English Electric Lightning - the F3 was my fave.

This one from 56 squadron firebirds. Blistering performance!

 

My favorite aircraft is the one I'm flying in that isn't crashing.

Oh, and the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. Yes, it's because of Top Gun.

 

Dangerous Thread

Favourite means pick one. I can't.

Conventional favourites are the P51D and the DC3. One thing the Americans do best, hands down, is make aeroplanes (even if you can't spell the word). Unconventional likes, the Ford Trimotor.

 

As a youngen i went to the airport every sunday.
I would stand behind a 3' fence,and watch and smell
those conne's and dc7's fire up.
i wanted to be the guy with the fire bottle.

 

Great aircraft

The comit was way ahead of it's time, it's too bad about the problems with metal fatigue that caused the crashes. The redesign of the passenger windows solved the problem but nobody forgot about the crashes.

I had a small plastic toy Constellation when I was little, I loved that toy.

I don't have any pictures but some of my faves are the DC-10, Spitfire and the Mustang. I know, everybody likes them. Also the F-16, for a jet fighter, is a good looking aircraft.

I think the piston engin aircraft were better looking because they put more into the looks than the function. With the higer speeds of the jets and the fuel economy a concern the design calls for better aerodynamics.

 

This stunned me when I realised it.

How many years b/n this:

And this:

Answer: 50 years and they're both French

 

 

My dad used to take us to Ringway Airport (Manchester UK) to watch planes, especially for the big events, like the first time Concorde landed, or the first Jumbo arriving.

Watching Concorde fly (when I lived in London it was often over head) was amazing - it flew like no other passenger jet. So agile and almost twitchy looking.

That being said, Canada's Avro Arrow was a pretty amazing plane, but it was cancelled for political reasons. http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/v2/equip/hst/arrow-eng.asp

Many engineers working on the Arrow moved on to the Concorde project, and you can see their influence in Concorde's design.

Though I've gotta say the Lancaster has to be my favourite plane of all time.
Here's a Canadian version, with a Cf18 (Canadian version of the F18)

 

P-51 Mustang
http://www.aviation-history.com/north-american/p51-5a.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bott4.jpg

 

My father's uncle, by marriage, was Merv Victor Richardson; the same Victa that became the iconic lawnmower manufacturer. Merv did not invent the lawn mower, as it is commonly stated, but he made it economically viable and usable by one operator. With the millions he made from mowers, he founded an aeroplane company that made the Victa Airtourer. This was the first plane I ever flew in, I was about 4 or 5 and had to sit on a telephone book to see out of the canopy.

So in some ways this is my favourite aeroplane.

It was later up-specced and became the CT4 Trainer. At about this time the company was bought by a Kiwi mob.

It's next incarnation was the turbopropped Pilatus PC-9 which is the weapon of choice for our Roulettes, the RAAF's aerobatic team. Some small countries even purchased it as a combat fighter.

 

Here's some shots taken at the local RAAF Assn museum.
Very very dangerous The Flying Flea

From a famous marque a lesser known craft, Gypsy Moth

The double sunrise club. Catalina

Work in progress.

An Aussie icon Wirraway

Vampire jet

A faithful old workhorse the Dizzy 3

 

Here you go Haggis
No intro necessary here I'm sure, the artwork is a replica of that on an aircraft which went missing on a bombing raid. It's sobering to remember that the crew of that plane were but a few of the 55,000 airmen who paid the ultimate price. LEST WE FORGET

The belly of the beast.

What a magnificent machine.

 

At Galveston Beach

It's the XC-99. Largest piston engined land-based plane that ever flew. It used components from the B36 -wings and fuselage.
Only 1 was ever built and it's currently being restored.

 

Some of the most interesting planes don't look like they could fly at all.

I love the "Vampire" jet. It looks vampire-ish.

Here's a classic whirlybird; the Bell 47: You definitely need a leather jacket, a baseball cap, and aviator glasses to look right flying one of these.

 

Favourite?

The Blackburn Beverley.

2 important reasons:

1. because of the name. The only better names for an aeroplane would be either 'Brenda' or 'Beatrice'. I'd like that, the "De Havilland Beatrice". With a plane named like that it means you don't care a sod what anybody thinks. You don't need some fierce or sleek sounding name to prove yourself. You are an aeroplane and have absolutely no problems about it.

2. because it is so ugly it is beautiful.

It even looks like a Beverley!

My old man flew his combat missions in Lancs.

 

My favourite Aeroplane:

 

Catalina flying boat:

Canadair CL-215T fire fighting plane.

Some years ago I was taken up in one of them by a friend in the Armed forces. To load up with water it went down to a river estuary and skimmed over the surface for what seemed like ages. The pilot has to adjust the throttles to account for the increasing weight of the water and then really gun it to gain height. Great experience, magic sounds from its Pratt & Whitney 18-cylinder piston engines. The newer ones have turbo-props though... :

 

I've always had a hankering for a Catalina Flying Boat, in "Black Cat" night fighter livery.

But the plane I'd most like to fly is a SR71 Blackbird.

Mach III at the edge of space? Yes please!

 

Grumman EA-6B Prowler:
A 4-seater used for electronic warfare (1 pilot and 3 techs). They're stationed at a base 30 minutes away from me, and they fly low and slow overhead a lot, which just about shakes my house off its foundation.

Boldor's right about favorites. I like so many, that I'm going to have to break them up as my favorite from each category. Well then, this is my favorite 4-seater electronic warfare jet.

These are mounted on a pedestal at the entrance to the base. The one on the left might be the predecessor A-6, not sure...

 

A 5/8ths replica of a Hawker Hurricane built by an ex-pilot.

Fabric string & wood

An Anson

Another view

An Auster

Rotor-craft to the rescue

 

A Bleriot replica in New Zealand

 

Military:- BAC TSR2

Civilian:- Fairy Rotordyne

Both never went into full production.

 

Without a doubt, the Avro Vulcan:

however, honourable mentions must go to close runners up (which have already been mentioned in this thread):

DH Vampire (for the sheer bonkers look of it):

and

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (what's not to love about flying at MachIII almost in space!):

 

My favorites (oldest to newest):

Curtiss P-6 Hawk:

Hawker Sea Fury:

North American F-105 Thunderchief:

 

I liked all of the WW2 era planes...

My favorite modern plane is the C-130...although not the prettiest bird...it has to be one of the most versatile planes ever built...

From my experience this is the best view of it...although when I jumped it was usually zero dark thirty with 90 lbs of equipment and a weapon attached to me...