What is your favorite aircraft of all time?

I know I'm entering this thread late.....and a million people have already said this....but I had to enter my vote....

And a very good vote it is. It's my favorite of the foreign WWII air forces.

An I-16 for me.

Not a good plane, per say, but they definitely have it in the looks department - so art deco!



Or, perhaps one of these (I've always had a soft spot for them since my grandpa flew one in combat when he was in France with the 9th AF):

I love those little chunky Soviet fighters. The most iconic WW2 planes for me are the Spitfires and the sharkmouthed P40s of the AVG. I'm a sucker for the look of the P40 like that - if I had one sitting in the grounds, that'd be the one. Maybe with a nice Luftwaffe fighter to keep it company.

Sgt Brown said:

Turbos? Heretic!

One of the rules (jokes) of our group is, should one of us win the lottery, they are NOT to buy a bomber. They are to buy a DC-3 with an executive interior. Paint the thing OD with invasion stripes so it looks right externally. However, who needs bench paratroop seating? Cushy seating. Bar. Poker tables. Galley. Etc., etc. Wanda and Trixi to wait on you while flying to the next airshow in style! Aaaaaahhhhh!lol

Tom

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Bombers.... uhm. Less keen on those, somehow. I guess it's easier to romanticise aerial combat duels than bombing runs. [huh] Love the idea of a Deco-era, luxury passenger craft, though. Wouldn't bother learning to fly myself, if I had Gates' money I could employ a pilot....

Boeing P-26 Peashooter

There were 9 in service at the start of WWII.

Nice photo, Banjo Merlin. Beautiful paint job. It must be a treat to see it fly.
Thanks for posting.

BanjoMerlin said:

There were 9 in service at the start of WWII.

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Aw! That's such a cutie. I love those little planes, they always make me think they should be piloted by a teddy bear. lol

Edward said:

Love the idea of a Deco-era, luxury passenger craft, though. Wouldn't bother learning to fly myself, if I had Gates' money I could employ a pilot....

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I could not agree with more, sir . However, Edward mine would be a JU52, I would want it silver with my own design tailfin decal. Then off round the world on my own private adventure with style .

For those who identify the Ju 52 with a certain mustachioed dictator, the Ju 52 was made by Junkers. Its founder, Hugo Junkers, was one of the most ardent anti Nazis in Germany.

PV1 Ventura

One of the unsung heros of WWII, the Lockheed PV1 Ventura. After driving the Japanese off of the Aleutian islands, the Naval Aviators could have sat the war out, only battling the atrocious weather. Instead, the pilots came up with a plan to attack the Japanese Kurile islands. Flying with very pore navigation instruments, they flew the long trip to harass the Japanese, it worked, they had to divert large numbers of men and material to counter a posable invasion from the north! I was lucky enough to fly copilot on a PV2 Harpoon, it was a rocket ship next to the B-25, I can only imagine what the PV1 was like, faster and more maneuverable, in fact, they could and did out run Zeros on the deck! After the war Dee Howard converted them to executive transports, they could out run the early Gulfstreams. It was said that the On Mark B-26 conversions were the Ferrari of the skis and the Howards were the Lamborghini! The pinnacle of the Howard"s was the pressurized 500, it was almost a new plane, with little of the original PV1 left! The 500 could fly from New York to Dallas hold for 15 minutes, divert to Tulsa, hold for 15 minutes then proceed to Wichita, land and still have an hour of fuel on board, not to mention the short field take off and landing capabilities. Unfortunately, by the time it was certified the Gulfstream was flying, along with many Bizjets, and Bill Lear was about to give a new name to all the jets. None of these had the carrector of the elegant Howard 500 with 5000 galloping ponies, the world is pourer for it, only one is now airworthy!

Silver Dollar said:

Absitively. The B24 did a bit better job, was faster and could go higher BUT that thing was UGLY. The phrase around the B17 nuts was the B24 was the box the B17 came in. BTW, Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby is my airplane. I bought it from a guy at the museum for $10 bucks. lol Seriously, I visit the museum a few times a month and every time I go there, I sit on a bench under the left wing and read for a while. It's almost like it knows me. It gives me a very profound sense of peace.

