The Most Beautiful Aircraft

[chopper_nut]

For me the XI was the last of the older style spits. The XVI just didnt look quite the same. The V is quite a good looking ship also.

[ardypilot]

Another one that I just remembered: de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide

[rick66]

Has to be the Spitfire. its Rolls/Griffin sound at 20 feet flat out! the superb line and look, the contra rotating props adds that marvel to this beast/beauty

[Snowman]

How come people are putting airliners here?? Beauty guys BEAUTY!!!!!!!

Airliners,................. Beauty.........................
Well, the several times aformentioned airliner called the Lockheed Constellation, has been described as the most beautiful, elegant and graceful aircraft to ever fly, in many, many books, by some of aviations most notable authors and historians.
Its a personal thing with me, as i happen to like old propliners. But some of the worlds most noted authors, cant all be wrong in their descriptions of the "Connie", as being beautiful.
Still,.............. i suppose,............ they do say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
They also say,......... theres no accounting for some peoples taste......

Lawrie.

[chopper_nut]

Yeah the connie was and is a beauty, I was talking more about semi modern jet airliners, 747, 777 etc. I like old propliners aswell. I want to go back to the states and watch the last of the dc6s fight fires

[Ian Warren]

How come people are putting airliners here?? Beauty guys BEAUTY!!!!!!!

Airliners,................. Beauty.........................
Well, the several times aformentioned airliner called the Lockheed Constellation, has been described as the most beautiful, elegant and graceful aircraft to ever fly, in many, many books, by some of aviations most notable authors and historians.
Its a personal thing with me, as i happen to like old propliners. But some of the worlds most noted authors, cant all be wrong in their descriptions of the "Connie", as being beautiful.
Still,.............. i suppose,............ they do say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
They also say,......... theres no accounting for some peoples taste......

Lawrie.

CONNIE , ill let ya no next week , Its flying display is truly amazing , night extra B) Special Display

[AlisterC]

Rick where are you!?! Great shot! Love all those trees, I want to visit!

[hinch]

Interesting thought is Spit variants, I guess there is going to be THE Spit which defines the breed.

personally my favourite has to be the clipped wing LF.16 with the more bubble canopy. The clips make it look...i don't know, but to me better. It's shadow may not match the earlier ones however.

[rick66]

Rick where are you!?! Great shot! Love all those trees, I want to visit!

Albatross its Sitka in Alaska/Tongass Fiords. The trees are by Feng Zhu at Avsim file name is TreeGen V 1.0. make sure you back up originals. he has done an awesome job of autogen, trees are placed around borders of fields and towns instead of random splashes from default autogen. also running GE pro and FS Gen. Cheers Rick. heres a few more pics

[gokanru]

The undisputable queen of the skies has got to be the super Connie .......but then, I am biased

[jastheace]

i am going to throw this out there, but love the look of the corsair, it's inverted gull wings, but it would have to be inflight. agree on the connie, great looking a/c. what about the Mistubishi Zero, nice lines i think anyways

[JMBIII]

Connie and the 757 with the big RR engines.

[Syncop8r]

I reckon Connies are UUUUGLY! The three tail thing....

Put one next to a Focke Wulf Condor mmmmmm

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (Syncop8r @ Oct 20 2009, 01:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I reckon Connies are UUUUGLY! The three tail thing....

My first view of the C121J , USNAVY in the late sixties stamped this aircraft , then they were using the Super Connie , this early model did seem out of place

but the latter aircraft , mainly due to its design really showed its true lines later in the last variants , not if but when you get a chance to view the type , the early one has a little A380 in it

Funny there was an entire book wrote on the ugly and weird , many never met the criterior , in fact had more admiration for the designs , the Connie was never mentioned , why so many publications designers and aviation historians simply put this down to one of the most beautifull types , they have seen one fly .

[Adamski]

QUOTE (Syncop8r @ Oct 20 2009, 01:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I reckon Connies are UUUUGLY! The three tail thing....

Put one next to a Focke Wulf Condor mmmmmm

Quite agree. I've seen Connies flying and they just look FAT. Something not quite right about them. That Condor though ... yes ... much better lines all round. I've always liked FW. The 190 was a beauty.

For me, shared 1st place will always be Concorde plus Spitfire - but not a clipped wing or Griphon engined aberration. Also, contra-rotating thingies should stay on choppers, where they belong .

2nd place has to go to the Su-27 Flanker. Such grace and agility combined with raw power.

At the RIATT (Fairford) displays I used to go to regularly, the only two aircraft that really made the crowd stand up, shut up, stop eating their sandwiches and rush to the ropes were the Flanker and Concorde.

3rd place has to be the Hawker Hunter.

4th Bristol Britannia.

5th The DC-3.

6th C-130 Hercules.

[redkiwi]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the Avro Vulcan - XH588 probably the biggest 'pull' of any flying display aircraft in the world.

[spongebob206]

The Spitfire and Mosquito win this hands down for me.

Can't decide which.

The Dakota would be close behind.

[Adamski]

QUOTE (redkiwi @ Oct 20 2009, 03:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the Avro Vulcan - XH588 probably the biggest 'pull' of any flying display aircraft in the world.

Damn' ... yes ... totally forgot about that one!! I'll put it just below the Hunter on my list! I spent a week on a V-bomber base in my teens (Cold War time). When those things revved up on the ground, you didn't hear them so much as felt all your innards vibrate. They were armed with nuclear weapons then - on constant readiness ... a chilling thought for an ideallistic 17yr-old.

[2fst4u]

Vampire. two tails is better than one (well not really but you know what i mean). Also because of their sound when they start up

[Snowman]

Well, seeing as how this can of worms has been opened again, a year after it started, i guess i feel compelled to put my 2 cents worth in yet again,.........
Dunno if you can say there there is only ONE aircraft that is the most beautiful,...................
Most beautiful in different types or classes maybe............
For instance,.............

Early Piston Propliners

Have to agree with Ian on this,........... UNDISPUTABLY the CONNIE !!, closely followed by the GOONEY BIRD (DC-3).

Early Turboprop Liners

Lockheed L188 Electra, Fokker F-27 Friendship

Modern Turboprop Liners

Saab-340

Jetliners

Undisputably the CONCORDE !!, followed by the Boeing 707 and Boeing 737.

Piston Military

Spitfire and Mosquito

Early Jet Military

Avro Vulcan, followed by the Hawker Hunter

Modern Jet Military

F-14 Tomcat

Well,.......... thats my humble 2 cents worth of preferences...................

Lawrie.