# Coolest Bomber aircraft **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356 "2009-06-01T14:40:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/1 "2009-06-01T14:40:27Z")
Following on from the [Coolest fighter aircraft](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=519427) thread, what are the coolest **bombers**? My nominee: The [de Havilland Mosquito](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Mosquito). Sexy looks, fast and maneuverable, highly versatile, a pair of Merlins, and it’s made of wood. Pooh-poohed at first by the Air Ministry, it turned out to be one of the great aircraft of WWII. (And it always reminds me of an article in _Flying_ about the Bellanca, another wooden airplane, titled ‘You Can Trust A Tree’.) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/2 "2009-06-01T14:49:28Z")
[XB-70](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:North_American_XB-70_above_runway_ECN-792.jpg) (X-perimental, but still…) ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/3 "2009-06-01T14:53:10Z")
I love the look of the B1-b, to me it just yells, ‘I’m going waaaayy over there, I’m going there face meltingly quickly, and when I get there, someone’s getting hit in the ballsack with a stout 2x4, twice.’ I don’t know if its actual operational performance matches up to that, but it looks like it should. Other than that - yep the mozzie gets my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/4 "2009-06-01T14:55:42Z")
I’ll nominate the [Arado Ar234](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_234). It’s hard to compete with the XB-70 though. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/5 "2009-06-01T15:01:09Z")
I’d have to go with the [B-49](http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/bomber/b-49.htm)…really cool looking air craft for it’s time. -XT ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/6 "2009-06-01T15:01:41Z")
Wait a minute, wasn’t the Mosquito a figher? 😛 I’ll nominate the [B-36](http://pages.nyu.edu/~jh15/b-36.html), if only because of it’s humongousness. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/7 "2009-06-01T15:07:29Z")
> [@NaturalBlondChap](#): > > I love the look of the B1-b I was out walking in the hills in Surrey (England) last year, and saw this plane flying quite slowly, not much higher than my eye level (I was on the top of a high ridge at the time). At first I assumed it was just some light aircraft, but then I noticed that distinctive swan-like profile… it was a B1-B bomber! Cruising around the English countryside like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. I realised later that the Farnborough air show was taking place that weekend, and it was probably returning to a USAF or maybe RAF base somewhere (I couldn’t find any base in southern England from where B1-Bs operate, though). It is a very elegant plane. ---
**Author:** ![UncleNito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7cd45c/32.png) [@UncleNito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleNito)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/8 "2009-06-01T15:19:10Z")
B-58 by a longshot. Honorable mention to the B-47. My favorite thing about the B-1 is the “alert start” button on the nose gear. The idea was that when it all went down, the engines and whatnot could start spooling up before the crew even strapped in. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/9 "2009-06-01T15:27:41Z")
[The aircraft that made the Dolittle Raid possible](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-25) has got my vote. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/10 "2009-06-01T15:28:23Z")
The B-36 is just 36 different kinds of awesome. It’s ridiculously huge. It has props AND jets, I don’t know why but holy shit does it look cool. It looks like the kind of bomber I’d have drawn as a kid, like a fantasy plane that could fly for months and you could live in (though, ironically, it had cramped crew spaces.) I’ve always wanted to make a model B-36 but I don’t have the guts to try all that silver painting. In the “Lives up to a cool name” category you do have to give props to the B-17, which - especially in green camo - really does look like a flying fortress. In the “Kept my grandfather alive” coolness categry, the Halifax, a big bastard, mostly painted in black, that could carry a metric ass-load of bombs and which kept him alive in 36 harrowing missions over occupied Europe. It was a kick ass plane, but looks too much like the other British bombers to win the overall competition. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/11 "2009-06-01T15:39:32Z")
