Stealth killed fighter beauty

[Golfer]

Joint Strike Fighter = Good lookin airplane...i want one.  Maybe I can pick up one of those 'not as stealthy' versions at a discount.

[Weavling]

Man, the F-22 is such a sweet lookin plane!  Great pics Grunherz!

My other favorites in no order are the F-14, F/A-18, A-10, and F-16.

[Ozark]

Originally posted by NUKE
In my opionion, the f-16 and f-15 are the most beautiful US jet fighters ever made.

I agree.



My F-16 photos:
http://www.arff.info/f16.htm

[vorticon]

they all pale in comparison to the U-2

[Skuzzy]

Bah,..the U2 is an F104 with long wings.

None of them compare to the SR71.  Has to be the meanest looking airplane ever flown.

The F16 is a nice looking bird as is the Gripen.

[Tarmac]

Ahhh!  How could I forget the A-10?  What a sweet looking bird.

[narsus]

Always been a fan of odder looking designs

A-10
SR-71
Viggen
Draken
Lightning
Mirage 2000
F-20
F-117

[Golfer]

I always felt that the P-51D and the F-16 looked the way fighters should.  I don't know what makes them that way, but they are both sexy and I feel they both look the way a thoroughbred fighter should look.

[Chairboy]

I read that the F-16 was originally going to be called the 'Mustang II', but the kabosh was put on that for legal reasons.

Interesting, if true.

[DiabloTX]

Originally posted by Golfer
I always felt that the P-51D and the F-16 looked the way fighters should.  I don't know what makes them that way, but they are both sexy and I feel they both look the way a thoroughbred fighter should look.

That's ironic.  I always thought that the F-16 should have been called the Mustang II because of the glaring similarities.

[Halo]

Yes, GtoRA2, the A-5 was the Vigilante.  

Big purposeful aircraft, and as far as I know the only one that released its bomb rearward from its fanny opening between the two jet engines.  Novel concept, but supposedly not that accurate (but then again, it was designed to deliver a nuclear bomb).  

Had a very distinctive sound.  Used to see some of them flying around with flaps and gear down in early 1960s around the North American plant near Columbus, Ohio.

[Doberman]

Originally posted by NUKE
In my opionion, the f-16 and f-15 are the most beautiful US jet fighters ever made.
 

I disagree.  The F-16 looks like something my little sister would fly.  Does it come in pink?  And the 15 looks like the box the 16 came in.

I like the F-22 but I absolutely loved the YF-23.  

F-14 is the best looking of the last generation of fighters.  F-18's not bad either.

[Capt. Pork]

When it comes to machines, I've been of the belief that functionality is itself a big component of the thing's beauty. If its capabilities are such that make it unparalleled when in action, whether that action be moving through the waves, over the ground or in the air, then it has achieved a level of beauty that the others, while more aesthetically pleasing, never will.

That's just me.

Then again, I like products made of dead pigs.

[Halo]

For really gorgeous graceful aircraft (ironically all in the 1950s) I have to go with:

Avro Vulcan
Handley Page Victor
Dassault Mirage III-C
Hawker Hunter F.6
Saab J35 Draken

I don't think there were prettier aircraft before or since.

All were immensely successful too.

[NUKE]

Originally posted by Skuzzy
None of them compare to the SR71.  Has to be the meanest looking airplane ever flown.

 

the SR-71 is pretty mean looking, I agree.

What's amazing to me is that this aircraft was designed in the 1950's, it's look still seems timeless, and most of it's performance specs are still classified even today. It has to be one of the most revolutionary aircraft of all time.

It was also the first aircraft to use stealth I believe.

"The SR-71 still holds the record for highest flying and fastest jet.  With an absolute speed of 2,193.167 mph. and sustained altitude of 85,068.997 feet, the Blackbird broke the record on July 28, 1976, taking the title ironically set by the YF-12A in 1965."