Hardest Looking Aircraft

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Which aircraft from history do you think is the toughest looking? I'm talking about aircraft which look like they would start a brawl for fun, aircraft that aren't neccessarily beutiful, just incredibly mean looking. Based on those criteria, I say...

The Douglas A1 Skyraider.

[Redleg]

Yes the A1 Skyraider is a worthy aircraft for that catergory. However is it limited to only airplanes - or can we include Helicopters.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/mi-24.htm

A series of photos consistenting of the multiple variants of the aircraft called Mi-24 or the HIND.

[SwordsMaster]

All the MIG family. Well, most of them anyway.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Yes the A1 Skyraider is a worthy aircraft for that catergory. However is it limited to only airplanes - or can we include Helicopters.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/mi-24.htm

A series of photos consistenting of the multiple variants of the aircraft called Mi-24 or the HIND.

Ah, I love the Hind, it's so bulbous and ugly looking. If it was a person, you can tell it would steal candy from children for fun.

[Baiae]

I always thought the Vought F4U Corsair looked like a bit of a beast. The huge propeller and a compact body give an impression of strength. The Phantom produced a similar effect in the jet era.

Those aren't my favorite looking aricraft though. I always thought the Spitfire, Mosquito and Mustang produced an aura of lethal grace, as does the F-18 Hornet.

[SwordsMaster]

Ok, I revote, and go for the Messerschmitt. See, IMO, the A1 looks mean alright, but in a brute kinda way. If it was a person it would be something like a 3rd row rugby player.

While the messer would be a man wearing a tux, black gloves and elegant manners with a gun and a easy trigger finger.

If you know what I mean.

[Kongamato]

The A-10 Warthog fully equipped and properly painted looks pretty mean and ugly. I second the F-4 Phantom, it has a great "tough" look as well.

[CrackedAxe]

What about the Hawker Typhoon? (sorry,I have no idea how to insert images)

[Shottie]

I would have to say, the Cobra GunShip, F4 Phantom (even though they werent very good in Air-to-Air), A10 Warthog (fully armed, I love a full rack......of missles ), F/A-18 hornet. I would also like to say that the B52 is just a scary looking aircraft, espseacally because it carries about 12 Guided missle ( I think) AND the F22 Raptor, looks like a little ballerina in a dance, but in that belly of her is some very nice toys, that can do alot of damage. Sorry, I rambeled (sp?) I love anything that flys.


One more--- Just as another favorite plane of my, C-130 Hurcules, with or without the fire support weapons in it. (Vulcan cannon, and something else but I forget) Ok Im done now.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

P-38 Lightning. The "twin-tailed devil." Awesome.

I just like the F-4 - kind of a "workhorse" or "real man" plane. Not like those sissy "hard to spot on radar" new-fangled things.

The FW-190 and Me262 are both pretty tough customers, or at least LOOK that way.

A-10s are great, too. I want one for my backyard, but my parents... don't think it will work out... financially.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I would say:

For a navy plane the F-14 Tomcat, big, fast and long armed!
For ground support the A-10, has a certain grace when unloading a belch of minigun fire.
For a prop plane the german DO-335A Arrow a push pull plane with 5 or more guns, mostly cannon and a bomb bay.

[discovery1]

I would have to agree about the Do-335. A engine at each end equates to two tough shields at each end.

[Dimeola]

My no.1 vote goes with the A-10. Built to get down and dirty. The pilot sits in a titanium `bathtub` and it flies fine on one engine.
But honorable mention to the B58 Hustler.


at the time it flew faster and higher than everything else and was basically a nuke with some engines.
Also the F105 Thunderchief.....built as a startegic F/B it was pressed into service in Vietnam in roles it was not designed for. Was primarily used to bomb over N Vietnam and go `downtown` against the Soviet manned air defenses that were the toughest outside the Soviet Union. Respect to the men who flew these machines and the crews who kept them in the air.

D

[The Wizard]

The A-10 Warthog.

Also, the Su-27/37, but this is also because of its accomplishments and endurance.



~Wiz

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Another one of my favourite hard looking aircraft-



The P-47 Thunderbolt, or 'Jug'.

[Beirut]

The General dynamics F-111.

