TOP-TEN MOST BEAUTIFUL AIRPLANES - An Inside Look, Military and Commercial, in Photos and Artwork
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- čas přidán 11. 07. 2024
- PART 1 of a special presentation of the most beautiful flying machines in the 20th Century!
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If they put the Constellation's tail on the Republic Rainbow, it would look "right", in my opinion.
Fancy to see you here 😁
Nice. I think it'd then resemble the de Havilland DH91 Albatross.
For the Constellation, the Super-G with Tip-Tanks..... Great watch and the judge did a "Fair and Balanced" job........................... Thanks for posting.
Thank you from 🇨🇦 for remembering the Avro Arrow! Whether the aircraft should have gone into service or not is debatable, but it’s a crime there isn’t one in a museum.
Agreed 100%!
I feel the P-38 has beautiful lines, especially in polished livery. The F86 really is gorgeous as well. X-15 was Mach speed in any picture.
For real i am ubset the sabre isnt in here
@@harrisonc985 Me too. In the 1950s Buck Rogers flew a rocket plane that looked like the F86.
How on earth could you not mention the L-1011 TriStar?! 😮
Easily, very easily!😎
You're crazy. That plane is ugly.
I would add a few of my personal favorites, the Heinkel H-111, a truly art deco style aircraft, the FW-200 Condor, and the FW-190 both of which had beautiful lines, and finally the Vickers Viscount, has a beauty of its own.
I too am a fan of the FW-200 Condor. It did have beautiful looks.
The HE-111 does it well. All those wonderful curves.
Thanks for including the Avro CF-105 Arrow. My dad worked on it and was heartbroken when it was cancelled.
Really enjoyed this list.
A couple of my aesthetic (and operational) favorites that didn't make the list, the F-86 Saber and the F-8 Crusader. That being said, all the planes you showed are VERY worthy and easy on the eyes.
Yup. F-8 is definitely a contender, but then I am prejudiced as I flew it for 1700 hrs.
The De Havilland Comet was and is a beautiful jet. But the most beautiful commercial aircraft designed so far was the Concorde.Breathtaking on the ground as well as in flight, it looked like a graceful bird. Finally. I'd like to nominate the Queen of the Skies, the Boeing 747. I've always found it to be a beauty, the standout leader of the wide-body class of passenger jets.
An absence of the de Havilland DH98 Mosquito was surprising to me, and I would definitely include it, but otherwise a wonderful list of truly beautiful aeroplanes indeed.
Some of my choices
Military
1) The early P-38s in natural aluminum prior to the chin intakes
2) The Hawker Fury. The best looking of all biplane fighters.
3) The Douglas F4D Skyray. A Douglas product for you Mike.
4) A tie between the F-86 Saber and the MiG-15.
5) The Martin P6M SeaMaster
Civilian
1) The Beech Stagger Wing
2) The Boeing 307 Stratoliner
3) The DeHaviland Rapide
4) The DeHaviland DH.88 Comet racer
5) The DeHaviland DH.106 Comet
I'm reminded of the old adage, "If it looks good, it'll fly good." Great choices for all categories, especially the Spitfire, Connie, & Concorde. I'd add the Dassault Mirage 2000 and Falcon 20 as my personal favorites.
1049 Super G Mike, the tip tanks make it look better. I like all of the honorable Mention aircraft. Beach Model 17 Staggerwing, gorgeous.
The 106 is my favorite though of the military, well and I worked on them. Beautiful, sexy, and mean fast, worked on the engines when I was in the USAF. B-58 close second.
Excellent presentation as always Mike.
I worked avionics instruments on the Six. 👍
An excellent collection, Mike. And yes, you included my favorite, the F-106 (although the family version).
My favorite too, and I feel honored to have been able to work on it in my Airforce days. It looks like it's doing Mach 2 when standing still. Still holds the official record for Fastest Single Engined Jet Interceptor, set in 1959! 👍
My personal favourite, the one you started with. The Mk 9 Spitfire.
In terms of significance, I'd say a Mk 1 Spitfire.
People say the P-51 allowed escort all the way to Berlin, and that is true. But fighters never would have escorted bombers from Britain, if Britain had been invaded and lost in the early days of 1941.
