Coolest fighter aircraft

In My Humble Opinion
1

I thought about ‘coolest plane’ but that occupies too much airspace; so let’s limit this to fighter aircraft. Which are the coolest?

I’m watching a show on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. The ‘missile with a man in it’ has been a favourite since childhood. I probably have memories of seeing footage of one in flight on I Dream Of Jeannie. As a teen I used to prowl Mojave Airport (back in the days when you could just go look at airplanes) and there were a couple of Starfighters awaiting rebuilding. One of them had parts from Darryl Greenamyer’s brightly-painted ‘Red Baron’, which was lost when he had to eject just after setting a speed record in 1977. Later, when I worked at Edwards AFB, I saw NASA’s ship, and there is an NF-104 on a pedestal outside of the Test Pilot School.

The F-104 had a poor safety record. Its wings were very short, and so thin they had to have guards on the leading edge to prevent damage or injury. It’s definitely a ‘hot’ plane. And demanding. Many of these aircraft were lost in training or operations, and the ‘missile with a man in it’ was also known as ‘The Widow-maker’. Still, according to a book I have on it, the Luftwaffe’s safety record in the F-104 improved after training was enhanced; and Spain never lost a one. Despite the safety record (second-worst to the F-100 Super Sabre, though based on 80% of the flying hours of that jet), it stayed in service for 50 years. The last one was retired in 2004.

The F-104 always reminds me of the Space Race. And it just looks sexy. That puts it near the top of my list of Coolest Fighter Aircraft, in my book.

2

I like the F-16, except for it being single-engine. Dual role fighter, good at fairly precise bombing, agile dogfighter. Not a big fan of the side-stick controller. The seat is tilted back sightly, so it’s a little easier to handle rapid onset high G, and the canopy rail is conveniently placed for bracing a camera in the back seat on “family models”.

Think I’d rather got to war in an F-15, though. Two engines, relatively huge cockpit. Models A-D were air-to-air only. Never got a ride in the allegedly dual role E model, but the B and D models (two seat versions) were nice for my purposes. (aerial photo). Did chase the “Mud Hen” quite a bit, dropping all sorts of munitions.

F-4s were designed by sadistic bastards, who failed to consider that 30 or so years later, some poor airman would be trying to film from the back seat. No forward visibility from the back seat, very limited canopy space on either side, and worst of all, the damn seat forces you to sit leaning slightly forward. I think some of my current back problems are related to pulling Gs in the seat of “Big Nasty”, as we called the planes. Also, the early F-4s were designed without a fucking gun. They fixed that with the E model, but still…a fighter worthy of the name should have a gun. More of a bomber than a fighter. Backseater controls both radar and GPS, so I had to get some extra training before I could fly in them.

F-111s aren’t really worthy of the name fighter. Can’t turn for shit. Will go like a scalded cat, though. Good bomber, also available as a jammer/other.

F-117 is a joke as a fighter. Not quite as stealthy as advertised…I had no trouble locking one up on radar from an F-4D–but then again, I knew where to look, and he wasn’t trying to avoid us. Good for it’s mission though.

The F-22 was after my time. Understand it also uses a sidestick controller, and is a dual role bird.

Never rode in any Navy planes, and wouldn’t want to. The Navy fails to put sticks in the back seat. I’m not interested in flying any fighter I can’t at least try to land in an emergency.

3

For prop planes, it’s got to be the Spitfire, grace and elegance in one deadly package; for jets the Harrier, the only plane so ugly it repels the ground.

4

Heh. Harriers in hover mode are just plain freaky. A jet hanging almost motionless in the air just doesn’t look right.

Dunno if it’s as ugly as the A-10. The “Warthog” is all function, no frills. Rumor is they designed the gun first, then built the plane around it. Opens up tanks like a can opener, though.

5

The Eurofighter isn’t designed to beat the F22, but it is good enough to give Russia a bit pause.

Anyway, here’s Bugatti Veyron vs Typhoon:

6

The Spitfire is the prettiest airplane ever made. But for this poll, prettiness (or ugliness) or fighting ability don’t really matter. Just coolness. :cool:

7

Flying backwards. Aaargh my ears!

