When aircraft had style plus just cool aircraft

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 8:27 am

During the Royal Wedding the first part of the flyover was a Lancaster flanked by a Spitfire and a Hurricane.

Spitfire, Lancaster, Hurricane fly by at wedding..jpg

These aircraft came from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight;
http://www.raf.mod.uk/bbmf/
That was style in a class by itself.

Joe

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 9:06 am

SWMBO taped it, maybe I'll actually watch that part...

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 12:31 pm

First airliner I flew in was a Canadair CC-106 Yukon flown by Flying Tiger Lines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tiger_Line). This was back in 1964, flew from Tokyo through Anchorage, AK. to refuel then I think to Dallas. First family trip to visit our American Grandmother for first time who lived in New Hampshire so finally arriving in Boston after a night in Dallas, Tx. One exciting part of the flight was when I was wandering the plane looking for the restroom I happen to look into pilot's cabin, and saw the pilots from behind with their headphones on, and I thought they were monkey ears so I ran back to my dad and announced loudly that I saw monkeys were flying the plane! Gave some of the passengers a real scare. I didn't mind that monkeys were flying the plane, they were doing a pretty good job but some of the other passengers got worried, and had to verify with the stewardess (no flight attendants back then) that the monkeys were in fact qualified pilots.

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 12:55 pm

Anyone here fly in one of these? Boeing 377 Stratocruiser which was a modified B-29 for civilian airliner use. Before I was born my dad flew mom and older siblings to Honolulu, Hawai'i from Tokyo (to get her citizenship) in 1957.

They flew back in a Lockheed Super Constellation (What a beauty!)

Right on the brink of the jet age.

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 1:12 pm

Ji,
Love that Super Connie, wish they still flew them.

OK, I think I have the solution to all our problems.

The world is moving too fast, the first thing to do to slow it down is to ban all jet powered aircraft.
Civilians get pistons and the military get turbo props. That will slow that down. And it will add more class to our trips.
Will also save money. Just think, how many 747s or the 767s are really full of passengers when they fly? Not many. Too expensive, need to go back to more economical airplanes.

All in favor ... vote yes
All opposed ... vote no

I vote yes, OK who's with me?

Joe

claybob86 · Post by **claybob86** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 1:24 pm

Trouble is that the recips are much more expensive, per passenger carried, to operate and maintain than jets.

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 2:06 pm

claybob86 wrote:Trouble is that the recips are much more expensive, per passenger carried, to operate and maintain than jets.

Buuut, but, but ..... well you didn't have to tell everybody. Now you went and spoilt it.

Joe

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 2:39 pm

I just can't help but like the Brazilian made Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, their resemblance to the P-51 doesn't hurt either. Designed for light attack, and counter insurgency, with tricycle landing gear, and turbo prop, able to land on unimproved fields this plane is just plain (or plane) cool.

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 2:58 pm

Ji,

That little airplane looks like the rat terrier of attack planes. All attitude and teeth.

Joe

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Mon May 02, 2011 1:37 am

[quote="J Just think, how many 747s or the 767s are really full of passengers when they fly? Not many. Too expensive, need to go back to more economical airplanes.[/quote]

Sadly no, that's not true. The airlines have made certain that flights are FULL because they just can't make any money any other way, and even then they struggle (the major airlines in the U.S. lost a combined billion dollars last quarter due to skyrocketing fuel costs).

But yes, I certainly pine for a lost age of civility if that's what you're getting at:

However, note the lack of a radome on the nose of that Stratoliner. No weather radar!! Yeesh...just plow ahead and hope you don't smash into a cumulonimbus. Boggles my mind...

Cheers,
Oly

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Mon May 02, 2011 2:28 pm

olyinaz wrote:I can't believe no one has posted an image of the most beautiful fighter ever to take wing:

Or the most beautiful civil aircraft ever to grace a hanger:

Cheers,
Oly

+10 on that.....
I hear there are a couple at the bottom of a pond, covered in muck, here in daytona...
This area has many small airports that trained pilots during WWII...

claybob86 · Post by **claybob86** » Tue May 03, 2011 12:25 am

IIRC, the Corsair was such an excellent design, it continued in production into the mid '50s.

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Tue May 03, 2011 2:36 am

claybob86 wrote:IIRC, the Corsair was such an excellent design, it continued in production into the mid '50s.

Yep! My uncle trained on Bearcats, flew them for a spell, also flew the Navy's first jets, and then found himself back in brand new Corsairs for the Korean War. By that time they had 20mm canons and racks of rockets installed - made great troop support aircraft.

Best,
Oly

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Fri May 06, 2011 9:24 am

Well this thread has drifted a bit, it's turned into the "cool plane" thread.