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I am so envious! The Museum here at Dover AFB is nice but not AF museum nice. Glad to here that Shoo Shoo has a regular friend.

I used to go to the museum at Eglin AFB in Florida. They had a B 17 there too but it was outside and didn't have a place to sit anywhere near it. At the AF museum, it's nice and air conditioned. Except for the aberrant kid here and there, it's a really quiet area. One day, you have to take a trip there if you haven't seen the museum yet. It's well worth it. If you're like I am, you'll spend more time in the gift shop than the rest of the museum.

Was there about 10 years ago. Was a hurried visit with a 5 year old and wife who wasn't intersted. Saw what I wanted but missed out on alot. A second trip was planned but hit the 8th AF museum in GA instead. Another great museum.

I, too, have had the experience of a young family, not interested in lingering while I wanted to inspect every aircraft on display. Years later, after they were out on their own ,I could go back and enjoy the entire museum at my own pace.

There is just one plane i would like to own:

There are only build about 240 of hem and there is sadly just one left.
its in the National Air and Space Museum and i would buy it if its possible!

Why?
Because its rarity, its strange shape, looks like an insect,and would look great in my garden, and i ride a heinkel scooter.
here some specifications:

History
Heinkel's He 219 Uhu is undoubtedly one of the most advanced aircraft to emerge from World War II. Conceived solely as a gun platform to serve as a defensive night fighter, the plane featured a bubble-top cockpit that was well forward, affording the pilot superb visibility. The cockpit was equipped with ejection seats, and was exceptionally well laid out. All controls were easy to reach and identify. Combined with the tricycle landing gear, this plane was truly a "pilot's aircraft" and was very easy to fly. It was stable and predictable, exactly what one would expect from a plane with the Uhu's intended purpose. The earlier versions were adequately powered by the Daimler-Benz DB 603A, and had good rates of climb and acceptable top speeds approaching 400 mph. However, later versions of the He 219 were much heavier, and because the more advanced, powerful engines were in short supply, these variants suffered in performance.

The He 219 was a superb and lethal gun platform and the later versions packed as many as eight cannon, including the potent 30mm "Schrage Musik" which fired upward into a bomber's belly at an oblique angle. These accompanied as many as six forward-firing cannon. The "Uhu" was absolutely devastating to any aircraft that came into range of its guns. This was accomplished through the use of radar, a new technology. Ground-based stations would direct the night fighter to the bomber stream, and when in range, the Uhu's radar operator would then take over and guide the pilot to within 100 meters of the target. The bristling antennae were ugly and added a lot of drag, reducing the aircraft's ultimate top speed substantially. But without the radar the plane would have been useless at night, and since the Uhu was still about 150 mph faster than the Allied four-engine bombers, this was really not a handicap. Some of the latest versions were used to track, hunt down, and kill the Mosquito bombers, which were a much more challenging quarry than the lumbering four-engine craft comprising most of the night fighter's prey.

In the end, the He 219 fell victim to bad decision-making and was too little, too late. But it was the most advanced aircraft for its time, signaling the shape of things to come.

Make mine Kurt Tank's masterpiece, the Ta152-H

I used to go to the AF Museum in Dayton about once a year when I was a kid, haven't been there in 15 years or more. I need to take my kids and go.

I flew in a Ford Tri Motor once, in Put in Bay as I recall. I was a little kid and don't recall a whole lot about the plane, or the flight. The big wood steering wheels stuck in my memory though. This would have been in the early 1970s.

The JU87 Stuka was an ugly son of a gun, but I built several models of that bird when I was a kid.

You have to go back to the museum Dave. There are a bunch of new exhibits and they're great. I'm still claiming the B17 Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby as mine. You can have all the other aircraft. lol

Northrop Gamma

The Northrop Gamma was very good looking.