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Best looking military aircraft


jaw

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Agree with Paul H the Sukhoi 27's are one of my favourites. They have to be the most aesthetically pleasing and coolest birds around.

db068069.jpg

But i like an extra pair of canards myself.

f2b448fd.jpg

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Oooh, some that spring to mind....

Spitfire (naturally)

Bf109 (the E model looks the meanest to me, and the F/G/K look more elegant. Adding the Merlin to the Buchon spoilt the lines of the nose IMO)

DH Mosquito

DH Hornet (but not the ones with the thimble radome in the nose)

Hunter

Vulcan

Victor

B-58 Hustler

F-8 Crusader

MiG-21 (early marks with the skinny nose)

Su-27

F-15A/C (but only when in the clean configuration)

F-16A/C (again only in clean configuration)

And now for the strange choice....

An-225 - the longer wings make it look more elegant and less tubby than the An-124, and those six engines and twin tail make it look really cool as far as I'm concerned.

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Pielstick suggested the AN-225 but that's civilian these days so would that count? I do agree though that it is a gorgeous plane with truly mind-boggling statistics which make it vastly more interesting.

I also want to nominate the Space Shuttle. Not technically a military craft I suppose but it was "flown" by lots of former military pilots and it placed several highly secret military things in orbit so I'm counting it in. I just love the way it looks when on a Stack with the ET and SRB's or on the special 747 or even on the ground after landing. But it's at its most stunning with the earth as a backdrop or connected to the Hubble or something because then it gets scientific and exploration significance which I absolutely love.

Winner is still the F4u Corsair though :P

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Seeing your Victor, I raise you...

Vulcan!

VulcanprototypeVX770flight.jpg

But you have a point, all the V-bombers in their early incarnations were stunning.

{Edit; oops, was replying to Andrew Jones's post which I didn't realise was on the last page for some reason!]

Edited by Vulcanicity
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To be fair

If its a bi plane then the Hawker Fury and Fairey Fox must be contenders

If a monoplane then the Spitfire does have a lovely shape while being quite dainty

On the jets then it gets harder. Honourable mentions to the Hunter, Vulcan (in white), Hustler and Starfighter but they are way eclipsed by the Victor of course. I fell in love with her when I saw a b&W photo of her in all white from almost head on and showing a blue steel underneath. She looked awesome. Just like in final year Fiona......... er, well you get the picture

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Marcel Dassault is often credited to have said "if it looks good it will fly good".

It would then only be fitting to say that all the delta winged mirages have probably been the best looking military jets ever and the rafale is IMHO the best looking of the newest generation fighters. But then the hunter and vulcan looked very good too as did the F-5 and T-38. And I'd add another lovely looking jet: the Grumman F-11 Tiger

For prop driven planes the spitfire is hard to beat, however the hornet maybe can.

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Oh possibly the:

Hawk T1

Jet Provost T5

Tucano

Sea King any variant (except those with tubular u/c)

Bucc

Phantom

Spitfire

Hurricane

Tornado GR4

Amongst Others

but to pick 1? I'd go with the Hawk

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beauty is in the eye of the beholder ;-) for me... i like to see small aircraft heavily laden with ordanance - so either the Skyraider or the Dragonfly (perverse I know but there you have it)..... of a more conventional type, yes the Spitfire and Tornado, but also the Harrier.......

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Of course a tip of the hat always goes to the good old spitfire, and I do have a bit of a soft spot for the Vulcan but my favourite looker when it comes to aircraft... And I'm going to be a bit un-patriotic here... Has to be the US Navy's F-14 Tomcat. IF sex could fly - thats what it would look like! And as for helicopters, I have a hard choice between huge-mongus Chinook (Got to love that noise) and the Apache.

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