Topic: The most beautiful aircraft is...?

One word.

Hunter

No doubt about it

Anything else is just plain ugly next to one of these beauties


Mark.

No doubt about it

Anything else is just plain ugly next to one of these beauties


Mark.

I have to agree. Well, at least its in the top three...first flew in 1951, and still in service with the Lebanese Air Force 60 years later!

CONCORDE!!!

but a Spitfire IX gets a mention in despatches, as does a Hawker Tempest V....

but what about a Saro Princess?

The most aesthetically pleasing shapes have to be Spitfire 9, Hunter and Concorde, with the Comet airliner coming a close 4th. Loads of nice aeroplanes, but those have beauty and romance.

well wot a question

  the list could be quite long, i mean who does not like a spitfire,hunter,concorde but after some thought and applying the purpose criteria i can only come up with this, its just 


  chris

Chris, you've just posted the picture I've used as my PC wallpaper for last couple of years.  You're right, it's a lovely aeroplane and I really ought to build the Skyways kit I've had in my loft for much too long.  After I've finished the Avro Avian I acquired from someone or other, of course 

Geoff

Why is everyone missing out gliders

Minimoa, T21 the list is huge but they have to be elegant to perform in many respects.

The Hughes, just a flying brick 

Why is everyone missing out gliders

Minimoa, T21 the list is huge but they have to be elegant to perform in many respects.

The Hughes, just a flying brick 

Quite right; and the Minimoa is a thing of beauty..as too is the Habicht, Swift and the elegant K6. Although devices intended for high performance, I don't think any of the ASW/ASG/ASK stands out amongst the others of the post 21 series. .

F-86 Sabre!
End of.......

I absolutely love the Habicht such a pretty glider.

But then the Bergfalke with its swept forward wings is really nice

The Hughes, just a flying brick 

Bloody gliderists! Wafting around in the air at the mercy of the wind just like so much litter!

Don't forget that the Hughes smashed several world speed and endurance records in the Thirties, one of which was held until it was broken by it's replica a few years back.

The outright speed record was broken by the mysterious Heinkel HE100 on March 30th 1939- another of my favourite aircraft, although I'm not sure I'd call it beautiful:

Why is everyone missing out gliders

I'd say that's because you have to be into gliding to know what aircraft you're talking about when you say Minimoa, Habicht, etc - no one else would know.  However, if you say Spitfire, Concorde, F86 or any of the other suggestions here, everyone knows the aircraft and can agree/disagree.  Even you gliderists will know these aircraft - but I reckon the reverse is not the case!

I'm not knocking gliders - some are very pretty, but I wouldn't know one from another by name.  Post a pic of your favourite glider and the rest of us will have a chance of making a decision as to whether it's a contender or not!

The Minimoa 1930's glider



And a picture of it flying


Then there's the Bergfalke series this I believe is a III


And everyone forgets our own home grown Slingsby - so here's a Kestrel

The gliders above do not strike me as beautiful. Plain and what a lash up spring to mind in the case of two, the Kestrel is OK but the tail is a bit of a square peg in a round hole. 

The gliders above do not strike me as beautiful. Plain and what a lash up spring to mind in the case of two, the Kestrel is OK but the tail is a bit of a square peg in a round hole.

Lash up? I take it you mean the Minimoa? It broke several world records, the designers being instrumental in many methods in design used today.(Air brakes being only one of them). The thing with gliders is they don't depend on engines spoiling a perfectly serviceable airframe... 

Interesting that you could pick the one I meant for that phrase isn't it.

Bergfalke? Ooo, that is lovely.. Looks lovely from above with those swept wings, sticking out midships.

Steve you mentioned air brakes with relation to the Minimoa and that the designers were instrumental in design methods used today. Weren't air brakes in use on aircraft long before 1935? So in what way where they instrumental other than using them.

Steve you mentioned air brakes with relation to the Minimoa and that the designers were instrumental in design methods used today. Weren't air brakes in use on aircraft long before 1935? So in what way where they instrumental other than using them.

 Schempp-Hirth airbrakes, the ones that scissor out of the top of the wing.

