Not favorite model but your personal favorite aircraft and why. It can be from any era.
Mine would be either the Bf 109 E or F variant (just love the lines of this craft, reading about the pilots who flew it and how they delt with it’s quirks) and F/A 18 Hornet (hey, if you don’t get chills when the Blue Angles fly over, you’re not alive [:)]).
F4U Corsair. There’s just something sexy about that beast.
Gotta love the Harrier too. It’s amazing how that jet can hover and dance.
I have four that rank pretty close to one another, Tied for first would be the B-17G with standard tail and the F-4J/S, the tie for second would be the He-111 and the Ju-88, The He-111 Has the sexiest wing of all the planes in my opinion, and the Ju-88 was the first plane model I ever built, at about age 6.
James
Mine’s the P-47. Giant flying tank with a ridiculous engine and a lot of guns.
In the modern era, the A-10, hands down. Guess I have a thing for Thunderbolts!
Runners up include:
Pretty much a tie between the F-4 and F-14.
Mark
I like many military aircraft but my personal favorite and one I want to own is the Polish PZL 104 Wilga. I’ve got some time in tail draggers (L-4 Grasshopper) and the first time I saw this in Private Pilot magazine I knew I wanted one. Newer models have piston engines instead of the rotary. Someday…
there are too many to choose from just cant pick out just one. i have a thing for ugly aircraft like the JU52 the AN2 the A10 the AD6 the OV10 so if i gotta pick just one it would have to be the JU87 Stuka or the…
Oh wow… For me, I’d have to say any F-4 phantom. I’m 28 now but one of my earliest memories was when the Lincoln (NE) air national guard used to fly RF-4s. They would have a demo at the Offutt AFB open house. The last time I saw one fly I was 18 and still at home when Retired Gen. Ritchie flew his triple nickle heritage F-4. Rhino’s are ugly, but in a good way.
The SR-71 Titanium Wonderbird. Nothing else even comes close. That is my choice because I worked on them for 12 years. The B-52 would be second, also because of seveal years experience with them.
Darwin, O.F. [aln]
I have more than one favorite
P-38 Lightning.
Regianne Re-2005 (the pretty cousin to the P-47)
Mike T.
My favorite WW2 fighter is the P-40, with the P-51B in a close second. I just really like the lines on those two aircraft. The B-17 is a beauty as well. As far as modern things go, I’m gonna choose the Su-27 Flanker. That is a slick looking fighter!
i CAN’T PICK ONE!
But, I can pick one of each type, by era…
Were it 1918, I’d have to pick the original “Sturmvogel”, the Fokker D VII… Followed by the DH-4 for a bomber.
In 1945, I;d have to expand a bit… The Spitfire Mk IX for a fighter (picturing m’self with a David Niven-style mustache here), the A-26C Invader for a bomber, and the T-6 Texan, just to go around the airpatch and smash bugs with… But, I’d also have to have a Bf 109 just so I could “play the bad guy”… There’s something about the shark-like lines, looking out the left or right side of the canopy and seeing those black crosses on the wings that just makes one feel aggressive…
Not really a jet guy, but I will say that, The F-86 tops the list for the 50’s followed by the B-58 Hustler, and for the entire run of the 60s through the 80’s would be the “Double-Ugly” the mighty F-4 Phantom II and the BUFF… Top it off to today with the A-10, just because it and that bloody awesome 30mm saved my azz 20 years ago yesterday, Feb 24th…With an A-10 around, don’t need a bomber…
Out of ALL of those, only picking one? Arrrgghhh… Ok… I’ll take the Bf 109… I still love the way the Balkenkreuz looks…
And yeah, I’d have dress the part as well… To paraphrase Trevor Howard in The Great Escape… “That’s what the bloody Bosche have, Padre… Style!”…
It’s evolved over the years for me, but probably the FW-190. I love the “A” series and the many camo schemes and markings that it portrayed.
Sentimental favorite is the Spitfire and those elipitical wingtips and purring merlin engine.
Depends on era. Overall – Spitfire is Number 1.
WWI – Albatross; it looks deadly.
Golden age – Curtiss Hawk series
WWII – Spitfire/Seafire, followed by Hurricane, Bf-109, Fw-190, F4F, F4U
Post-war – F8F, followed closely by the Sea Fury
Korea – F-84, not as glamorous as the F-86 but it has guts; closely followed by any blue USN.
After that, Phantom, Corsair II and Hornet, but I don’t build subjects younger than Korea.
Tim
My favorite is the MiG-3, I just love those racey lines.
Does any one want to take a wild guess as to mine?
That’s right, hands down the B-17 Flying Fortress, like the -G variant the best of 'em.
To many to choose from for second place.
Only two personally for me. The J3… the only plane I ever flew that you could stop in midair (given a strong enough headwind) or the Pitt… first snap-roll I thought my brains had come out of my head.
If you’re talking military then it has to be the F4F… that plane held the line when it had to be held… Lt Jimmy Flatley said" don’t be too critical of the Wildcat. It shoots the enemy down in flames and brings most of us home." What better praise for a fighter?
Easy. The F-14 Tomcat. Nothing spells “Mess with me and I will F$%K you up” more than a Tomcat kneeling on a catapult with her burners lit. Do need to preface that by saying F-14s in the pure fighter role. Before they were emasculated into “Bombcats”
B-25 for me. Just something about the Mitchell that gets me I guess, especially the field modified D models. P-40 is my favorite fighter but overall the Mitchell wins for me
Hands down easy favorite for me is the Lockheed Constellation: no straight lines, all curves, and three tails. Ahhhh…
Runners up: Sea Vixen, Mirage III, 757, BN Islander, Viggen, F-15, DC-9, and any version of the Harrier (to name a few).
Cheers, Aaron