Most Synonymous Aircraft by Era

[Johnny Tip]

20 hours ago, Paul821 said:

... 

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

... 

And black choppers are always blackhawks😂

[Timbo88]

Fascinating idea, and so many possibilities depending on part of the world you live in, age, cultural exposure and a whole host of other factors.

 

My own, UK, orientated perspective, assuming what people from my own background may think (and assuming no particular interest in aviation). I have tried to imagine how people would actually describe the machines that come to mind, if they can't think of the true name, as well as reasons for the choice;

 

Early years of aviation:

•'Wright Brothers aeroplane' (Learnt through school education I would hope!)

•A 'Sopwith' (as above)

•A 'Red Baron' plane (as above)

 

World War Two:

•Spitfire (cultural icon in UK)

•A 'Messerschmitt' (the above icons famous enemy)

•Mustang (movies and occasion new item here in UK)

•Flying Fortress (as above)

•Lancaster (cultural icon in UK)

 

Cold War and current types:

•'Red Arrows jet' (and may know it's a Hawk, contemporary national icon)

•A 'MiG' (shorthand description in news reports for any Russian fighter and Topgun movie)

•Tomcat (Topgun of course!)

•Tornado (numberous news items here in UK over years since first Gulf war, though with retirement will probably fade from general awareness)

•Vulcan/'The V Bomber'(Falklands fame and XH558, but suspect will be fading from general publics awareness very soon)

•Typhoon (replacing Tornado in any UK news items)

•F35 (as above, some may know it's a Lightning)

•Chinook (seems to be main military helicopter mentioned in UK news)

 

We mustn't forget the civil types of course, as already mentioned;

•Jumbo Jet (747 though possibly also A380, due to double deck element)

•Concorde (cultural icon)

 

And how about the little aeroplanes?

 

•Cessna (anything small, probably white and seen flying locally in the past few decades)

 

Just my ideas, utterly open to interpretation!

 

 

 

[Luka]

It's maybe a bit tricky for an aviation enthusiast to decide what the average person might only recognise from popular media, but here goes;

WW1 - Red Fokker Dr.1; very recognisable of course
WW2 - Stuka (cranked wing, sound), Spitfire, Messerschmitt (109) if it has a yellow nose (I'm obviously blaming 'Dunkirk' here; even Chris Nolan chose for easily recognisable livery although he knew it wasn't right for the period)
Cold War early - F-104 Starfighter; simply because the Netherlands had these and people may remember the pointy rocket shape and the distinctive howl of the engine

Cold War late - F16; also simply because we have them
Modern - F-35; because we bought them and everyone has heard of the huge financial consequences of that choice

[SAT69]

World War II - B-17 and Lancaster

Cold War (early) - B-52 and Vulcan

Cold War (late) - B-52 (still); F-111 and F-15

Modern - Eurofighter, Rafale, F-22, F-35 and B-2

[Blimpyboy]

 

DR.I - 'nuff said (just ask this guy)!

 

 

Any flier (and stunt man/woman) worth their salt cut their teeth on ol' Jenny.

 

 

This bird helped bring the joys of barfing into a bag to the broader public,

 

 

And anyone who was anyone made their records in a Vega.

 

 

As everyone knows, rigid airships combine the pampering of a cruise ship with the speed of...

 

 

I reckon the A6M has to be one of the mostest, because in dubya dubya double hockey sticks, everything was a Zero!

 

 

I seem to recall everybody knowing about this one - I even recall it as a young 'un!

 

 

Superior firepower...

 

 

'Cos...  

 

 

Queen o' the skies.

 

 

Need I say more?

 

 

Apparently, from certain angles, this one made a noise that resembled freedom.

 

 

This sucker was the ultimate death machine to any late-1980s aerial defender of the free world.

 

 

These stately ladies are arguably famous for all the wrong reasons...

 

 

 

And, speaking of being an icon for all the wrong reasons (pulls pin on Nostalgia Grenade and hides...)

