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What's your favorite aircraft?

Do you have a favorite aircraft?

  • I've had one lifelong favorite aircraft that I'm passionate about.

    Votes: 67 39.2%

  • I don't have any specific favorite, I like many aircraft as 'favorites', so to speak.

    Votes: 62 36.3%

  • I don't have any specific favorite, I like a couple aircraft as 'favorites', so to speak.

    Votes: 42 24.6%
  • Total voters
    171
My all-time favorite a/c is the Grumman F-14 Tomcat....all variants. Hands down.

Second Runner-up is the P-51 Mustang....all variants.

After those two, any military a/c, experimental or production, share the third place spot.
 
The first airplane I ever saw on the ground was a bright green Beech 18 at the Augusta State Airport (KAUG) in Maine, when I was a wee lad. I'll never forget that moment. Then there was the time me and a navy buddy from "A School" in Memphis "discovered" the B-17F "Memplis Belle" in a field out by the Memphis airport in 1980. It was locked up so we couldn't climb in, but next to the Boeing was a abandoned silver ... Beech 18, and it was unlocked! We spent hours inside that plane, sitting in the cockpit. Beech 18 has always been a favorite since then.

And P-38s.
 
The Hawker Hurricane, always....

Hurricane_IIC_PZ865.jpg
 
As a purpose-built, military warplane, the Phantom F-4 embodies all the caracteristics my brain says should be there. Big, hulking, brutish looking killer. Even standing still, it says "I will kill often and kill spectacularly".

What a machine !

:running:
 
The Lockheed twins are tough to beat; (Super Electra, Hudson, Lodestar, Ventura & Harpoon) and the Convair B-36J has a special place but this one is right at the top of the list:

2eoa0l0.jpg


:)
 
Moses03 said:
The Lockheed twins are tough to beat; (Super Electra, Hudson, Lodestar, Ventura & Harpoon) and the Convair B-36J has a special place but this one is right at the top of the list:



:)
Click to expand...


Whoa, What on earth is that? It's so ugly it's awesome. Those aren't turboprops, are they? Is that a recent pic? Where was the pic taken?
 
I'm not sure what you are seeking. I have some pics that are higher resolution, but they are all pics that I have taken with my very plain digital camera. My big pics are over the limit here :d

View attachment 8398
 
N2056 said:
I'm not sure what you are seeking. I have some pics that are higher resolution, but they are all pics that I have taken with my very plain digital camera. My big pics are over the limit here :d

View attachment 8398
Click to expand...


Don't get me wrong, you take good pics, but these are small. Do you have a photobucket or shutterfly account? That's how Panther posts his 5,000,000 X 10,000,000 pixel photos of buffed chicks, motorcycles and whatever. I'd just like to save a large hi res picture of your T-18 to get into my wallpaper rotation.
 
Moses' pic is of a Avro Shackleton which was powered by Rolls Royce Griffon piston engines pulling counter rotating props. The last one flying was grounded a little while back.
 
Depends on my mood:
1. YF-17
1a F-18C
2. P-40
3. FLANKER BABY !!! (SU-37)
4. SAAB Gripen
5. Waco CTO
6. FW 190
7. L-10 Electra
8. 727
9. DC-10
10. Widgeon

...in that order
 
As for myself:

GA Type - V35 Bonanza(since I was a kid I dreamed of. . .)
Airliner Type - N791AS(as seen in my avatar)
Warbird Type - Ju87 Stuka(such a historic icon)
Modern Military Type - Tornado GR1(little plane,BIG noise)
 
tigisfat said:
Whoa, What on earth is that? It's so ugly it's awesome. Those aren't turboprops, are they? Is that a recent pic? Where was the pic taken?
Click to expand...

To elaborate, they originally entered service as maritime patrol aircraft in the late 40's, early 50's, but it was retired in this role in the early 70's by the Nimrod. The version in the picture is a bit of a Heath Robinson affair; the total failure of the airborne early warning Nimrod programme meant that the radars from retired Fairey Gannets (another beautifully ugly aircraft) were slapped on in order to provide some AEW capability, and they actually continued flying in this role until the early 90's when we finally bought the E-3.

The Shackletons were delightfully noisy and always a lovely sight to behold, I used to see them trundling up and down various Scottish Lochs whilst out fishing quite often.
 
jhefner said:
Agree with all of the above, but want to add one more -- the P-3 Orion.

They still make regular trips in and out of the airport I work at; and seeing them mix it up with 737s is like watching a time capsule in motion. Although a turboprop, it is the only four engine plane I get to see on a regular basis; and takes me back to the planes from the Golden Age of Aviation.

It's story is an ironic one. The Lockheed Electra, from which it was derived, suffered from a bad reputation after a series of crashes due to vibration resonance in the engine mounts, which caused the wings to rip off in flight. It was also quickly made obsolete by the first jetliners.

Yet, the P-3 itself is one of the aircraft used as hurricane hunters by NOAA and the Air Force, vindicating the soundness of it's original design. Like the C-130; it is another design that was so good, it is still with us today, and will be with other nations for some time to come.

-James
Click to expand...

Just a week after I posted the above -- I got to go on board one at a local airshow. :applause: First time every to see one at an airshow.

I let my youngest son sit in the pilot's seat, while I sat in a third seat, and the copilot in his seat. He handled my son's playing with the controls very, very well -- until he reached for the gear retraction lever. :jump:

PRB said:
It was locked up so we couldn't climb in, but next to the Boeing was a abandoned silver ... Beech 18, and it was unlocked! We spent hours inside that plane, sitting in the cockpit. Beech 18 has always been a favorite since then.
Click to expand...

When I was in high school, we had a similiar situation; but the plane involved was a rare B-23 Dragon. It wasn't "abandoned" per say, but parked for extended period of time in one corner of the local airport.

We likewise climbed inside, and sat in the cockpit, just gaziing at the instruments. It stayed there for a year or two I think, then was flown out to a museum.

-James
 
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