Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: NUKE on April 28, 2004, 11:50:20 PM
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In my opionion, the f-16 and f-15 are the most beautiful US jet fighters ever made. When I look at the f-22 and f-35, they look ugly compaired....although I understand it's not about looks, it just makes me think that the age of elegant looking US planes is over, and it's all because of stealth :)
I like the looks of the latest Russian fighters a lot and the Gripen looks good, although some of it seems similar to the f-16.
I would never have a desire to build an f-22 or f-35 model.......they don't seem very "cool" looking to me. I would however like to build some Russian planes, like the SU-27......what a pretty plane that one is!
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A-5 and F-104 are way better looking than F-15. The F-16 looks like some kind of bottom dwelling fish.
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Someday I'm gonna build a diorama of a Gripen hidden near a nice rural road. What a gorgeous airplane.
At least the US didn't go with the other JSF proposal - that thing looked like a pot-bellied pig.
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what's an A-5? I used to be an expert on most usaf/navy planes as a kid....getting old now
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Originally posted by Tarmac
Someday I'm gonna build a diorama of a Gripen hidden near a nice rural road. What a gorgeous airplane.
At least the US didn't go with the other JSF proposal - that thing looked like a pot-bellied pig.
yeah, I always though seeing a fighter jet in a rural area on a road was a very cool sight, and the Gripen looks wonderful.
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I agree Nuke, but I think the F4 and F14 are the best looking jets...
The F-15 is two hmmm plain, the 16 is nice looking though, but none of them are a F4U or P-38
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I agree - F4U, F6F, F7F, F8F F14 :)
The Corsair is in a class all by itself.. that said, the Grumman cat series are beauts :)
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Originally posted by Octavius
I agree - F4U, F6F, F7F, F8F F14 :)
The Corsair is in a class all by itself.. that said, the Grumman cat series are beauts :)
talking fighter jets though, get a clue :)
pistons opens up a whole different game........
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One thing about the F-22: If you get a close look at it (basically fondling it, LOL) it's pretty damn beautiful. There are some really subtle curves and some of the manufacturing (exhaust nozzles) is unbelievable, like something from another planet.
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Originally posted by NUKE
talking fighter jets though, get a clue :)
pistons opens up a whole different game........
Last I checked the F14 was a jet :)
Just mentioning it's grandpappies
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Originally posted by Octavius
Last I checked the F14 was a jet :)
Just mentioning it's grandpappies
to bad you lumped it into the others then :)
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Man, how dare they design planes to perform a mission instead of just looking cool.
Burn the witches!!!!
btw, I think the F-22 actually is a cool looking plane, something about the combination of form and function that really makes it a pretty good looking plane.
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I love the B-2 too.
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Originally posted by NUKE
to bad you lumped it into the others then :)
too* :) :) :) :) (http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/contrib/blackeye/stretch.gif) :) :) :) :)
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Originally posted by Mathman
Man, how dare they design planes to perform a mission instead of just looking cool.
Burn the witches!!!!
btw, I think the F-22 actually is a cool looking plane, something about the combination of form and function that really makes it a pretty good looking plane.
I noted the reasons in my first post, just noting the beauty factor that is being lost.....by necessity, yet lost
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F4 Phantom and F8 Crusader are up there too.
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I betcha there were people who said the same thing when the first Jets came out and the era of prop fighters came to an end. One generation's sexy plane is the previous generation's ricer.
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Originally posted by Octavius
too* :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
now you lost me. What are you talking about? lol.
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Originally posted by Tarmac
F4 Phantom and F8 Crusader are up there too.
Geez, thanks. F4 definitely
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F4 is very nice, but i think the P47 is beautiful too so my taste is prolly bad :p
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My Fav US Jets of all time are, in no particular order: F-86,
SR-71, XB-70, F-4 Phantom, F-5 Freedom Fighter, B-1, B-2, B-52, A-4 Skyhawk, F-111 Ardvark, F-104, F-14-, F-15, F-16, F-18, A-10....
I'm sure I forgot some, but these are among my favorites.
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Oooh yeah, F-111 is another nice one.
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Hello I'm Lazs and I dissaprove of this message.
This plane is sweet - it reminds me of Mario Andretti.
(http://modena.intergate.ca/personal/cwharton/plane/104.jpg)
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While I would agree that the F22 prototypes were ugly, I think the production version is quite beutiful especially with the new transluscent paint they are using.
