Heres one to let the cat amongst the pidgeons. just what is the most pigs ****** ugly plane in the world ever? If no one answers i will give it to the airbus beluga on default. in case you doubt my sanity asking for the ugly vote i drive an old landrover (nuff said) Gregers
Fairey Gannet
I hate to say a plane is ugly but… it’s pointy, bumpy, bulgy, and somewhat porcine
edit: funny, I remember my brother saying that the wildcat was ugly… I love that plane so much I wanted to punch him in the face [:D]
Well, this poll has been done before and, as an avid wingnut, I must say there are no truly ugly aircraft, unorthodox perhaps but not ugly.
However, the afore mentioned Beluga is a real beauty in my book (no, thats not sarcasm) especially when you look at the Super Guppy it replaced.
For me, the top 5 list of less than aesthetically pleasing aircraft goes to this effect:
1: Shorts Seamew
2: Fairey Gannet
3: Super Guppy
4: Grumman C-2 Greyhound
5: Republic F-105 Thunderchief
One aircraft that, to my mind, looks so bizarre you just have to love it is the Edgely/Brooklands Optica. A bit of a rarity as it prooved quite sales proof . Its sort of like the VW Beetle with wings, threw a lot of design rules out the window and still came out with an eye catcher.
you can find photos of the optica on www.airliners.net
How did the Thud get on your ugly list?! The Thunderchief is probably the prettiest airplane ever! It had a really feminine appearance, what with the area-rule fuselage, perfect!
As for an ugly aircraft? The RC-12 Gaurdrail. WAY too many antennaes!
To each their own I suppose, I’ll go with you on the Guardrail, but the Thud is still in my ugly books.
To my mind, the best looking combat jet that came out of America is probably the F-5 Freedom Fighter. Now there’s a plane with double the feminine appearance that the Thud could ever hope to have. A svelte, petite hourglass figure, easy maintenance and a nasty disposition when she needs it. What else could you ask for in either women or planes? 
sorry, all raptor lovers… i’ll give ugly award to f22… there are also few ugly breat babes, but my award goes to raptor
Whaz up,
I would have to agree w/ upnorth, I really dont feel that there is such a thing as an ugly a/c.
There is possibly one a/c that you could call ugly and thats the **T-**2C Buckeye. But than again she has some great lines[:p]
Flaps up,Mike
Have to agree with gregers -
The Fairey Gannet is just plain wrong in so many ways…
No such thing as an ugly airplane… some are just prettier than others.
There are many at the lower end of the “pretty” scale:
- Transavia Airtruk
- Shorts Seamew (the Russians had a similar looking a/c, I believe it was the IL-20)
- Any French between-the-wars bomber
If you want to see ugly aircraft, look up French designed planes from the 1930’s. Man, some of them are just nasty looking.
Another Fairey product I’m afraid!
Fairey Barracuda!
In their defence, they also produced one of the most beautiful - Fairey Delta 2.
Rob M.
I must admit that i have worked on a Gannet. The most scary thing about it was climbing into the cockpit. One hell of a climb…Gregers
Hey All,
Ithe new Boeing Xf-35 is the uglest U.S. AC yet. Anything Frog ah,er French
would be alltime ugly( xcpt the Spad 13)
Good Hunting,
rdxpress
Hey, the C-2 doesn’t look so bad when it’s brining you cookies from home!!
My nomination is this Russian contraption from the 20s, I think it was called the Gorky (it’s on Discovery Wings on a weekly basis). The thing was huge (if memory serves it had a dark room and printing press aboard) but just hideous looking…
Nimrod! With a name like that, It’s got to be ugly! That and any other nornal airframe which gets “bubbled”. USAF transports of the 50’s come to mind.
Check out an entire web-site devoted to the world’s ugliest aircraft:
Canberra… Definately. The Martin B-summatorother with the long F14-ish canopy looks better, but it still looks like a pile of (rather lumpy) poo…
As for the Gannet… Well, imagine saying down the pub that you fly a fairey. They’ll think wrongly of your sexual orientation, wouldn’t they?
This topic back again! It’s a dead end subject as all A/C have their fanciers. I think it’s a form follows function thing. When people single out an A/C as ugly it sounds well, weak.[:(]
Hiya Woody I didnt know this had been done before (new to the forum) one of the main reasons for asking is I was looking for other peoples thoughts on what is a wierd model subject when i get into the modeling doldrums i will shelve what i am working on and build something totaly different, the more different the better i.e ugly, wierd or just plane bizare but got to be a plane.Thats how i ended up building a hawk trainer in thunderbirds livery and armed to the teeth!!!. I am now pondering on building a design by fairey not the gannet (built one already) but the rotodyne and putting it in an RAF transport command sand/stone scheme , got the old airfix kit somewhere. i think you will agree that form definitly follows function on that odd bird but i must admit i dont think its ugly, just weird. Thanks or all your replies…Gregers[:o)]
gregers it sounds like a lot of fun. Why don’t you post some pictures? There are some weird airplanes out there. I build experimental fighters so I’ve seen some strange birds [:D]