 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Blimpyboy

[Blimpyboy]

On 8/1/2019 at 2:59 AM, dnl42 said:

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

 

Of course, nice one!

 

 

Sticking with helicopters, what about the Hughes 'egg' copter (Chips and Magnum PI spring to mind)..

 

 

 

On 8/7/2019 at 2:15 AM, Paul821 said:

Gnat mean little to people

 

Say it isn't so! 'The Navy' seemed to like them...

 

 

 

Which all gets me to thinking, perhaps aircraft types in popular media are more recognisable/iconic to a wider audience...

(please don't hate me for the last one).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Blimpyboy

[roginoz]

Wot no DC-3 ??    Even my wife can recognise that, just by the engine note !!

 

For shame !!

[Blimpyboy]

10 minutes ago, roginoz said:

 Even my wife can recognise that, just by the engine note

 

Yeah! By the same token, half the Western world should know the Huey, sight unseen!

 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Blimpyboy

[noelh]

Well you could look at it in retrospect and pick an aircraft which is synonymous from our point of view. 

 

But if you look at it from the point of view of the public at any given point you would get different answers and that would vary according to nationality. Also people were more air minded, pilots were literally celebrities. 

 

So I suggest:

 

The Wright flyer 

 

Bleriot, Santos Dumont

 

Early Curtiss

 

Be2, any Sopwith, Nieuport, Albatross 

 

Camel, Fokker, Spad, Se5, Zeppelins

 

20s, any of the pioneer aircraft: Vickers Vimy, Lindbergh's Ryan. 

 

Also Curtiss Jenny, Gypsy Moth with  Amy Johnson 

 

The airliners, HP42, Ford Trimotor, DC3, 

 

Air racing: DH88, Gee Bee racer, Henshaw's Mew Gull. 

 

WW2, well fairly obvious. 

 

Post war: Comet,  F86, Mig 15, Meteor. 

 

707, then 737 and the Jumbo. Plus the absolutely most famous aeroplane of the sixties, seventies to this day: Concorde. 

 

I've missed a few, quite a few.

 

Nowadays if you were to ask anyone in Europe what was the most recent aircraft they flew in. The might remember 737 but they will certainly remember it was Ryanair. The airline with the golden harp is certainly synonymous with air travel in recent years. 🛬 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by noelh

[junglierating]

How about army helicopter on Weymouth beach with ROYAL NAVY stamped all over a sea king.....they started putting mini white ensign on them still do it now on Merlins but they still cant read lol

[Bozothenutter]

Depends on country as well I guess...

WW1:

Fokker Dr.1 probably better known as 'Red Baron', nothing else even comes close in exposure.

WW2:

Spitfire, Messerschmitt,  Zero, Mustang. These names will get recognised by the man in the street, with Spitfires being brown/green, Messerschmitts having yellow noses, Zero's being white and Mustangs being silver.

Cold War early:

Mig, Mirage, Phantom

Migs being all Russian aircraft,  Mirages, due to being famous for the Israeli conflicts,  Phantoms for Vietnam. Wars are  being televised.

Cold War late:

Tomcat, Stealth Fighter.

Tomcat because of Sidra, Stealth Fighter because of general media attention, the (percieved) cloak of invisibility and the televising of the conflicts it was involved in. 

Latest gen:

Su-27, Raptor, F-35.

Su-27.....well COBRA! The most televised move ever!

Raptor because it is king of the hill at the moment.

F-35, because it is in the news for all the wrong reasons, all the time. 

 

[exdraken]

On 9/25/2021 at 9:01 AM, Bozothenutter said:

Tomcat because of Sidra

Tomcat because of Topgun... or Final Countdown....

for sure the most recognised and well known modern jet, similar to Concorde or Red Barron for their categories...

....

[kiseca]

If it's military only, I'd go with this, which IMO is an inclusive list of all aircraft I'd expect non enthusiasts to be reasonably likely to recognise by name and identify by shape:

 

WW1 - Fokker Triplane

WW2 - Spitfire

Early cold war: U-2 definitely, maybe B-52. Depending whether they are British or American, I'd expect them to be aware of the Sabre or Hunter, but wouldn't neccessarily recognise one if they were looking at it.

