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Most Synonymous Aircraft by Era


ChrisBraid

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Hi Guys,

 

I'm doing a bit of research on branding recognition into specific markets and hoping you can help. Every era of flight has an aircraft that is recognisable by people who have little to no knowledge of aircraft. 

 

If I was to ask you to be kind enough to respond I would like to collect any answers from across a period of a month to get the most popular responses.

 

Eras : WW1,

         WWII 

         Cold War Early (I'm thinking 50's or 60's aircraft here

         Cold War Late

         Latest Generation.

 

        Fighters, bombers, makes no difference,

 

I'm aware we all have bias to our favourites be that through nationality or era etc and I could name the obvious ones like a Fokker Triplane and Sopwith Camel but I have my own inbuilt bias.

If any of you could take the time with any responses it will be truly appreciated. 

 

Chris

 

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Interesting question. Do you mean "name and shape recognition" or "name (regardless of shape) recognition"? I ask as I would claim that the Fokker qualifies for both, while the Camel is the latter. I would also claim a Zero fits the latter considering a T-6 (Harvard) was used as a Zero stand-in for several movies, including Tora! Tora! Tora! and Midway, and TV shows, including Baa Baa Black Sheep, Pearl, and War and Remembrance. I would also claim a B-17 for the latter. BTW, I'm willing to bet most people would identify a Sopwith Triplane as a Dr.1.

 

I'll have to think some more on this as it's difficult to exclude personal bias in this question.

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34 minutes ago, Giorgio N said:

Not sure if I've understood completely.. are you interested in our answers or if we can get answers from people with little to no knowledge of aviation ?

In your answers please :) Although the idea of a horde of modellers across the world doing a survey could be fun :)

 

Thanks, Chrs

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33 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

Interesting question. Do you mean "name and shape recognition" or "name (regardless of shape) recognition"? I ask as I would claim that the Fokker qualifies for both, while the Camel is the latter. I would also claim a Zero fits the latter considering a T-6 (Harvard) was used as a Zero stand-in for several movies, including Tora! Tora! Tora! and Midway, and TV shows, including Baa Baa Black Sheep, Pearl, and War and Remembrance. I would also claim a B-17 for the latter. BTW, I'm willing to bet most people would identify a Sopwith Triplane as a Dr.1.

 

I'll have to think some more on this as it's difficult to exclude personal bias in this question.

Good point. I guess most people in the UK would recognise the name spitfire and could probably point one out. But if you asked them for a Luftwaffe aircraft I have a hunch they might say Stuka before Messerschmitt but not recognise the shape.

 

So I'm guessing shape as people recognise brands sometimes more than they recognise the name of the company.

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Understand Chris ! So let's see...

WW1: easy, the Fokker triplane ! Of course in red. Everybody knows this, even if they don't know what it is...

WW2: Spitfire, a name that has become a legend. Second place would go to the Stuka and the Flying Fortress (a name that is even today used by the press to indicate a bomber)

Cold war: depends on what you mean by early and late. My initial thought would have been Sabre for early and Phantom for late, but if we mean the '80s as late cold war then maybe the Tomcat is even better known than the Phantom.
Have to say that maybe there's one name that is even more recognisable when it comes to cold war aviation: Mig ! No matter which one, may be the 15 or the 21, but the word Mig has become sinonimous with combat aircraft all around the world

Latest generation; the word is Stealth ! Again, may indicate the original F-117 or the later Raptor or the brand new F-35, in any case stealth is how today many would know a modern fighter. If stealth is not acceptable, then I'd say the F-35, if only because this type has been constantly in the news for the last 5 years for a number of reasons

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W W 1 Fokker triplane aka the red baron

W W 2 Difficult to say as so many choices from a relatively well known conflict but I'll go with Spitfire, Lancaster, Stuka. If it has to be one only  then Spitfire

Cold war early  Red Arrows. Aircraft type irrelevant, it is the brand that stands out although at this period it would be the Gnat  ( or Harrier)

Cold war late    Red Arrows      "        "           "         "  "   "      "         "        "       "         "         "   "       "      "     "       "    "   Hawk  ( or Harrier)

Latest generation    Red Arrows      blah blah blah, still the Hawk.  ( or Harrier, for Harrier read 'jump jet')                           

There is an outside choice for the last two which could be " Jumbo Jet". 

