~ awesome aircraft thread ~

[mrrpamplemousse]

I had trouble finding a good picture, but here it is, the Horten Ho 229!

It's a german jet-powered flying wing... What not to love?

EDIT : Darn, somebody already posted it in the previous page...

Well, pusher configuration planes are also pretty awesome, like the XP-55.

Edited December 5, 2014 by mrrpamplemousse

[segaprophet]

ladies and gentlemen, i bring you...

The ekranoplan!

aaAAAAAAHHHHH EKRANOPLAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!! :O

Lun-class ekranoplan (NATO code name : Duck) - technically not an aircraft (not a hovercraft or hydrofoil either), but just too freakin' nutty not to include!

Edited December 5, 2014 by segaprophet

[segaprophet]

Pff. Bell 47 for the win

Hell yeah, I just watched Where Eagles Dare last night and noticed the Bell 47!

[Red Iron Crown]

Bell 47 will always be the MASH helicopter to me.

MH-53 Pave Low:

Has the look of a helicopter that is not here to mess around.

[segaprophet]

Mil Mi-24 (NATO code name : Hind)

Another enthusiastically "not-western" looking Soviet beastie. Looks like some sort of demented dragonfly ready to give you a nasty bite.

[*Aqua*]

Airbus Eurocopter EC 145 aka BK 117

The ADAC (Allgemeine Deutscher Automobil-Club e. V., engl. general German automobil club association) is the largest automobil club in Europe and the largest motorcycle club in the world. It provides (technical, medical, ...) emergency help for everybody. Because of this the ADAC employees are known as 'Gelber Engel' or yellow angels.

The EC 145 is the work horse of German air rescure. If that's not awesome then there's nothing awesome about any aircraft.

[VR_Dev]

Figured you guys would appreciate this pic I took out the plane window in DC a couple years back

[Kulebron]

An-2

This thing has no stall speed. Flying manual instructs that if you have engine outage and need to land unsure of altitude, just pull the yoke to the limit and let it descend at ~10 degrees slope, very slow but still fully controlled (leading edge slats expand automatically), and land safely without flaring before touch down.

An urban legend about it: in traumatology hospital, a newbie is brought into a room, in bandage from head to toes. Everybody asks him what happened, he is embarassed, but resiliently tells the story. He was flying An-2 from one aviation club to another, alone, and wanted to take a leak. So he set it on autopilot and went to the toilet in the tail. When he came out, he saw that because of his motion, the aircraft changed attitude, and the door closed itself, and there was no unlock lever outside.

(paratrooper version interior)

He tried to steer by walking back and forth, but eventually the An-2 ran out of fuel and crashed.

Edited December 5, 2014 by Kulebron

[ZedNova]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the F/A-18 Hornet:

[Red Iron Crown]

An offbeat choice, the OV-10 Bronco:

Looking like a cross between a turboprop plane and a helicopter, this STOL could operate from the amphibious carriers operated by the USN. Now retired, a version with modernized avionics is being considered for USAF close support work.

[WinkAllKerb'']

Let's share one of the best design i know by nature itself.

and then the white owl turned black in the hole, that's human nature that tend to bug and spit fire

Edited December 6, 2014 by WinkAllKerb''

[Overfloater]

Yankee cargo planes are pretty cool.

Lockheed C-5 "Galaxy":

...even though it's military ;-D

An-225 is of course bigger, but honestly i think it's ridiculous...

Edited December 6, 2014 by Overfloater

[segaprophet]

Mitsubishi A6M Zero

The best carrier based fighter in the world at the outbreak of WWII, the backbone of IJN air power and an iconic fighter. Tennouheika Banzai!

btw, if you haven't seen The Wind Rises yet, ERMAHGERD GO SEE IT.

Edited December 6, 2014 by segaprophet

[LABHOUSE]

Smallest wingspans:

[Kulebron]

Yankee cargo planes are pretty cool.

Lockheed C-5 "Galaxy":

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Lockheed_C-5_Galaxy_taxiing_at_PDX.JPG

...even though it's military ;-D

An-225 is of course bigger, but honestly i think it's ridiculous...

From this point of view it looks exactly the same as An-124 Ruslan, the 225's little brother.

[Wanderfound]

The last great wooden aircraft, and the best fighter/bomber of WWII, the De Havilland Mosquito:

[segaprophet]

Messerschmitt Bf 110

Heavy fighter, night fighter, fighter-bomber. All around "johnny-on-the-spot" for Hermann Göring's Luftwaffe.

Edited December 7, 2014 by segaprophet

[Capt.Joseph Kerbertson]

The X-31 laughs at the SU-27's "super maneuverability"

Grumman X-29

Mach 1.5+ at 55,000 feet... stable. a whole decade before the beastly SU-47 came to the scene.

[segaprophet]

The X-31 laughs at the SU-27's "super maneuverability"

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/X-31/Small/EC94-42478-3.jpg

Grumman X-29 http://marcelofaria.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/14.jpg

Mach 1.5+ at 55,000 feet... stable. a whole decade before the beastly SU-47 came to the scene.

Everything in its own time, my friend.

Of course, American engineers are a breed apart.

Edited December 7, 2014 by segaprophet

[jmiki8]

Oh, I've seen this photo before! This was taken in March 1944, during the Operation Margarethe, a.k.a the German invasion of Hungary. It can be seen in most of our history books.

[Sanguine]

The eurocopter tiger - a magnificent helicopter.

[zekes]

[Sanguine]

Has this been mentioned?

[Red Iron Crown]

Has this been mentioned?

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2854/8920687448_8de7c3a554.jpg

That's a model rocket if I'm not mistaken, just look at those exhaust plumes.

A pic in every post, so I present the Avro Arrow:

Canada's take on the early supersonic interceptor in the late 1950s, it was sadly cancelled in favor of deploying the Bomarc nuclear surface-to-air missile.

[Ruska]

An earlier Saab fighter, the J 35 Draken: