Favorite Aircraft

[Darth InSidious]

The Sopwith Camel:

Made out of cardboard and string, it is the plane that didn't lose the Great War.

[Tommycat]

I really change my favorite aircraft depending on the role. The Hind D is my favorite gunship. F14 Tomcat is my favorite multirole craft.

Bomber:

How can ya talk about a WWII bomber and not make note of the one that dropped more bombs than any other aircraft

[Samuel Dravis]

Was the P-38 the "Angels on our Wings" aka tank buster, among other things?

I'm not sure, but the way the P-38's significant firepower was concentrated on its nose (four machine guns and a cannon) made it ideal for strafing targets on the ground. This design also helped it as a bomber killer in the Pacific, where it was used the most.

[CommanderQ]

Here are my two faves....

 

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This aircraft was never actually built, but Allied forces found the plans for it in the end of WW2 and began their own plans. This craft was probably the first of future air wars in stealth. The Horten-229 was a wing aircraft capable of crossing the atlantic ocean with a full bombload, released the bombs on any target on the American coast, and then return to Germany. That's what the German's had in mind, Thank God they never finished commissioning it.

 

 

Ahh, the classic American Mustang, King of the Skies of WW2{at least in my opinion, there were definately better aircraft, unfortunately, not on our side.}

[Da_man]

CFA-44 "Nosferatu" Fighter in Ace Combat 6. It was the most awesome plane, and it fired twelve inescapable missiles with one pull of the trigger.

 

When someone says "gunship", this is what I think of:

Mil Mi-24 Hind D. I love it. It just screams gunship. It looks like it could totally lay the smackdown on an Apache amirite? ....ok it can't. Keep in mind it's not even fully armed in the picture.

You like it just because it was in Metal Gear Solid.

[Darth_Yuthura]

I am surprised that no one has said anything about the F-15 Eagle.

 

 

Without a doubt, one of the greatest fighters of all time. Despite lacking stealth, this bird of prey has taken out 92 enemy jets in Desert Storm for absolutely no losses.

 

Aesthetically, it is my favorite fighter, but it is vicious. Many have been lead to believe that the F-14 can take this bird out, but in reality, being a carrier-based aircraft cost the Tomcat dearly in performance. No compromises were made when they built this, the first air-superiority fighter in the world.

 

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While I'm at it, I'll give a few notes on other aircraft chosen...

 

The B-17: Although tough and heavily armed, this was actually a very poor bomber due to the small payload it could carry. It could have carried an eight ton bomb load, but normally carried only a quarter of that. Fewer bombs meant more bombers needed to destroy a target. In the end, the B-24 was a better design because it was faster, could carry more bombs, and be built more easily. A single factory in Michigan could roll out a new B-24 every hour... not true with the Flying Fortress.

 

F-4 Phantom: It was ultimately a revolutionary fighter design, but made too many compromises as a fighter. It had proven itself much better as a wild-weasel and missile platform, but it was too heavy and a poor dogfighter. Its replacement, the F-15, wasn't carrier-based and the C-version didn't carry bombs, but that was not its purpose.

 

V-22 Osprey: This was a tremendous waste of life and money on an aircraft with very limited advantages over standard helicopters. They should have scrapped the program a long time ago. You could easily buy an F-35 for the same price and have a plane just as or more capable than this... and yes, an F-35 can't carry troops, but it has VSTOL as well as stealth and supersonic speeds.

 

B-2: This is ultimately one of the greatest bombers of all time, but its >1 billion dollar price tag is just wasteful. There are very few uses of the B-2 that can't be done by a much cheaper B-1b or B-52. In the end, you may have a deadly and effective bomber, but without an overarching mission, you end up with a turkey. The same thing also applies to the F-22 Raptor.

[Q]

@CommanderQ:

Actually, the Horten Ho 229 was built and flown, but had not reached production status by the time the war ended. It was a truly remarkable aircraft and certainly the most futuristic of all of the experimental types that the Germans developed during World War II.

 

My favorites are:

 

WWI era: the Fokker DVII.

 

WWII piston era: the Grumman F8F Bearcat.

 

First-generation jet fighter: the Messerschmitt Me 262.

 

Second-generation jet fighter: it's kind of a draw between the F-86 previously mentioned and the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. Both are terrific in their own way.

 

Early supersonic era: the Vought F-8 Crusader, an aircraft that was so good that it remained useful longer than any other 1950's-vintage jet fighter built in the US.

 

1960's era: the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. Not the most elegant of aircraft, but no other fighter of the era was nearly as capable or versatile as the Phantom.

 

It gets kind of hard for me to pick favorites from subsequent eras.

[Rev7]

CFA-44 "Nosferatu" Fighter in Ace Combat 6. It was the most awesome plane, and it fired twelve inescapable missiles with one pull of the trigger.

I don't know about you, but those missiles don't always hit the targets, on the higher difficulty levels. Great plane though, and it would be awesome if it was real, of course if you are on the side that had them.

 

For those of you that don't know what we are talking about--

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Without a doubt, one of the greatest fighters of all time. Despite lacking stealth, this bird of prey has taken out 92 enemy jets in Desert Storm for absolutely no losses.

 

Aesthetically, it is my favorite fighter, but it is vicious. Many have been lead to believe that the F-14 can take this bird out, but in reality, being a carrier-based aircraft cost the Tomcat dearly in performance. No compromises were made when they built this, the first air-superiority fighter in the world.

 

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I couldn't agree more. And it is still going STRONG!

 

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The B-47 Stratojet, is one of my favorites, in the Aesthetic department. Great looks.

 

It really is hard to choose just one because there are so many great aircraft out there.

 

I am also pretty surprised that no one has said anything about the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

 

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This is the premier fighter/attack aircraft that the United States military has, and is one of the first aircraft to fly sorties in war. Semi-Stealthy, and has excellent service records. Packs a heck of a punch too!

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[Darth_Yuthura]

In the F-86 vs. Mig 15 debate, these aircraft are very evenly matched.

 

The performance of the Mig was ultimately better in thrust/weight ratio, maximum speed and altitude, and better armament. They were also easier to manufacture and maintain than the Saber.

 

The saber's advantages laid with their stability as a gun platform and the pilots that flew them. Because the F-86 had fewer rough edges than the Mig, they proved to be more reliable at high speeds. With that stability, electronic gun sight, and skilled pilot behind it, three advantages made all the difference against novice pilots in superior fighters.

 

Overall, I prefer the Mig over the Sabre mainly because it had that 37 mm cannon. That one feature made it a devastating threat to any bomber or fighter unlucky enough to be hit by even a single projectile. The F-86 wielded only machine guns, so it was a dedicated escort or interceptor.

 

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Messerschmitt Me 262: This was one of the greatest fighters of all time. Despite being less agile than a P-51 mustang, their sheer power/weight ratio made it difficult to take out. In addition to their speed, they came with four 30 mm cannons... absolutely fearsome to any enemy aircraft in their sights. Despite being vulnerable at takeoff and landing, they just needed other fighters for protection during those times. The only other vulnerability came from the state of the German economy by the end of the war. Had it been in service two or three years earlier, it might have been a war-winner.

 

I am also pretty surprised that no one has said anything about the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

 

This is the premier fighter/attack aircraft that the United States military has, and is one of the first aircraft to fly sorties in war. Semi-Stealthy, and has excellent service records. Packs a heck of a punch too!

 

I would disagree on that particular fighter. The F-18 was meant to be a cheaper alternative to the F-14 Tomcat, but this particular model approaches the price of the F-15b Strike Eagle(A $50 million fighter). Being a carrier-based fighter, it is much more limited than the F-15b in almost every way.

 

Overall, I dislike carrier-based aircraft because they are more expensive and the reinforced superstructure makes them heavier and slower. As well as their upfront costs, they also have a much shorter operational life span. Those controlled crashes called carrier landings put enormous strain on the superstructure. They sacrifice a little of everything just to be able to land on a carrier. One thing that makes no sense at all is how the F-35b model, which can take off and land vertically, can cost less than the carrier version... one that doesn't have a lift fan. A perfect example of a more expensive, but less capable fighter.

 

The older F-18 models are a different matter, but not the super-expensive super hornets.