appreciate at any given time. If you give me some criteria to go on, then I might express a choice.
For aesthetics, I would have to say Concorde, the De Havilland Albatross airliner and the VC-10 stand out for me.
For sheer power and "we built it because we could" brashness, nothing beats the XB-70 Valkyrie.
For aesthetics, I would have to say Concorde, the De Havilland Albatross airliner and the VC-10 stand out for me.
For sheer power and "we built it because we could" brashness, nothing beats the XB-70 Valkyrie.
Edited by Eric Mc on Saturday 4th July 18:00
can I have a go?
1: (in a particular order, no fudging) E.E Lightning (versions of your own preference but mine is the F3a)
2: E.E. Canberra B(I)8 just beautiful lines
3: Supermarine Spitfire 'cos no other aircraft manages to look "so right" from every angle (probably the mkIX)
then after the thread expands I have hundreds of others...
bill
1: (in a particular order, no fudging) E.E Lightning (versions of your own preference but mine is the F3a)
2: E.E. Canberra B(I)8 just beautiful lines
3: Supermarine Spitfire 'cos no other aircraft manages to look "so right" from every angle (probably the mkIX)
then after the thread expands I have hundreds of others...
bill
Probably my all-time favourite. For me, the later P51s epitomise brute power, speed, performance & noise. Not quite the ultimate incarnation of the piston-engined fighter aeroplane, but pretty close to it. I sat in one on a visit to the Fighter Collection at Duxford a few years back, and looked through the original armoured windscreen and gunsight that had downed quite a few Me109s & FW190s 65 years ago. I've always wanted to fly one; a mate of a mate of a mate has a 2-seat 2-stick P51 in California which I'm determined to get my hands on at some point. Dual, of course...
Outrageous performance, even today. Two reheated engines with a seat attached. It didn't turn very well, had an ancient radar, hopeless endurance and tiny, outdated weapon load. And that was back in the 60s. But by feck did it accelerate and climb. Rumour has it that in the latter days a Binbrook pilot zoom-climbed his to 80000 feet without a pressure suit. I was lucky enough to attend ATC summer camp at Binbrook in 1987, the last full year of Lightnings in the RAF. Sat next to a fellow cadet NCO in the mess at lunch one day, who announced he was going supersonic in a 2-seat Lighning T5 that afternoon, a prize for 'best cadet' in his wing. The lucky barsteward...
Still the ultimate, highest-performing (by a country mile) air-breathing jet aircraft built. Ex-Blackbird pilot Brian Schul has written two excellent books, 'Sled Driver' & 'The Untouchables'. IIRC the design thermal limiting Mach number was in the region of M3.7. Schul had his jet up to M3.4 on a recce run over Libya. I've seen the jet fly twice, at Mildenhall air fete in the 80s. It was fantastic actually seeing (and hearing!) it airborne.
AnotherClarkey said:
.. the 'Catalina yacht' idea has always appealed to me too. In fact, I can't believe it isn't a popular alternative to a Superyacht - not much opportunity to exhibit appallingly vulgar taste though.
oh I dunno......taxing out of Monaco Harbour, lashing all the white trouser brigade on their yachts with the spray kicked up by the Props...
Its a fair display of the Classic British two fingers to "Johnny Foreigner" and the "new Moneys"
Oily Nails said:
AnotherClarkey said:
.. the 'Catalina yacht' idea has always appealed to me too. In fact, I can't believe it isn't a popular alternative to a Superyacht - not much opportunity to exhibit appallingly vulgar taste though.
oh I dunno......taxing out of Monaco Harbour, lashing all the white trouser brigade on their yachts with the spray kicked up by the Props...
Its a fair display of the Classic British two fingers to "Johnny Foreigner" and the "new Moneys"
AnotherClarkey said:
Oily Nails said:
AnotherClarkey said:
.. the 'Catalina yacht' idea has always appealed to me too. In fact, I can't believe it isn't a popular alternative to a Superyacht - not much opportunity to exhibit appallingly vulgar taste though.
oh I dunno......taxing out of Monaco Harbour, lashing all the white trouser brigade on their yachts with the spray kicked up by the Props...
Its a fair display of the Classic British two fingers to "Johnny Foreigner" and the "new Moneys"
The following have always fascinated me:
Convair Hustler (looks like a delta wing fighter, but about twice the size; with four huge turbojets)
Blackburn Buccaneer (I saw one display at the show at RAF St Athan when I was about 13 or 14, and I'll never forget the sight of it powering towards the crowd........making no noise whatsoever. Until it was right on top of us. Then BOOOOM)
MIG-25 Foxbat (The SR-71 was obviously designed by some clever engineers. The '25 seemed to be designed in a shed in The Steppes by a bloke called Vladimir who thought that strapping two Tumansky turbojets, each the size of Moscow, to a seat could achieve the same result. Vladimir wasn't too far off the mark......)
Honourable mention to the U2 / Starfighter / SR-71 / Concorde / Vulcan / Victor / Lightning / Hunter / F-15 / Harrier
Convair Hustler (looks like a delta wing fighter, but about twice the size; with four huge turbojets)
Blackburn Buccaneer (I saw one display at the show at RAF St Athan when I was about 13 or 14, and I'll never forget the sight of it powering towards the crowd........making no noise whatsoever. Until it was right on top of us. Then BOOOOM)
MIG-25 Foxbat (The SR-71 was obviously designed by some clever engineers. The '25 seemed to be designed in a shed in The Steppes by a bloke called Vladimir who thought that strapping two Tumansky turbojets, each the size of Moscow, to a seat could achieve the same result. Vladimir wasn't too far off the mark......)
Honourable mention to the U2 / Starfighter / SR-71 / Concorde / Vulcan / Victor / Lightning / Hunter / F-15 / Harrier
JW911 said:
3. Yak-52 (off the wall choice but it gives me 80% of the P-51 for 5% of the price)
Sorry mate, 6% of the price.We're going to cash-call the annual, probably.
Anyway, my top 3 aircraft?
1) Lightning
2) Spitfire
3) Pitts
(3) leads to (2), at least in the sense that if you can land (3), then landing (2) is a given, provided you treat the big handle on the left as an Instant Death lever.
Nothing nowadays leads to (1), except hods of cash.
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