# Early post WWII aircraft = GORGEOUS!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 7, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166 "2003-04-07T21:22:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 8
### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166/141 "2003-04-12T21:31:34Z")
Well, we’ve wandered away from the early postwar era, so I’ll toss in the [Raytheon-Beech Starship](http://www.bobscherer.com/images/Pages/Starship/Starship%20page/N39TU%20Omni%20One.jpg) for cool looks.
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166/142 "2003-04-12T22:13:14Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Fear Itself \*
> \*\*In fairness, your link attributes 11 of those crashes to pilot error, and one to a bomb. \*\*
Yeah, but there’s a little more to it than that. Some of the early crashes may not have been pilot errors at all, but were labeled such because shutting down the program would mean that De Havilland had to suck up the R&D costs. From [this link](http://www.neam.co.uk/comet.html):
> [@](#):
>
> **Incident No. 1**
> A Comet taking off from Rome overshot the runway. No-one was hurt and an investigation blamed the pilot. The pilot, Foote, was forced to sign a confession that it was his fault, and he was moved to the freighter division. In reality, De Havilland knew there could be problems with the plane’s take-off performance - they were relying on the experience of pilots to over-ride this deficit.
>
> **Incident No. 2**
> Crash-on take-off, with 11 people killed. De Havilland had no choice but to re-design the wing. Nevertheless, Foote was never re-instated to the Comet fleet.
> This aircraft was being delivered to Canadian Pacific. But instead of going the simple way across the Atlantic, Canadian Pacific attempted to display it as a record-setter - it was to go the other way, and in so doing establish a new elapsed-time air record from Britain to Australia.
> The aircraft CF-CUN, named “Empress of Hawaii”, did not become airborne on takeoff from Karachi and crashed into the dry bed of a river. CF-CUN was the first passenger jetliner involved in a fatal accident. Canadian Pacific canceled their order for two more aircraft.
>
> **Incident No. 3**
> On 2. May 1953, on the first anniversary of the introduction of the Comet into BOAC service, a Comet crashed after leaving Calcutta. The accident investigators blamed it on bad weather.
So besides metal fatigue, there were earlier problems with the first Comet incarnation, and De Havilland tried to bullshit their way out of them.
Incident 4 & 5 describe the more dramatic metal fatigue incidents. More dramatic as in: more deaths. Seems like De Havilland only did something about it when a _second_ Comet mysteriously disintegrated. Amazing, and shocking.
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### Author:  [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166/143 "2003-04-13T03:06:18Z")
The Comet is still around, after a fashion, in the form of the RAF’s Nimrod, which comes in maritime and electronic variants. Thus…
[http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/meltingpot/cadbury/57/images/farnborough\_2000/d029\_069a.htm](http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/meltingpot/cadbury/57/images/farnborough_2000/d029_069a.htm)
The AEW variant is/was (not sure if it’s still around) decidedly ugly. Check the “deformed mutant from Hell”…
[http://www.geocities.com/lucktam/awacs/nimwacs.htm](http://www.geocities.com/lucktam/awacs/nimwacs.htm)
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### Author:  [@Mr.Mook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Mook)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166/144 "2003-04-13T04:52:21Z")
I watched The Right Stuff tonight (good flick). Anyone know what that plane was that Yaeger was testing at the end? It looks like an X-15, but I thought they were launched from the air.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Mook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Mook)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166/145 "2003-04-13T04:57:17Z")
Maybe an F-104 Starfighter?
[http://1000aircraftphotos.com/MilitaryJets/LockheedF104-2.htm](http://1000aircraftphotos.com/MilitaryJets/LockheedF104-2.htm)
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166/146 "2003-04-13T07:04:18Z")
My all-time favorite movie.
The aircraft they show is an F-104. In real life, Yeager was flying an [NF-104](http://www.batnet.com/mfwright/nf104.html), a modified F-104 with a small rocket engine at the base of the tail. The “Russian record” he talks about breaking is for the highest altitude reached by a plane taking off under its own power, the rocket engine gave extra thrust and worked at heights where the jet engine wouldn’t.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Mook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Mook)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166/147 "2003-04-14T01:44:49Z")
Thanks Bot.
It was a great book too, but I can’t remember - did he break the record?
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### Author:  [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166/148 "2003-04-14T02:12:31Z")
How about the [Douglas DC-3](http://www.airliners.net/open.file/338539/M/)? Like the P-51 or Spitfire, every line and curve just looks perfect.
The DC-3 was also incredible rugged and reliable. It’s been nearly sixty years since the last one was built, and yet there are still plenty of them flying around the world - not just occassionally as a museum queen, but in heavy duty, day to day service carrying passengers and cargo.
Eric
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### Author:  [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-post-wwii-aircraft-gorgeous/167166/149 "2003-04-14T02:31:57Z")
I have always thought forward swept wings were cool. They tend to have some structural issues though, and can be unstable at higher speeds, but they give great response at transonic speeds and a 15% increase in L/D in that range. Here is a brief history of them:
A refueling glider:[XFG-1](http://www.aerofiles.com/corn-xfg.jpg)
A bomber:[Ju287](http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Trempe/2071.htm)
An executive jet:[HFB-320](http://1000aircraftphotos.com/GeneralAv/HFB320.htm)
The one everyone knows:[X-29](http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/X-29/Small/index.htm)
A damn cool looking Russian fighter:[S-37](http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/military/2001/1/russian_fighter_plane/l)
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