People say the Hurricanes did all the work and the Spitfires just looked glamorous. There is a grain of truth in that. Hurries were more than capable of taking down all German attack / bomber aircraft except the Bf-109. So the job of the Hurry, was to clear the skies, and the job of the Spitfire, was to keep the 109s off the Hurry's backs while they did that. At the start of The Battle, Britain had about 400 Hurries, and about 175 ~ 180 Spitfires. Recorded number is higher than that, but Supermarine was rushing them off the line without a 3 blade constant speed prop. They were being delivered with a 2 blade wooden prop. You can't count those as operational Spitfires, because they weren't. They were being retrofitted with the 3 blade prop as fast as those could be manufactured, while at the operational airfields.
I concede, a clean F-16 is also a very pretty aircraft. The F-86 Sabre was also a very pretty aircraft.
I would have to put the Gulfstream V at the top of the civilian list, with the F-86 and F-106 tied for second spot in the military category after the Spitfire.
As for the SAAB Draken, that box art sold the Revell kit to me in a heartbeat as a kid! In fact, I built two of them.
I built that Hasegawa kit of the Draken last year. Had done it as a kid decades ago.
The Tomcat is widely considered the most beautiful fighter jet ever made, and didn't even get an honorable mention.
Bravo, Mike. Can't argue with your number 1's. Thanks for the episode!
The Arrow is often forgot ...thank you for giving it some love
The photos and artwork for this video are spectacular. Great job. Hope to see part 2&3.
Mike- you’ve held out so many great new pics! Amazing content as usual
Many thanks!
Bloody hell, Mike you have gone and done it again! Lots of elegance there.
I might have added the PBY Catalina- the most beautiful tail feathers ever. Maybe the me 262 which aroused me when I was too young! I will descend further and suggest the Westland Whirlwind as an aircraft that introduced the future.
Then there was a Heinkel fighter which did not achieve much production, Martin Marauder, DH Hornet- a perfect reason for intelligent sex ed.
But the plane that shakes my bones is the Tu-95 Bear and it’s airliner clones.
Send help.
Stunners All! Thank You! -the Connie without the tip tanks gets my vote.
My first jet flight was in a Caravelle, out of Willow Run airport. In those days (1963) Detroit commercial flights were split between Willow Run and DTW airports. What I recall from that first flight was the tremendous acceleration and angle of the initial climb-out performance of the Caravelle. 60 years ago…
Great job, I couldn’t quibble with any of your selections. For me, deciding between the Convair 880 and the DC-8 would be difficult. I never fail to be thrilled at observing the lines of the Lockheed 1049 Super G Constellation and the B-58 Hustler.
What great “judges”, Mike. Agree on all “their” choices! Fabulous video with superb photos and images.
Mike - great presentation; I wouldn't argue with any of your choices. Saab J-35 was always one of my favorites, and I recall buying that model kit when I was a kid because of the box art. Thanks for supporting Max's Models Livestream last Saturday. Your knowledge, talent and enthusiasm were fantastic. Fran
Same, and I painted mine to match. I did two and tried to number them in sequence. I remember kind of botching that part. "Flew" them to supper for weeks. Thanks for understanding, Mom.
That's what box art was for. To instill sales
Simply lovely!
Hats off to all the judges😉…excellent choices!
I'm biased but at T-38 would sure look good in that group. They always looked fast even when parked on the ramp.
Great video. The" Judges" did a fantastic job.
A brilliant rundown, thanks Mike. Great pics, beautiful artwork and little snippets of insider info. Oh and I do believe we share the same appreciation for the number 1 most beautiful aircraft.
Outstanding !!!
Great collection of beautiful planes. I’m a fan of the very old-school Boeing 314 Clipper for nostalgic beauty.
A classic flyingboat indeed!
I remember the long gone magazine, Airliners International (1970s), including an article on the De Havilland DH 91 as being the most beautiful aircraft ever built (at least as far as airliners go). Interesting "Top-ten" story and thanks for sharing!
Thanks for you channel I love it.
Nice piece!
You made my day. Most of my picks were honorable mentions, but we are in agreement on top choice, specifically the SR-71. Thank you.
An excellent collection of aircraft. The F 104 Starfighter and the B 58 Hustler are two of my favorites
You’re right about subjectivity! Glad to see the Comet get an honourable mention. I see your difficulty with the Super G and Starliner. If they’d put tip-tanks on the latter it would have been perfect. My list would have included the Hawker Hart in military and the Lockheed Electra 10 in commercial. For biz-aircraft, the King Air is a pretty elegant example although a turbo-prop. Of course, my choices aren’t subjective at all. A very entertaining video. Thanks.
I have to agree with your top picks. Not only did they have the looks but the performance as well.