Late cold war: SR-71 (apparently was supposed to be called the RS-71 but the president had a dyslexic moment), Bell UH-1 Huey, and Tomcat (because Top Gun)

Modern: I guess the F-35 because it's been in the news a lot, and most everyone will recognise an F117 though might only know it as the "stealth fighter". That's really a cold war era plane I guess but since it made its name in Desert Storm I'd put it under "modern"

 

If you're including non-military then I'd add the Lockheed Constellation (early cold war), Concorde, and the Boeing 747 (late cold war) and.... Space Shuttle?

 

Modern.... I can't think of any non-military aircraft that is both famous enough to be in the public conscience and distinctive looking enough to be easily recognised visually. Maybe the A380 if they are close enough to clock the double decker rows of windows.

 

Of all those, I'd say Concorde would take the honours as the aircraft that most people, anywhere in the world, are both aware of, would recognise and could name it if they were looking at one. It can't be mistaken for anything else (I guess bar the Tu-144, an aircraft I'd guess the majority of non-enthusiasts aren't aware of).

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by kiseca

[tempestfan]

I'd throw the F-16 in as well; most people will have heard about it and/or seen one somewhere, someplace in their time. And it even featured in - believe it - a Bruce Cockburn song: "And the waves roll on the beach like a squadron of F-16s" (Planet of the Clowns).

[kiseca]

5 minutes ago, tempestfan said:

I'd throw the F-16 in as well; most people will have heard about it and/or seen one somewhere, someplace in their time. And it even featured in - believe it - a Bruce Cockburn song: "And the waves roll on the beach like a squadron of F-16s" (Planet of the Clowns).

 

Good call. Distinctive look, sold around the world, gained at least some fame in "Iron Eagle" if not reaching the dizzy altitudes of Top Gun.

[Moggy]

What about the C-130 Hercules? Every time there's a humanitarian emergency somewhere there's always at least one picture of it in news media articles.

 

Cheers, Moggy

[Lord Riot]

WW1: Sopwith Camel

WW2: Spitfire

Early Cold War: Vulcan

Late Cold War: Harrier

Modern: F-22

[JohnT]

I think you need to take geography into account as well

 

eg. Ask someone Japanese for WW2 and you might get Mitsubishi Zero

A Russian says Stormovik 

An American P-51 Mustang and the B-17

Someone who knows Malta a Gladiator perhaps

 

WW1 a Frenchman a Nieuport 

 

Whats iconic to someone might not match with what someone else experienced 

 

The DC3 must rate for late 1930’s transport. It’s on the walls of lots of trendy bars but then again you could probably stick up a Stuka and Joe Public wouldn’t be any the wiser as long as the latte arrived hot

[exdraken]

On 9/28/2021 at 11:45 PM, JohnT said:

 you need to take geography into account as well

You are totally correct!

In Sweden afaik the Draken is THE iconic jet, since the 1960!

Same goes for Austria, but for the 1990s and early 2000s only  - go figure ...

now it is Eurofighter, but mostly for its political and cost issues.... 

 

 

[JohnT]

3 hours ago, exdraken said:

You are totally correct!

In Sweden afaik the Draken is THE iconic jet, since the 1960!

Same goes for Austria, but for the 1990s and early 2000s only  - go figure ...

now it is Eurofighter, but mostly for its political and cost issues.... 

 

 

Actually the Draken is classic 👍

[kiseca]

Was wondering why the OP wasn't responding but it looks like this thread is from 2019! That'll explain it then

[Nachtwulf]

What an enjoyable topic! I would expect that the answers would depend on your age , where your from and which side of history your country of origin was on.

 

WWI - Zeppelin

WWII - P-40

Early Cold War - MiG 15

Late Cold War - F-4 Phantom/ F-15 eagle

Latest Gen - F-22