They had to be dominant in their day but not too far back - the
1] Supermarine Spifire - the hero of the Battle of Britain - didn't win it alone but dominated [Br]
2] Concorde- the sleekest and swiftest - it had its day [Br-Fr]
3] Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 - couldn't be touched for performance - it outclassed everyone [Ru]
4] B-52 Stratofortress -
5] Boeing 747-400 - revolutionized air travel [US]
6] de Havilland Mosquito - innovative, made of wood, annoyed the hell out of the Germans [Br]
7] Hawker Siddeley Harrier - vtol can't be sneezed at - great little craft [Br]
8] Messerschmitt Me 262 - many say if it had come into the war earlier, the result might have been different[Ge]
9] Piper Cherokee - put flying within range of the common man - grassroots plane [US]
10] F111- still dominates the Asia/Pacific area in revamped form [US/Au]
Had a lot of problems leaving out the Panavia Tornado [It/Ge/Br]. The Airbus was not included because it crashes all the time and is a French/German administered hotch-potch. Couldn't fit in the Lancaster or the Junkers.
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Readers point me to the DC-3 and the Hurricane.
I noticed someone commented here and it was lost. Sorry. The problem is Blogger decided to play up something awful and it took seven repostings before the post template accepted it. This shows what a rubbish programme Blogger dot com really is.
ReplyDeleteAargh...
ReplyDeleteWhat about the greatest plane of them all?
Argh, James, I write my longest-ever comment and... that'll be Mr Murphy for you. I said something like:
ReplyDeleteI have one (small) quibble, and that's with the Spitfire. I feel that I ought to speak up in honour of my late father, who was an Engine Fitter for 1 Squadron at RAF Red Hill during the Battle of Britain.
1 Squadron flew Hurricanes, and Hurricanes scored 3/5ths of all kills during the Battle of Britain. The Spitfire, to be fair, had an excellent career later as a Photo-Recon aircraft, for which it must be given credit. But while the Spitfire could out-perform the Hurricane (particularly when it comes to PR) the latter was sturdier, a better gun platform, and easier to repair.
It is a close call, in all honesty.
However, one of my fondest memories of my father is of him at Government House during the annual Battle of Britain Air Display, successfully making the case for the Hurricane to a rapt audience of other (highly decorated) WW2 veterans and the Lieutenant Governor, General Sir Michael Wilkes (not someone who would be easily impressed).
He loved to tell a story - I'm sure you would have got on famously with him!
The DC-3. Of course. How did I miss it?
ReplyDeleteThe Hurricane - also stupid of me. Of course you're right and calling the Spitfire the hero must be galling to Hurricane people.
P-51 Mustang, WWII, great in a dogfight.
ReplyDeleteAgree on 2, 4, , 7 and 9.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the Hercules. the sturdy old workhorse. The B1, B2, F117, the Mig-29, etc. There are a lot of really good aircraft out there. Maybe you need catagories :)
Each has it's advantages and disadvantages and in a class of their own for certain specialist tasks.
Well, I know next to nothing about planes [except which airlines charge for a g & t, which don't and which are dry] but strangely enough, there was a programme about the relative merits of Spitfires and Hurricanes on "the History Channel" the other night. The conclusion? That they were both great planes but needed each other. Nice pics, James.
ReplyDelete