Love that Connie - but I still like the YP-38. All polished without the beard intake and other clutter - absolutely gorgeous - fast standing still.
My first two off the cuff choices as well. I’ve been told that I was a passenger on a Connie when I was a baby but I don’t remember it. Me and my brother have built models since childhood. My sister has never been an aviation enthusiast but I recall that my sister built a 1/48 P-38 because she thought it was beautiful! Oh. She also built a Spitfire for the same reason.
For a fairly short video, this was fabulous. I cannot wait for part 2, and surely there must be a part 3. Not to put upon you Mike :)
And thanks again for your generous support. Greatly appreciated!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Very happy to help Mike. Your posts are basically "priceless".
Some stunning planes there. Great video as always
Great job on aircraft from each category. Salute to your judges! Whether civilian or military, I have always appreciated highly polished bare metal with the right amount bright paint on an aircraft. Hard to do these days now, with dis-similar metals and composites. Always wondering which model box art will make an appearance. SR-71 Blackbird is truly a first-place winner. The late Brian Schul would agree with your decision. Thanks Mike.
Thanks Mike. One beautiful aircraft I like is the b-17.❤
B29 was better looking
Great subject! I have always looked at aircraft as an 'art form'. With that said, my favorite is the
DeHavilland Hornet. If it looks right.........
Spot on with the #1. The National Air Force Museum is having an event coming up where you can sit in the cockpit of the SR-71. I can't wait!!! I always learn something new from your videos. Great work. You picked out some beautiful works of art. Looking forward to the next series. I always liked the lines of the B-1
Mike, a missed beautiful Airliner, the Boeing 727-100. I love the No.2 Engine through the tail!
Macchi M.C.72, Piaggio P.7 and Bugatti Model 100 are my favorites beside the ones presented. Great list!
Hi Mike. Great episode. I would have definitely added the F-86 Sabre to the list.
Watch for "Part 2" coming on Monday!
Beautiful presentation Mike, congrats, I love all of them! Kindest regards from Mexico City
Super fun list! But I can't believe you missed the Piaggio Avanti. And thanks for the Avro Arrow, it belongs on any beauty list. Honorable mention on my list would be the 747-8I.
Can't argue with that! You hit most of my favorites. Missing from my list; GeeBee Z, Lockheed Model 9 Orion, Ryan STA, F-8 Crusader, RA-5c Vigilante, Corsair, Bearcat, Piaggio Avante, MD-500E, Augusta AW 109... I'll stop thinking about it!
The Tomcat ?
Great job, although personally I favor the Connie. Another of my favorites, which you missed, is the Waco ARE. Both sexy planes!
Great video! I love all of the judges choices, however two of the most stunning civilian airplanes I love are the DeHavilland DH-88 Comet, & the Hughes H-1 Racer.
Thanks, and watch for Part 2 next week!
Well done! I'm not an airplane fanatic and I enjoyed this.
Awesome, thank you!
Bravo. So many beauties.
Love your board of judges, kudos- good one! Hands down, sexiest looking aircraft ever built- The Convair B-58 Hustler.
Great as usual mate l have a soft spot for the comet think it still looks moden .
Great video! I'm pleased with all your choices, especially with the SR71 being most aesthetically pleasing design and how cool of an aircraft it is. I also liked seeing the XB-70 Valkyrie listed, it was also one of the coolest and fastest aircraft, and am thankful to have been able to see one fly in the '60's as a kid(will be 66 yrs. young in August)at Edwards AFB way back when.
Thank you for this presentation!
Great list Mike. Convair sure made them pretty.
Instant subscription! Concorde and SR-71 my picks also…
Many thanks, and great to have you aboard!
Excellent job Mike, but you must be teasing us for Volume Two in this series with your omission of the Dassault Aviation Falcon 20, whose creator Marcel Dassault famously said, “For an aircraft to fly well, it must be beautiful”.
Great stuff . One vote for the Howard 500 in the corporate category.
I like the A-4 Skyhawk, AKA Scooter, sans hump and in USN Blue Angels finery. The F11F was great looking too.
Mike, all your picks definitely fall into the "beautiful" category. Many of my favorites here. If this were a longer list, I would add the Rockwell B-1 Lancer and the Martin P6M Seamaster. As for the Lockheed Constellation, I like the 1049 Super-G version the best. Great topic and presentation.
Excellent showing Mike! With few exceptions, you're spot on.
Thank you Mike and 100% agree on the best. The 104 had a Sidewinder proudly displayed. I am partial to it , a Waswinder forever. Sad note too Jim Tweto passed a few days ago in a crash in Alaska, doing what he loved. I really enjoyed the Discovery show. Take care and cheers.