No worries, I'm just as guilty as everyone else...

With that in mind, I give you this:

May 6, 2011 - Republic XP-47J
Republic made several attempts to further improve the P-47D. The XP-47J began as a November 1942 request to Republic for a high-performance version of the Thunderbolt using a lighter airframe and an uprated engine with water injection and fan cooling. When fitted with a GE CH-5 turbosupercharger, the XP-47J achieved a top speed of 505 mph in level flight in August 1944, making it one of the fastest piston engine fighters ever built.

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Fri May 06, 2011 9:38 am

I like cowled radials, especially the Focke Wulf, but Rare Bear took the cake in my view:

Oly

rock-steady · Post by **rock-steady** » Fri May 06, 2011 11:34 am

There is style, and then there is STYLE. The Fokker Dr.1.

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Tue May 10, 2011 8:09 am

rock-steady wrote:There is style, and then there is STYLE. The Fokker Dr.1.

Probably my favorite WWI a/c.

I brought over a couple of pics from the waterbomber thread:

Lockheed P2V Neptune from C.Cash:

Another P2V from olyinaz confirming my lousy memory (I thought C.Cash's pic was a NA AJ Savage

):

Another P2V I ran across:

I love those Navy birds from just after WWII through the late 50s. There's just something about them...

And finally, today's pic at Plane-A-Day:

May 10, 2011 - Avro Lincoln
Photo: 1948: Clark Air Base, Phillipines
Developed from the Avro Lancaster. The Lincoln had a higher operational ceiling and longer range than the Lancaster. First flight June 1944.
Photo originally incorrectly listed as Avro Lancaster. Thanks very much for the correction, Don, Bill, and Boom!

stew71 · Post by **stew71** » Fri May 13, 2011 1:28 am

I can't believe it took 9 pages for THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AIRCRAFT EVER DESIGNED, BUILT, and FLOWN to be posted?!?!?

(sigh)....What's this forum coming to?

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Fri May 13, 2011 8:02 am

stew71 wrote:I can't believe it took 9 pages for THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AIRCRAFT EVER DESIGNED, BUILT, and FLOWN to be posted?!?!?

(sigh)....What's this forum coming to?

Becauses we had two threads on them prior to this one...

May 13, 2011 - Martin B-26C Marauder
After entering service with the U.S. Army, the aircraft got a reputation as the "Widowmaker" due to the early models' high rate of accidents during takeoff and landings. The Marauder had to be flown by exact airspeeds, particularly on final approach and when one engine was out. The 150 mph speed on short final was intimidating to pilots who were used to much slower speeds, and whenever they slowed down below what the manual stated, the aircraft would stall-out and crash. The B-26 became a safer aircraft once crews were re-trained and after aerodynamics modifications (increase of wing span and incidence, to give better take off performance, and a larger fin and rudder).

http://www.planeaday.com/

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Sat May 14, 2011 4:42 pm

The Marauder was a great looking, well designed aircraft that demanded to be flown well but that was hard for cadets and those schooled on older designs to transition to. Jets later provided the same "problems" for both the military and the airlines (look at how many 727s were crashed early on).

"The B-26 is said, by the 9th Air Force, to have had the lowest combat loss rate of any U.S. aircraft used during the war. Nevertheless, it remained a challenging aircraft to fly and continued to be unpopular with some pilots throughout its military career. In 1944 in answer to a lot of pilots complaining to the press and their relatives back home, the USAAF and Martin took the unusual step during a war, and commissioned large articles to be placed in various popular publications "educating" and defending the so called flying/accident record of the B-26 against "slanders". One of the largest of these articles was in the May 1944 issue of Popular Mechanics."

"By the end of World War II, it had flown more than 110,000 sorties and had dropped 150,000 tons (136,078 tonnes) of bombs, and had been used in combat by British, Free French and South African forces in addition to U.S. units. In 1945, when B-26 production was halted, 5,266 had been built."

Cheers,
Oly

Ben_Rumson · Post by **Ben_Rumson** » Sat May 14, 2011 6:18 pm

To prove the point that there were lots of BS myths about the B-26, Gen. Jimmy Doolittle called out a crowd of pilots to watch him land a B-26 on ONE.. repeat.. ONE engine...That got the word out about the plane and morale changed about it...

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Sat May 14, 2011 10:03 pm

Ben_Rumson wrote:To prove the point that there were lots of BS myths about the B-26, Gen. Jimmy Doolittle called out a crowd of pilots to watch him land a B-26 on ONE.. repeat.. ONE engine...That got the word out about the plane and morale changed about it...

Didn't Eddie Rickenbacker do the same with the P38?

Another bit of Marauder trivia: Due to the thin wing, it was also called the Baltimore Whore since it had no visible means of support. It was a long time before I got the joke behind the name...

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun May 15, 2011 5:36 am

awp101 wrote:
stew71 wrote:I can't believe it took 9 pages for THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AIRCRAFT EVER DESIGNED, BUILT, and FLOWN to be posted?!?!?

(sigh)....What's this forum coming to?

]
Becauses we had two threads on them prior to this one...

May 13, 2011 - Martin B-26C Marauder
After entering service with the U.S. Army, the aircraft got a reputation as the "Widowmaker" due to the early models' high rate of accidents during takeoff and landings. The Marauder had to be flown by exact airspeeds, particularly on final approach and when one engine was out. The 150 mph speed on short final was intimidating to pilots who were used to much slower speeds, and whenever they slowed down below what the manual stated, the aircraft would stall-out and crash. The B-26 became a safer aircraft once crews were re-trained and after aerodynamics modifications (increase of wing span and incidence, to give better take off performance, and a larger fin and rudder).

http://www.planeaday.com/

Looks like the nose gunner is tokin on a number.

I could see that job having some intense moments in between the lulls.
Gobbler

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:59 am

Gobblerforge wrote:Looks like the nose gunner is tokin on a number. I could see that job having some intense moments in between the lulls.
Gobbler

BTW, that pic makes a great background on my work computer.

"Last of the Gunfighters":

May 17, 2011 - Vought F8U-1 Crusader
Photo: 1958 from aircraft carrier USS Saratoga
http://www.planeaday.com/

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Tue May 17, 2011 8:19 am

I don't think anyone has posted a Thud yet. Probably my favorite US jet from the Viet Nam era:

August 24, 2010 - Republic F-105D Thunderchief •
First flight 1955.
http://www.planeaday.com/archives/2010_Aug.htm#82410

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Tue May 17, 2011 11:03 am

I've flown with a few guys who did exchange tours in the English Electric Lightning. They all liked it quite a lot:

Best looking Britt airliner ever:

Vickers VC-10.

Cheers,
Oly

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Sun May 22, 2011 11:12 am

In the interest of keeping this thread aloft, here's one you can own today:

http://uncrate.com/stuff/antilles-seapl ... per-goose/

it's a house
it's a home
it's a ride
it's a blast

it eats petro dollars and spits out miles

Grizz

Bis · Post by **Bis** » Sun May 22, 2011 4:01 pm

Looks like a HU 16 with turbo props

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Sun May 22, 2011 8:29 pm

Bis wrote:Looks like a HU 16 with turbo props

I believe the manufacturer designation was G21. This seems to be a new build to the Grumman design and as you said, with turboprops.

Lots of rides in the regular Goose back in the day. Loved that airplane ride.

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Sun May 22, 2011 8:55 pm

Let's see...

From WWII, my favorite, The Messerschmitt BF109 :

From the Korea War, the F-86 Sabre:

From the Vietnam War, the F4J Phantom:

And, from the current era, though just retired, the F14 Tomcat:

Now, these planes had STYLE in spades!!!

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Wed May 25, 2011 8:35 am

Today's pic:

May 25, 2011 - Martin XB-51
The aircraft was fitted with a rotating bomb bay, a Martin trademark
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/shared ... 4K-031.jpg

And a bonus I ran across while looking for something else:

November 16, 2009 - North American B-25 Mitchell
Making a bomb run on a Japanese destroyer escort off Formosa in April 1945

Follow the link and there's 2 videos (that I haven't watched yet): http://www.planeaday.com/archives/2009_Nov.htm

And the B25 pic is the current background on the work comp. They don't even ask what I'm doing around here anymore...

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Wed May 25, 2011 10:42 am

rotating bomb bay

sort of a precursor to the Ruger magazine, eh?

Grizz

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Wed May 25, 2011 10:48 am

Grizz wrote:
rotating bomb bay
sort of a precursor to the Ruger magazine, eh?

Grizz

Or the ALCM launcher in the B1...

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Wed May 25, 2011 10:55 am

Had no idea the Chinese made flying boats:

Sadly, the F-14 has been gone for almost five years now! The Super Hornet is not a bad airplane by any stretch however:

Cheers,
Oly

Ben_Rumson · Post by **Ben_Rumson** » Wed May 25, 2011 4:41 pm

Performance wasn't that great but to my eye she sure was purty...I always liked the lines of the Air Cobra.. Pretty neat name too...Clever design... Couldn't resist a twofer...