It has that "I'm gonna getcha!" look.

[Devastatin Dave]

Snoopy's dog house when he's the Red Baron. Simply the baddest mutha###### around!!!

Secondly the A-10.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Anybody have a picture of a DO-335A, the germans only used a few and had a new version prototyped and ready to go. The great part is it could dogfight and kill any ground target out there, bomb bay must also help with drag...


I don't have an image hoster and have to get off soon so I cannot post one at the moment.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

It's not the plane, it's the size of the payload
anyway,
I beleive it's the Su-37? Some Russian plane that i'm too lazy to look up. That plane looks like it can blow your a$$ up and then do it again for fun.

[Mount Suribachi]

hardest looking planes are the F-4 Phantom "a triumph of thrust over aerodynamics" and the P-47 Thunderbolt.

Nothing else even comes close

[Gregoshi]

BKS, thanks for mentioning the P-47 Thunderbolt. That was the plane I was thinking of but couldn't remember its name. That bad boy screams "go ahead, take your best shot!" at the enemy. Its an ugly plane, but then war is an ugly business.


The F7F Hellcat is another tough looking aircraft.

[King Edward]

Its Gotta be the A-10 for me, they are just so ugly and that Gatling cannon on the front just says im gonna bust you up!

[Gregoshi]

Thanks for the reminder King Edward. In the "modern" era, the A-10 is one tough cookie and its ugly look has a beauty all its own. Once I was sitting in a traffic backup in a rural Pennsylvania valley when two A-10s flew by at very low altitude down the valley. It was a thing of beauty that sent chills down my spine.

The Hind helicopter mentioned by Redleg is another good one. That is one mean helicopter that I'd probably refuse to take a shot at no matter what I was armed with simply out of fear that the only damage I'd do is to piss it off. (Side note: as I write this, the washing machine has gone into its spin cycle and it sounds an awful lot like a helicopter - run! )

[King Edward]

You see either of them flying towards you and its serious brown trousers (pants for you americans) time!!!

[Devastatin Dave]

My Dad worked on F-4's when he was in the Air Force. The only time I've seen one fly was when I was in Korea, ROK Air Force still flies them. I still remember the first time I saw, well, first heard it. I was use to the constatnt F-16's shooting off into the sky all hours of the day. I was walking to the chow hall and I heard something like a jumbo jet which was strange. So I turned around towards the flight line and saw an F-4. It was truelly a beautiful sight, then it just shot straight up and disapeared. I'll always remember that bird!!! My Dad still loves that plane to this day. i bought him a carved mohagoney model of the phantom while I was over there. Its a beauty.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

The F7F Hellcat is another tough looking aircraft.

The Hellcat is indeed an extremely nasty looking plane. I keep expecting it to head-butt me.



However, personally I think it's successor, the Bearcat, pips it by a nose.



The design philosophy seems to have been 'put the largest possible engine into the smallest possible airframe'. It had phenomenal performance but was just too late for WWII.

[Scurvy]

some of those WW1 planes look pretty tough, if you forget the paper wings and joints held together by spit and prayer...

they have been around for ages, and some for example the German Pfalz D III or the British Sopwith series have foguth through 2 wars (if only for a very small part of the second)

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

some of those WW1 planes look pretty tough, if you forget the paper wings and joints held together by spit and prayer...

they have been around for ages, and some for example the German Pfalz D III or the British Sopwith series have foguth through 2 wars (if only for a very small part of the second)

Thanks for reminding me, I can't believe I forgot the Sopwith Camel.




The Camel holds a special place in my heart, actually, because I first got into aviation by reading Capt. W.E. Johns' Biggles books. It was one of Biggles's primary mounts.

[The Wizard]

The superplane of WW1 was a Fokker triplane, built in the Netherlands but mainly used by the Germans -- the Red Baron flew one. I forget what its name was though, pity...



~Wiz

[Scurvy]

Richthofen (Red baron) flew a Fokker D.VII, i think it was designed by a guy called Platz.

Sanctaphrax- i also read the "Biggles" series, and they are very intesting, although i dont claim to be overly intrested in aviation (just WW1 really), how many versions of the sopwith series were actively used win WW1?

btw. how do you quote?