(http://www.cybrosia.com/casamerica/f22-09.jpg)
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(http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/9733721.jpg)
(http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/f-22-19990601-f-0000l-001.jpg)
(http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/f-22-19990727topwind.jpg)
(http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/9733914.jpg)
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To me, the F-22 has always looked like they started with an F-15 and modified it to conform to stealth requirements.
The F-23 looked far more innovative and like the "next generation".
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Exactly Streakeagle!
As for those who think the F4 is a good looking jet? Good Cod :lol :lol
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Nuke, the A-5 was a twin jet high wing Navy nuclear bomber (unusual rearward ejection) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It became more successful in a later recon version, the RA-5C.
Nice-looking aircraft, somewhat like a bigger and more graceful FB-111 and without any variable wings.
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Halo Did they call it the vigilante? The A5?
The F-86 sabre is my all time fav jet, and the it beat chuck yeager through the sound barrier!
(in a dive)
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am I the only one thinking that "beauty" is redundant if you are a true "stealth"?
does the invisible man shave every morning?
:p
Bozon
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Joint Strike Fighter = Good lookin airplane...i want one. Maybe I can pick up one of those 'not as stealthy' versions at a discount.
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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.
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Originally posted by NUKE
In my opionion, the f-16 and f-15 are the most beautiful US jet fighters ever made.
I agree.
(http://www.arff.info/images/TB16.jpg)
My F-16 photos:
http://www.arff.info/f16.htm
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they all pale in comparison to the U-2
(http://142.26.194.131/aerodynamics1/Appendix/Aircraft/Graphics/U2.gif)
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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.
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Ahhh! How could I forget the A-10? What a sweet looking bird.
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Always been a fan of odder looking designs
A-10
SR-71
Viggen
Draken
Lightning
Mirage 2000
F-20
F-117
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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Originally posted by 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.
Here she is:
http://www.paxmuseum.com/photos/a5/DSC00004b.JPG
And some brief info:
The Vigilante was a supersonic, long range, all weather, carrier-based combat aircraft. Its first flight (attack version) was on 31 August 1958. Initial aircraft carrier suitability trials took place on the USS SARATOGA in July 1960. First delivery to the fleet was on 30 June 1962. The first fleet operational squadron (RVAH-5) joined the USS Ranger in late 1964. A total of 79 Vigilantes were built. The remaining attack versions (A-5A's and A-5B's) were subsequently converted to RA-5C's. The last RA-5C fleet squadron (RVAH-7) was disestablished in September 1979. Testing of the Vigilante started at Patuxent River in the late 1950's and continued through the 1970's. On 13 December 1960, the Vigilante set a world altitude record with payload, when it climbed to 91,450 feet with a payload of 1,000 kilograms. This surpassed the existing record by over 4 miles.
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Heretic! Blasphemy! F-22 a beauty? F/A-18 cute? BAH! The F-22 is a plastic POS and the F/A-18 couldn't get out of its own way, let alone fight! Now the Thud, THIS is an airplane! Half a dozen 750 pounders at Mach 1 on the deck, plus she looks like a bullet with wings.
(http://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/f-105/images/f-105d_61138.jpg)
In my opinion, good looking fighters died just after Vietnam. The F-8, F-4, A-4, F-105, even the F-100 were good looking ladies. Granted, it's no fighter, but the A-1 Skyraider has always been a real beaut. These days it's all about "stealth" and "composite materials". Yech! Real Airplanes© were built out of metal and given propellors with piston engines, just the way God intended them to be! Real Fighters® are built out of metal, look like flying bullets, and have gawd-awful amounts of engine power. Gay-Ass Plastic Planes™ are built by Billion-dollar companies, run Windoze 95 fly-by-wire software, can't carry any ord, and get knocked down by BB guns.
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Flakbait [Delta6]
Delta Six's Flight School (http://www.wa-net.com/~delta6)
Put the P-61B in Aces High
(http://www.wa-net.com/~delta6/sig/stupid_ppl.gif)
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The YF-23 was an awsome looking plane, and purportedly more stealthly than the YF-22. The YF-22 won out because if was more maneuverable, IIRC. Kind of reminds me historically of the IJN's insistance that maneuverability be the primary design criterion for the Zero.
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Kind of reminds me historically of the IJN's insistance that maneuverability be the primary design criterion for the Zero.
The Zero didn't run $80,000,000 a pop either.