Based on my perception of the choices of the UK only, other populations would probably think otherwise

I have assumed you are referring to the population as a whole most of whom know very little about aircraft. If you are referring to aviation enthusiasts then the list would be completely different

Edited by spaddad
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Shape

 

WW1: Red Fokker Triplane (and misidentified Sopwith Triplane). Reason: Peanuts comic strip

WW2: Spitfire, Mustang, C-47/DC-3 (perhaps B-17, Lancaster, and B-29), Reason: iconic aircraft shown in many movies and still flying today

Vietnam: Huey  Reason: Iconic, TV news

Late Cold War: F-14 Tomcat   Reason: Topgun

 

Commercial: Concorde  Reason: iconic

Commercial: 747, 737 Reason: ubiquitous, flown on

General Aviation: Piper Cub  Reason: iconic

 

Helicopter: Bell 47 (known as "Mash Helicopter")

Helicopter: Bell Jet Ranger Reason: ubiquitous

Edited by dnl42
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Possibly you're going to get the same answers from everybody here...😂

 

WW1: Red Baron

WW2: Spitfire or B-17

Early Cold War: MiG-21

Late Cold War: Phantom or B-52

Latest Gen: F-35

 

Would have to give honourable mention to the B747 and Concorde as the most iconic jets from the civilian world since WW2. 

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Hello Chris... My thoughts are the following. 

 

WW1 = Fokker DR1 or tri-plane, Sopwith Camel

WW2 = F4U Corsair or Spitfire 

Early Cold-War 1946-1967= F-4 Phantom or Mig-21

late Cold war 1968-1989 = F-14 Tomcat 

Latest Generation = F-35 or Su-27 series

 

that is where my thinking places things. I of course could give you a much longer list based on the 5 generations of jets alone. But that isnt what you're looking for. 

 

Dennis

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13 hours ago, spaddad said:

W W 1 Fokker triplane aka the red baron

W W 2 Difficult to say as so many choices from a relatively well known conflict but I'll go with Spitfire, Lancaster, Stuka. If it has to be one only  then Spitfire

Cold war early  Red Arrows. Aircraft type irrelevant, it is the brand that stands out although at this period it would be the Gnat  ( or Harrier)

Cold war late    Red Arrows      "        "           "         "  "   "      "         "        "       "         "         "   "       "      "     "       "    "   Hawk  ( or Harrier)

Latest generation    Red Arrows      blah blah blah, still the Hawk.  ( or Harrier, for Harrier read 'jump jet')                           

There is an outside choice for the last two which could be " Jumbo Jet". 

Based on my perception of the choices of the UK only, other populations would probably think otherwise

I have assumed you are referring to the population as a whole most of whom know very little about aircraft. If you are referring to aviation enthusiasts then the list would be completely different

The Fokker certainly seems to be the runaway leader at this early stage.

Agree on UK perception. Would USA population for example recognise Red Arrows and would UK general population recognise Blue Angels?

Certainly see the logic round the Jumbo

13 hours ago, Vicarage Vee said:

70's and 80's: Concorde.

Big thumbs up on this one. 

11 hours ago, dnl42 said:

Shape

 

WW1: Red Fokker Triplane (and misidentified Sopwith Triplane). Reason: Peanuts comic strip

WW2: Spitfire, Mustang, C-47/DC-3 (perhaps B-17, Lancaster, and B-29), Reason: iconic aircraft shown in many movies and still flying today

Vietnam: Huey  Reason: Iconic, TV news

Late Cold War: F-14 Tomcat   Reason: Topgun

 

Commercial: Concorde  Reason: iconic

Commercial: 747, 737 Reason: ubiquitous, flown on

General Aviation: Piper Cub  Reason: iconic

 

Helicopter: Bell 47 (known as "Mash Helicopter")

Helicopter: Bell Jet Ranger Reason: ubiquitous

Liking the reasoning from being seen in reference to Media, Popular Culture. especially the MASH helicopter. Remember watching that on TV.

 

8 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

I think the Blackburn Blackburn surely has to be the most synonymous... 😜

best,

M.

😂  Not the Westland Wapiti?

6 hours ago, Alan P said:

Possibly you're going to get the same answers from everybody here...😂

 

WW1: Red Baron

WW2: Spitfire or B-17

Early Cold War: MiG-21

Late Cold War: Phantom or B-52

Latest Gen: F-35

 

Would have to give honourable mention to the B747 and Concorde as the most iconic jets from the civilian world since WW2. 

I was wondering when the B-52 was going to get mentioned its its had plenty of news footage across various conflicts,

4 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello Chris... My thoughts are the following. 