Fantastic!!
XB-70.... love it!! That and B-58 would be my all time favorite large military jets!
All great planes, each with a reason and purpose. Every plane you chose I think is fantastic! AND, so many are my favorites in their realm, Spitfire, MustangXR-12Star FighterDraken.. and so on.. all so cool!
XB-70.. so wish it was put into production, AND it would have been perfect in "The Thunderbirds" puppet animated show. 70 years later, with all our computing power, and knowledge of flight since.. what could a modern version of the XB-70 do, or be used for? AND with modern engines... I think so much.
A fun presentation. Well done! I'd nominate the B1B Lancer in the military category.
Love the list
Thanks for another great video Mr. Machat! I think your selections are pretty darn good! Thanks for including the Beech Starship, at least in honorable mention - it's one of my favorites, and a truly stunning aircraft. Also, thanks for including the Convair F-106! Other selections I would offer up for the future include more of my favorites - the Hughes XF-11 (a truly beautiful aircraft), the Boeing 727, especially the later, longer fuselage versions, the Boeing 314, and last but definitely not least, the beautiful and functional Vought F4U Corsair! I seem to prefer the later versions of the Corsair aesthetically - the -5 and the -7.
Really enjoyed this thank you Mike. I was given a copy of your book of illustrations for my birthday recently and love it. For myself, my favourites are the Mirage G with the single engine, a beautifully proportioned creation and the early Handley Page Victor in brush metallic finish. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the comment, and 'hope you enjoy the book.
Great video, Mike...👍
Thanks 👍
In late '65, flew on a BOAC VC-10 from Bermuda to JFK. I deliberately walked slowed to board the stairs as it was an absolutely beautiful aircraft. Very quiet, too. The crew made me feel like a grown-up rather than a nerly-18 kid.
When I was a kid, back in the 80s & early 90s, the SR-71 posters were right up there with the Ferrari and Lamborghini posters. It's still a stunning airplane.
Hello Mike, Once again another fantastic video and a wonderful list of all these beautiful aircraft you have selected, it one amazing in their own right. Certainly glad you put the CF-105 Arrow in there it's certainly no doubt a very beautiful and dare I say an attractive bird of prey. Seeing it always puts a smile on this Canuck's face!
regards, Noah.
Many thanks!
"Aquatic lines"
I'm _so_ using that.
Great presentation Mike - really solid choices that will leave many an aviation buff deeply conflicted.
Glad the AVRO Aroow was on your list. My mom is in the rollout photo, she was the Chief Weights Engineer for AV Roe in Canada and later at DeHavilland Canada after Black Friday (the day everyone came to work to learn the program was over, no warning… blueprints destroyed, the planes dismantled on the tarmac as scrap.)
Just my humble opinion but I like the early Connies with the more reliable engines that helped us span the globe. Always liked the Learjet. Another great program. Thanks Mike.
Like the cars of the past, the planes of the past were the most beautiful! Tip tanks on the Connie are like the fender skirts on a classic convertable car! YEAH!😎
Thoroughly enjoyable as always. My missing contenders would be, in no particular order, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the L-1011 Tri-Star, the unique P-38 and, last but not least, the sublime Antonov 22, in the airlifter category.
Mike....what a great video. I pretty much agree across the board, but I would like to add a couple (at least to honorable mention:
Military: RA -5 Vigilante, F-86 Sabre, B-47 Stratojet, F-9 Cougar
Civilian: Grumman Gulfstream II, Boeing 727 (extended fuselage)
Please keep them coming.
Many thanks , and good minds think alike. RA-5C, F-86, B-47? - check out Part 2 in this series!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 I forgot to add the B1-B in full sweep mode.
great segment Mike! I was waiting for the Vulcan or any of the V Bombers. IMO the images of the Hustler and Arrow certainly show some DNA that went into the designs of the 3 V Bombers. Keep up the excellent work!
I'd also argue the Hughes H-1 Racer was the most beautiful single piston engine aircraft ever built.
Great videos as always! I absolutely love your content.
Agreed, and the H-1 is in Part 2 of our series. Thanks for watching!
The B-58 is the most beautiful airplane ever built IMHO(atleast American Built). Next the Lockheed Constellation. The Boeing B-47 has nice lines too!