Link here, that shows the lineage. Goes up to the modern Discus and Ventus.

http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/schempp.htm

Fair enough because as we all know Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutters had air brakes as did the Sopwith LRT Tr (only one built) the former with them dropping down and the latter with them going up. Polikarpov used a form of split aileron on their I-3 and 1-16 largely in the case of the former as a yaw stabiliser and the latter to act as flaps. The I-3 was about in 1929. So you can see why I asked the question.

Link here, that shows the lineage. Goes up to the modern Discus and Ventus.

http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/schempp.htm

Strange I was only on that site at the weekend looking for ideas for my next project. I like the Salto and the Fox but everyones got them.

The Nimbus looks a bit tasty.

I agree with TSR.  They are not even close to being pretty.  Record setting classics they may be, but beautiful... no.

I agree with TSR.  They are not even close to being pretty.  Record setting classics they may be, but beautiful... no.

I'm building a 1/4 scale Minimoa, I won't tell her what you said Pat, it would be too upsetting....sniff... 

How can you possibly say this isnt in the frame as being one of the best !!



It'll still be flying when you guys cant afford the fuel 

Where have I heard that before? Oh yes power vs. sail 

Well that's a lot better. A Habricht still a bit of dumpy fuselage, nicer planform and like the filets, not impressed by the fin although there seems to be some variation there between some of the pictures I have seen of them, or the strutted tailplane and from the front while gull like the fuselage is a bit like an egg trapped between two bendy boards. So pretty good a nice shape but still not that gorgeous to me.

Lets not forget that every aeroplane is a glider if you switch the engine off!

Lets not forget that every aeroplane is a glider if you switch the engine off!

Arguable! In some cases 

Arguable! In some cases 

Not really, there aint many fullsize pilots who switched their engine off and it didnt glide, around to argue!

I know I'm going to be jumped on by gliderists from all parts of the badlands, but I think the Fox is the prettiest glider around.

I know I'm going to be jumped on by gliderists from all parts of the badlands, but I think the Fox is the prettiest glider around.

Hope your sitting down Bob, I agree with you! Foxs Rock

I quite like the Slingsby Petrel, I think that really does have a little something about it,

I quite like the Slingsby Petrel, I think that really does have a little something about it,

My mates...1/3 scale...
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jjN55264w0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jjN55264w0</a>

My mates...1/3 scale...
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jjN55264w0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jjN55264w0</a>

very nice too! I do miss Callow Bank, just a nice slope with a cracking landing area, must get back to it one day....

very nice too! I do miss Callow Bank, just a nice slope with a cracking landing area, must get back to it one day....

Give me a shout when you'd like to visit Bob, and you can come as my guest. 

Give me a shout when you'd like to visit Bob, and you can come as my guest. 

Nice one. Was a member some years ago, but cost of fuel put paid. Cheers.

Agreed - Fox's are awesome.

A lot of aerobatic gliders seem to have good lines - rather than cross country designs

The Salto for instance and the Swift

Adding a few more names into the mix that (I think) have so far gone unmentioned;

Northrop YB-49;
Perhaps not to everyone's taste but I bet it looked great in the air!

I've always liked the Fouga Magister although I always felt the cockpit let it down. The Potez-Heinkel CM 191 was similar (albeit with a side-by-side cockpit arrangement) but much more elegant that the Magister.

Tigercat

Some of the best looking jets from different era's:
Rafale
Sepcat Jaguar
Gnat
F5A Freedom Fighter

And the amazing Bugatti 100. 

My asw 20
http://vimeo.com/m/32987225

Spitfire 1a without doubt the best, Tempest V close second looks like a spit from some angles in the air (that wing), & of course the one and only Concorde.

Jordy 

YAY!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Js-JGp98Wc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Js-JGp98Wc</a>

Overall most beautiful - DH Comet Racer Grosvenor House

Most spine tingling when flying - Vulcan (although the Lanc came very close doing low passes over Barkston on the monday afternoon of the Nats).

I can't agree with anyone who says any mark of spitfire - they always look to me as if the designer put the wing on backwards!  (but that's just my opinion, don't shoot me down).