For pure coolness, my vote goes to the [Avro Vulcan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Vulcan). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/12 "2009-06-01T15:41:37Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [XB-70](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:North_American_XB-70_above_runway_ECN-792.jpg) (X-perimental, but still…) Very cool. I’ve never seen one IRL, but there was a jr. high school (which I didn’t attend, as I didn’t move to the AV until high school) named after Joe Walker, who was in a mid-air collision with one. > [@NaturalBlondChap](#): > > I love the look of the B1-b, to me it just yells, ‘I’m going waaaayy over there, I’m going there face meltingly quickly, and when I get there, someone’s getting hit in the ballsack with a stout 2x4, twice.’ > > I don’t know if its actual operational performance matches up to that, but it looks like it should. I was on the B-1A and B-1B data support team. The pilots said that the B-1B is subsonic – on paper. 😉😉 nudge-nudge. I don’t remember any numbers. (Except for tail number 159, the B-1A that crashed resulting in the death of Doug Benefield.) > [@xtisme](#): > > I’d have to go with the [B-49](http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/bomber/b-49.htm)…really cool looking air craft for it’s time. Excellent choice! > [@UncleNito](#): > > B-58 by a longshot. Another good vote! > [@RickJay](#): > > The B-36 is just 36 different kinds of awesome. _The B-36 it flies at 40,000 feet, The B-36 it flies at 40,000 feet, The B-36 it flies at 40,000 feet, But it only drops a teensy-weensy bomb!_ 😛 > [@blondebear](#): > > Wait a minute, wasn’t the Mosquito a figher? 😛 Quiet, you! ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/13 "2009-06-01T15:52:14Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The B-36 is just 36 different kinds of awesome. …and you have to love a weapon called ‘peacemaker’. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/14 "2009-06-01T15:53:14Z")
I [do](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Single_Action_Army)! -XT ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/15 "2009-06-01T16:33:02Z")
[Caproni Ca36](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caproni_Ca36_050309-F-1234P-003.jpg) - The picture doesn’t do it justice and you have to admire pilots who have a fuel tank for a seatback. It had 2 engines up front and one in the back. [Martin B-10 bomber](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/martin-b-10-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://science.howstuffworks.com/martin-b-10.htm/printable&h=298&w=400&sz=43&tbnid=PRMKnPjB-bU3-M:&tbnh=92&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmartin%2Bb%2B10%2Bbomber,pictures&usg=__dTUkZc3l2CTnAH7CH-CD6f-89QY=&ei=BAEkSriGM46-NL3fkZoJ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=3&ct=image). First all metal monoplane to enter service in the US. It was faster than any of the fighters in service at the time. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/16 "2009-06-01T16:40:36Z")
Since the Mosquito was mentioned, I’ll mention the [Dornier Do 335A-1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_335) (fighter bomber). Always thought this was a cool looking air craft. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/17 "2009-06-01T16:43:49Z")
> [@UncleNito](#): > > B-58 by a longshot. +1. I wonder if this might be a generational preference? When the B-58 came along, not only was the conventional idea that a bomber had to be big and lumbering, but aerial tankers still had propellers, fer shuck’s sake. So far all us little boomers who drew A-bomb explosions and dogfights on the covers of our spiral notebooks, the Hustler was simply awesome. Nowadays, a large, delta-wing aircraft isn’t cutting edge, and black has replaced silver as the ultracool aircraft color. So are fans of the B-36, B-47, B-52 and B-58 just stuck in time? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/18 "2009-06-01T17:01:56Z")
Idea for next thread: Coolest fighter deployed from a bomber. On second thought, that would be a really short thread. Were there any besides the [Goblin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XF-85)? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/19 "2009-06-01T17:06:29Z")
Well…there was the [Ohka](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohka), a not so smart bomb that was sometimes deployed from a bomber. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356/20 "2009-06-01T17:09:30Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > For pure coolness, my vote goes to the [Avro Vulcan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Vulcan). I was at the Abbottsford air show many years ago when a Vulcan did a fly-by. This huge bat-shaped thing comes in low, quietly, and very very slowly over the runway, then the nose tilts up into the sky and the pilot hits the throttles. There’s a huge explosion of noise, more noise than I’ve ever heard in my life, noise that fills the whole world, and the thing slowly slowly slowly begins to climb. I’m looking up its tailpipes, orange flame, as it slowly climbs away. Memorable. But my favorite bomber is the A-10 Warthog. Big old ugly son-of-a-gun, carries a metric sh\*tload of ordnance. The white-scarf snobs in the Air Force hate it and tried to kill it once, but they can’t get around the fact that if you need ground attack, there’s nothing else that works half as good. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-bomber-aircraft/498356.md?page=2)