I'll take step further back in history and nominate the Albatross D.V as the most aesthetically pleasing fighter of the Great War. I'm a sucker for the German machines with a plywood skinned, monocoque fuselage and in-line engine, be they from Albatross, Roland or Pfalz. Ultimately I'd chose the D.V for the sesquiplane layout and elliptical cross-section fuselage. Throw in the late war lozenge camouflage on the wings, a bit of colour on the otherwise shellaced wood fuselage and you have a winner in my books.
World War II is a harder choice. I love the De Havilland Mosquito that some others have nominated. but I'd have to go with the similar Messerschmitt Me-410 Hornet, just because I prefer the canopy design.
Post war jet fighters is an easy one for me. I've been a great admirer of the lines of the De Havilland Sea Vixen ever since my allowance bought me the Dinky Toys replica in the very early 1960s. It's one of the few cherished toys that I still have from my childhood.
What a marvelous episode Mr Machat! Yup, you've got good judging skills Sir! My favorites will always be the Connie, in any configuration, the SR71, and of course the Spitfire. A close second would be the F4U Corsair. Concorde of course. Really enjoyed this episode! Hope you had a fantastic Father's Day! As always God bless you and your family. Thanks for everything you do. Take care always Sir!!!
A great presentation Mike and wonderful selections. I have few others that I think are attractive designs; Hawker Hunter, Northrop T-38 and the BAC TSR-2.
A new video, what better way to enjoy a cup of coffee. Terrific video as always. A lot of great aircraft. I saw a Draken once in the Swedish Air Force Museum near Linköping, a really beautiful bird. I know I am not original by any means, but the P-51D has such nice lines, you did a very nice piece of artwork indeed. Thank you for putting out this great content.
So many beautiful planes. Hard to limit it to just 10. The tri-star and the 727 are very pretty planes. B1 and B2 are also worthy candidates.
The T-tail of the Vickers VC10 looks like the aeronautical equivalent of a hood ornament. Kinda reminds me of a 1950s Oldsmobile hood piece, very graceful.
In the mid-'60's, peered through the teardrop-shaped windows of a United Caravelle. Intersting take-of as someone forgot to secure all the galley doors - crash!
Great list....if a wee bit subjective. The Me-262 should have made it. The Japanese Zero is way worthy too.
A list of my best planes: PBY, Martin Mars, China Clipper, KC 103, C 130, B 36.
I 'm enjoying your videos! Please add some more (in no particular order): Gulfstream G650ER, Gulfstream G700, Gulfstream G800, Dassault Falcon 6X, Dassault Falcon 20, Dassault Falcon 100, Dassault Falcon 30, Epic 1000GX, Bellanca Super Viking, Convair 990A, Dassault Mirage G8, Dassault Mirage G, BAC TSR-2, Breguet Jaguar, Dassault Mirage 50, Kfir 2000, North American F-107, Beechcraft Duke B60, Beechcraft Baron E55, Dassault Mirage F-1C, Dassault Mirage F-2, Daher TBM 960, Piper M600, RDD LX-7-20, Evolution Aircraft Turbine Evolution, Performance Turbine Legend, Lancair IV, Lancair Legacy, Swearingen SX-300, Glasair III, Falcomposite Furio, BAC Tornado F.3, North American RA5C Vigilante, AIDC F-CK-1 Kung Chuo, Lockheed F-16, KAI T-50, TAI Hurjet, Hongdu JL-10, Guizhou JL-9, CAC/PAC JF-17B, Gulfstream G600, Gulfstream G500, Northrop F-20, Northrop F-5E , Grumman Gulfstream I, SAAB 2000, Boeing 707-320B and Boeing 787-9! I'll try to think of some more later!
Always love your videos.
I'd add these two as most beautiful military airplanes:
North American F-100 Super Sabre (US)
Gloster Javelin (UK)
Thanks as well for all your programs/references to model kit artwork and your own art, especially your fantastic murals.
Jerry Staley
Dickinson, TX
Two planes that I think are the most aesthetically pleasing that you missed out on is the Il-102 said to be the most beautiful ugly plane ever and the Me262 which just looks very intimidating like a shark
I like the 1649 Connie over the Super G. I think the B-1 deserves to be on the list, I always stop and watch it when it"s up. Glad you mentioned the Staggerwing, Blomm and Voss, and especially the Mirage IV. Thanks Mike.
I did a few facebook posts a while back on this very same subject. And while I can't argue against any of your choices I would add a few: YF-23, Bugatti Model 100, Dassault Rafale, Hawker Hunter, and I'm sure there are some I am forgetting. Fun vid!