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Fun Discussion: Favorite Aircraft and Why
From the Wright Flyer to the F-35, DC-3 to the A380, Huey to the Super Stallion, U-2 to MQ-9, C-172 to RV-8, what is your favorite aircraft and why? Is it the engineering, the stories, or do you have special memories with this aircraft? Geek out over your favorite flyer!
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12 Replies
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I’ll start this forum up.
While it’s tough to choose an absolute favorite, one that consistently rises to the top and always impresses me anytime I see one is the SR-71 Blackbird.
The engineering behind it is probably my favorite thing. It’s mind-blowing, especially when you consider it was almost all done with pencil, paper, and slide-rules. And all that engineering was for a specific purpose: to produce an aircraft that could fly higher and/or faster than anything shot at it. And it did just that.
One of the things that makes it even more dear to my heart though is that they were based out of Kadena Air Base in Okinawa for a while, which is where my brother-in-law was first stationed after getting selected to fly KC-135’s.
One of my favorite stories about the Blackbird though is that technically it should have been called the RS-71. When it was first unveiled, however, the President introduced it as the SR-71 Blackbird, so the Air Force just went along with it. I haven’t verified that, but I like the story.
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Has to be the Viper! Single-seat, 9G, Mach 2, Wild Weasel, Fast-FAC, multi-role victory machine. Undefeated in aerial combat (74:0).
But I might be biased…or just flat-out right.
Cheers!
Husky
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Love the story about how the SR-71 Blackbird got its name!
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F-15, the amount of power and ability it has alone is incredible. Airframe always looked the part too.
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Favorite plane I’ve flown would have to be the U-28. The different mission sets, stories, and people we work for make it a controlled chaos with a lifetime worth of stories and friends.
Childhood favorite was always the F-14.
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Definitely the C-130, H and J. Low and slow 😎
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I have always yearned to fly the F-14 since my brother and I were little, playing TopGun whenever we could. It is a versatile platform and if given newer armament could contend with newer platforms (I believe).
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As an interceptor it definitely has merit just on the airframe. It would probably need to be a newer remade model but give it the latest radar and armaments and it could definitely be a contender, especially as missiles keep improving. It’s unfortunate the platform was dropped and deprived the Navy of a proper long-range interceptor.
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C-17 all the way, grew up across the street from the Globemaster plant and that is what brought me to pursue flying. Always wanted to fly one from the ripe age of 5
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F117 nighthawk bc triangle
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Favorite ever is tough because there are so many.
The P-51 certainly stands out.
Of those I’ve flown, I think it’s a toss-up between the Icon A5 and the T-6A.
Once you get used to it, the T-6 is simple to fly. It feels like it has unlimited power, it’s very agile, has great visibility and air conditioning, and plenty of gas. I’m a sucker for a big prop, and it requires a pilot to actually use the rudder.
The A5 is just a superb design…ergonomically, aerodynamically, and hydrodynamically. It’s mostly a toy, though it may be the best training aircraft I’ve ever flown.
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