8

I politely dissent, & champion the finest Allied Carrier aircraft of World War Two–the Chance Vought F4U Corsair.

Note here

And here

9

Definite coolness factor. :cool:

10

Try this link
http://www.grosseileairport.com/images/corsair.jpg

11

I’m sorry, but it just lacks that extra something which makes the Spitfire the coolest. It even looks cool in the two seater version.

12

No contest - it’s definitely the F-86 Sabre

Must admit that I first thought they were funny looking, with that intake right up front in the nose. But as I learned about them, I think they’re the epitome of a fighter.

The people who flew them loved them, by just about every account I can find. They didn’t have any really bad habits or characteristics, fun to fly, and it had a lot of punch for its day. The Sabre is also great looking, with those swept wings and metallic finish.

If I had the money, that’s what I’d get. Pity they only made single-seaters, so I’d have to also get a MiG or T-33 to take people for rides.

13

To me it’s the Hornet, no contest. I flew the USMC’s simulator at Miramar a few years ago. It was awesome.

14

Here you go. Not much more than 1/3 more than a brand-new Cessna 172 Skyhawk. :wink:

MiGs are much cheaper.

15

Saab has always had the coolest jets of any era.

The Draken is famously recognized as preventing the Cold War from erupting into WW3 be sheer coolness alone. Really, look it up somewhere.

As tensions waned, Sweden felt that a plane dripping with such fierce awesomeness might possibly be too cool for the unprepared modern world. Ah, screw it, they said. Let’s turn the awesome up to 11. They then gave us The Viggen.

It took the world 25 more years to fan the vapors from the face of its dainty Southern sensibilities when The Viggen crashed that ballroom. Oh my, I say, I do believe. It was quite a shock, but the world slowly caught its breath.

Sweden was twirling its mustache in glee all that time, for those prior two aircraft were simply prototype cool testbeds for the aerostudliness they’d been perfecting all those decades.

…Behold…The Gripen. Hang up your pointy princess hat with the veil at the tip (whatever they call those things). It doesn’t get any prettier than that, fair damsels.

16

No love for the Russian fighters? The MiG-15 ‘Fagot’ and MiG-17 ‘Fresco’ were preeminent jet fighter aircraft of the early Cold War comparable or superior to the Western aircraft of the same era, and the MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’ sent the Pentagon into a frenzy to develop the F-15. The MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum’ (especially the modernized M variant) arguable outclasses the F/A-18 C/D ‘Hornet’ as a general medium range air superiority fighter, and the Sukhoi Su-30 ‘Flanker-C’ is superior in nearly every way to the F-15C/D/E and F/A-18 E/F ‘Super Hornet’ for the comparable mission configurations. It remains to be seen if recent upgrades to the MiG ‘Fulcrum’ and Sukhoi ‘Flanker’ families will be comparable in capabilities to the F-22, F-35, and the Eurofighter Typhoon, but there is certainly value in building on a design of known capabilities. However, I suspect the era of air-to-air combat is nearing an end, and such an advantage will have less effect on the modern battlefield that it would have in prior decades.

The F-117 is a unique beast, but it’s not really any kind of fighter; it’s really intended to be strictly a tactical strike bomber, and its air-to-air and general air support capabilities are limited at best.

Stranger

17

I like everything posted so far (I actually can’t think of any fighter planes that don’t look cool) but the P-38 has always been my favorite.

18

F-14 Tomcat painted with US Navy Fighter Squadron 84 tail art.

19

The MiG-15 is pretty cool. The large vertical stab makes it look a bit like a shark.

Perhaps. But barring a new World War I think we’ll still see air-to-air action from time to time. I think though, that it will probably be more along the lines of what we’ve seen recently; with highly-trained pilots in advanced aircraft against poorly-trained pilots in less-capable aircraft.

FWIW the F-104 Starfighter did not have a stellar combat record. Perhaps that’s because the best pilots didn’t have a chance to mix it up, or perhaps it just wasn’t a very good fighter. But it’s still just freakin’ cool.

20

Me-262
Fokker Triplane
F-101 Voodoo
P-38 Lightning
P-47 Thunderbolt
A-10 Warthog