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Wed May 25, 2011 5:21 pm

olyinaz wrote:Had no idea the Chinese made flying boats:

<snip>

Sadly, the F-14 has been gone for almost five years now! The Super Hornet is not a bad airplane by any stretch however:

Cheers,
Oly

Why is there a fire ball at the root of the left rudder of the top Hornet?
That don't look to good.

Joe

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Wed May 25, 2011 7:21 pm

Joe, he's popping flares. They're handy against heat seekers and chaff works against radar guidance.

Here's a Swiss Hornet popping either a flare or chaff:

AC130:

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Wed May 25, 2011 7:29 pm

RIHMFIRE wrote:
olyinaz wrote:I can't believe no one has posted an image of the most beautiful fighter ever to take wing:

Or the most beautiful civil aircraft ever to grace a hanger:

Cheers,
Oly
+10 on that.....
I hear there are a couple at the bottom of a pond, covered in muck, here in daytona...
This area has many small airports that trained pilots during WWII...

My favorite to for a prop plane, the gull wing to get the nose high enough so the prop don`t hit the ground.

Halfbreed · Post by **Halfbreed** » Thu May 26, 2011 1:44 pm

One of my favorite Vietnam war era planes the OV-1 Mohawk.

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Fri May 27, 2011 2:41 pm

How about the Erco Ercoupe?

February 15, 2011 - ERCO Ercoupe
Designed and built in the United States. It was first manufactured by the Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) shortly before World War II; several other manufacturers continued its production after the war. The final unit was completed in 1968. It was designed to be the safest fixed-wing aircraft that aerospace engineering could provide at the time. First flight 1937.

I love the looks but to me that glass canopy just screams stifling heat if flown in a Texas summer. At least a Cessna 150, etc provides some shade with the high mounted wing.

My understanding is the rudders were connected somehow with the ailerons. In theory (IIRC) you couldn't get it into a spin coming out of a stall due to this.

You want floats? You got floats:

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Fri May 27, 2011 4:14 pm

Got a hop in one in Phx once. One of the BAL pilots had one and flew over our house so I could wave to Mom.

good times

Grizz

Nicknack · Post by **Nicknack** » Sat May 28, 2011 4:42 am

A great aeroplane heavily modified by the Aussies. CA27 Sabre

Washita · Post by **Washita** » Sat May 28, 2011 8:12 am

Some really great pics in this thread--I've filched a bunch of 'em to use as wallpaper on my PC. Anybody got some really nice shots of a Navy F7F or an RAF Mosquito?

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Sat May 28, 2011 1:35 pm

Washita · Post by **Washita** » Sat May 28, 2011 4:54 pm

Beautiful pics--thanks!

44magHunter · Post by **44magHunter** » Sat May 28, 2011 7:14 pm

Can't belive nobody has posted pics of this:

By far my fav. plane of WWII....

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Sun May 29, 2011 3:37 am

The F-35 tickles my fancy quite a lot!

Oly

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Tue May 31, 2011 8:26 am

May 31, 2011 - Douglas DC-4E
Same plane as seen in this photo: November 26, 2009
CREDIT

Here's the pic referenced:
http://www.planeaday.com/archives/2009_Nov.htm#112609

gak · Post by **gak** » Tue May 31, 2011 12:04 pm

44magHunter wrote:Can't belive nobody has posted pics of this: (P-51 pics)

By far my fav. plane of WWII....

---
Mine too.
Or this - twice the charm

Made first kill over Korea IIRC. My father, mostly a bomber pilot, flew the 82 a few times. Loved it.
Added:

Some ten years before we got there, here is an F-82 at our base in southern Japan, Itazuke. I believe this is "the" plane that scored that first air-to-air win over Korea. During Korea, ours was an F-82, F-80, P-51, and I believe F-94 and F-86 base. One of the main "Korea" F-86 bases was up the road at Ashiya. The 82 or Twin Mustang was an "all weather" fighter. When we were there, Itazuke was a Cold War base flying F-100s then F-105s, with F-102 interceptors that occasionally escorted Russian MiGs from our airspace. Upon our leaving, with the onset of Vietnam the base was essentially retired, with all our primary aircraft going to bases in Thailand.

txpete · Post by **txpete** » Tue May 31, 2011 12:14 pm

Halfbreed wrote:One of my favorite Vietnam war era planes the OV-1 Mohawk.

the glide path of a stone

neat bird unless you have to work on one

I got to work on one that did a reverse thrust check but they forgot to latch down the engine cowlings.

what a mess a chunk of it went thru the plexiglass and took off the pilots nose and all those little pieces of metal took out most of the wiring on the right side of the aircraft.a real PITA to work on.

pete