 

WW1 = Fokker DR1 or tri-plane, Sopwith Camel

WW2 = F4U Corsair or Spitfire 

Early Cold-War 1946-1967= F-4 Phantom or Mig-21

late Cold war 1968-1989 = F-14 Tomcat 

Latest Generation = F-35 or Su-27 series

 

that is where my thinking places things. I of course could give you a much longer list based on the 5 generations of jets alone. But that isnt what you're looking for. 

 

Dennis

Liking the Phantom. Weirdly it wasn't in my thinking when i started the question.

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On 8/1/2019 at 8:25 AM, Ed Russell said:

What the man-in-the-street in English speaking countries might come up with

WW1: Fokker Dr1 Triplane / Sopwith Camel

WW2: Spitfire / B-17

Early Cold War: MiG-21 / 707

Late Cold War: B-52 / 747

Latest Gen: F-35 / Airbus

Definitely developing a common theme here  ;)

 

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In Germany, things can be quite different... 

WW1: Fokker Dr1

WW2: Tante Ju 52

Early Cold War: F-104 Starfighter l

Late Cold War: Boeing 474

Latest Gen: Eurofighter 

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6 minutes ago, Johnny Tip said:

In Germany, things can be quite different... 

WW1: Fokker Dr1

WW2: Tante Ju 52

Early Cold War: F-104 Starfighter l

Late Cold War: Boeing 474

Latest Gen: Eurofighter 

Naturlich!

 

Und also in andere Grenzenb!!!

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Purely from a UK perspective, and basing my answers on aircraft my wife recognises without any aviation interest.

 

WW1: Fokker DR 1, usually described simply as "Red Baron plane"

WW2: Spitfire, Lancaster. and C-47 (the latter thanks to her loving the Band of Brothers series)

Cold War era: Vulcan, Concorde, Boeing 747

Latest Generation: She's not caught up that far yet!

 

Steve

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On 8/3/2019 at 10:53 PM, Johnny Tip said:

In Germany, things can be quite different... 

WW1: Fokker Dr1

WW2: Tante Ju 52

Early Cold War: F-104 Starfighter l

Late Cold War: Boeing 474

Latest Gen: Eurofighter 

I hadn't honestly thought of the Starfighter :)  Thank you

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13 hours ago, Johnny Tip said:

OH. MY. GOD. 

I just saw my typo. Even if I'm not much into passenger airliners, I feel plane embarrassement. 

Amazing how we see what we know should be there rather than see what is actually there :)

 

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18 hours ago, Johnny Tip said:

OH. MY. GOD. 

I just saw my typo. Even if I'm not much into passenger airliners, I feel plane embarrassement. 

Quick! Just change it to Lancaster PA474. The BBMF were flying the Lanc through the late cold war period...so no one would know. 🙂

 

Steve

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This survey is limited as it is based around taking groups around Duxford - so only aircraft there are included. Must see's - groups of all ages:

 

Spitfire

Concorde

 

and not a lot more!

 

Other Aircraft requested or recognised (either correctly or incorrectly.

 

B52

Vulcan

Flying Fortress

 

anything bi-plane by default must be first world war: ie Gladiator etc..!!!

 

The OP said

On 7/31/2019 at 2:07 PM, ChrisBraid said:

Every era of flight has an aircraft that is recognisable by people who have little to no knowledge of aircraft. 

From my experience of leading visits and overhearing people at museums and air shows I would say today Concorde is the only aircraft in the UK that meets that criteria. Nearly all others are generic.:

 

If it is Red it is a Red Arrow - Hawk & Gnat mean little to people

One piston engine - Spitfire

Large passenger jet with four engines - Jumbo or 747

Smaller passenger jet with two engines - 737 or Airbus

 

etc...

 

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17 hours ago, Paul821 said:

This survey is limited as it is based around taking groups around Duxford - so only aircraft there are included. Must see's - groups of all ages:

 

Spitfire

Concorde

 

and not a lot more!

 

Other Aircraft requested or recognised (either correctly or incorrectly.

 

B52

Vulcan

Flying Fortress

 

anything bi-plane by default must be first world war: ie Gladiator etc..!!!

 

The OP said

From my experience of leading visits and overhearing people at museums and air shows I would say today Concorde is the only aircraft in the UK that meets that criteria. Nearly all others are generic.:

 

If it is Red it is a Red Arrow - Hawk & Gnat mean little to people

One piston engine - Spitfire

Large passenger jet with four engines - Jumbo or 747

Smaller passenger jet with two engines - 737 or Airbus

 

etc...

 

That feedback made me go back to my photos from when I was a kid standing in front of the B-17 at Duxford and going into the concorde..  Makes me realise how long it is since I paid a visit 😢

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