[Misc] What is your favourite aircraft

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Oh_aye

Well-known member
Jul 8, 2022
2,160
Great question. When I was a little kid I was obsessed by the boat plane in 80s series secret of the golden monkey. So I'm going for that.
 






Flounce

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2006
4,670
Not necessarily my favourite but I still have a soft spot for these old workhorses.

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Albion my Albion

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Feb 6, 2016
19,937
Indiana, USA
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DavidinSouthampton

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jan 3, 2012
17,436

Hawker Siddeley ((Harrier) Jump Jet.
i used to work in the Aircraft industry 30plus years ago - only admin, nothing exciting - and went to the Farnborough Air Show one year. Three of these hovering equally spaced along the runway, dipping their noses, turning slowly round in unison - incredible.

and I can remember people being cross because McDonnell Douglas started manufacturing them in the US and Americans assuming them/claiming them as a significant US development. They weren’t!
 


















Grizz

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 5, 2003
1,503
The Mosquito is a stunning aircraft in look and design. I like the Hawker Typhoon for its gutteral fierceness, the Lockheed Constellation is just beautiful. I think modern day-wide the A350K is utterly stunning, every time I'm down at Heathrow I'll always take a picture of it, even if I've seen it a hundred times before.
 








Worried Man Blues

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2009
7,324
Swansea
There are so many great looking aircraft, mainly from my Airfix days WW1 and WW2 but I'll go with this as dad flew it in the war. With rockets or Torpedoes Americans called it a two fan, two man harrasaship. Difficult to fly and yes they crashed it on Cyprus!


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Shropshire Seagull

Well-known member
Nov 5, 2004
8,823
Telford
It was Concorde. Should never have been destroyed.
To my knowledge, only one Concorde was ever destroyed - the one that crashed in Paris.

After that crash on 25th July 2000 all Concordes were grounded and in Aug 2000 their airworthiness certificates were withdrawn (I was working for CAA when this happened). To regain their airworthiness certification to fly again, extensive modifications were made to the remaining Concorde fleet, including new design / material Michelin tyres and the fuel tanks were lined with Kevlar.

Concorde flights resumed in November 2001

However, Concorde(s) had, sadly, become too expense to maintain and too expensive to fly. Other contributing factors to this were low passenger numbers following the Paris crash, the general slump in air travel following 9/11 and the final nail was Airbus, the company that acquired Aérospatiale in 2000, had made a decision in 2003 to no longer supply replacement parts for the aircraft. Rolls Royce Olympus engines were also too noisy and too thirsty. They used 2 tonnes of fuel (2% of total fuel capacity) just to taxi to the runway and required "reheat" (afterburners) on take-off and to achieve supersonic speed (Mach 1 +). So it was economics that destroyed Concorde.

On the 24th October 2003 Concorde made its final commercial flights, and the British Airways fleet landed one after the other at Heathrow Airport.
Over the next couple of weeks the fleet were distributed as static exhibits to e.g. airports and museums around the country. None were destroyed!
On the 26th November 2003, the final ever flight of a Concorde departed Heathrow, flying over Bristol before landing at Filton Airfield where much of its development had taken place over the years.

She was a beauty, mind ....
 


Baldseagull

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2012
11,839
Crawley

Hawker Siddeley ((Harrier) Jump Jet.
i used to work in the Aircraft industry 30plus years ago - only admin, nothing exciting - and went to the Farnborough Air Show one year. Three of these hovering equally spaced along the runway, dipping their noses, turning slowly round in unison - incredible.

and I can remember people being cross because McDonnell Douglas started manufacturing them in the US and Americans assuming them/claiming them as a significant US development. They weren’t!
Harrier II is still in use with the US Marines, and Spanish and Italian Navies. The US had Hawker Siddeley Harriers at first, and I recall them being seen there as a British fighter jet. The McDonnell Douglas ones were an improved model that was co-developed with British Aerospace, which no doubt the yanks gave themselves a huge pat on the back for.
 


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