# Favourite Cold War era military aircraft? And why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265 "2015-04-09T21:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/61 "2015-04-10T23:53:25Z")
Child of the Cold War here (actually born at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis!). There are too many cool Cold War aircraft to pick one favorite. Nothing was flat-out cooler than the SR-71. Nothing looked more like the End of the World than the hunched, angry wingspan of the B-52. Few planes were as beautiful as the B-58 Hustler. The aforementioned [English Electric Lightning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Electric_Lightning) is just neat (and record-breaking.) All the swing-wing birds were cool. I always have a soft spot for the science-fictiony [Avro Vulcan](http://www.raf.mod.uk/gallery/vulcangallery.cfm?start=1&viewmedia=1#pageContent). And I’ll throw in a vote for a peculiarly Cold War creation, the [S-3 Viking](https://www.google.com/search?q=s-3+viking&biw=1920&bih=969&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=1mEoVcWBE4LUgwT2u4DQDg&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ): a jet plane that listens for submarines. I get chills thinking about them dropping lines of sonobouys and crisscrossing the waves, listening, trolling their MAD sensor behind, ceaselessly looking for the most elusive prey of all. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/62 "2015-04-11T00:33:27Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > And just to be different, the Mi-24 Hind, it just looks genuinely intimidating and is another successful long-lasting design. Since tagged on. 😉 but I popped back in thinking Hind would be second. Usually jack of all trades suck to achieve the balance but it served well. They were fun to shoot in simulators too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/63 "2015-04-11T01:02:24Z")
From my childhood, back when I was in Middle School the PR Air Guard flew F-104s, and I hold on to the meory of that stunning sound and fleeting sight overhead. Although it did not have a notable service career as such, the Starfighter just looked like what “supersonic interceptor” must be, in that retro-cool scifi mode. Also from those warrior-artists at Lockheed, of course, the Blackbird. The Skunkworks team was definitely in the zone when doing that one. Gotta say, those dudes at Lockheed really had a knack for making something that could go \*&^% fast while looking \*&^% good. The Brits however do get plaudits for unique style - the V-bombers and the Lightning were so impressive and different. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/64 "2015-04-11T15:58:54Z")
The cold war ran from 1945ish to 1989ish. That’s a long time. One could argue that Putin is trying real hard to restart it, or perhaps even that it’s been running for 5-10 years now, unnoticed by most civilians due to the more distracting noisier wars in the Mideast. The 1950s & early 60s were the heyday of USAF: big budgets, short development cycles, and lots of quirky experiments. My faves of that era: F-104, B-58, & XB-70. The SR-71 is cliché; \*everybody \*drools over that one. After that things slowed down a bunch, even as the effectiveness of the weapons went way up. F-16s are of course my modern fave; nothing else comes close to looking as good or working as well. Color me old-fashioned, but I don’t like the looks of stealth; F-22 & F-35 both look pudgy & misbegotten. F/A-18, Viggen, Typhoon, Rafale at least look like airplanes should. Though none are as flat pretty / sexy as the F-16. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/65 "2015-04-11T17:08:19Z")
[QUOTE=LSLGuy;18281187 My faves of that era: F-104, B-58, & XB-70. The SR-71 is cliché; \*everybody \*drools over that one.[/QUOTE] OK, well, if the question then is what besides the SR-71…well, in the end days of the Cold War (I was born in 1975), I was fascinated by what was originally known as the F-19 stealth fighter in the popular press. I remember playing the hell out of [this game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFXKz5FRCsc), and making [this model](http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/TESTORS%20F-19%20STEALTH%20PAGE.htm), back when it was conjectured to be a curvy stealthy beast, rather than the [faceted, angular aircraft](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/F-117_Nighthawk_Front.jpg) it turned out to be. It ended up looking closer to the Testors model of the imagined [Mig-37B Ferret](http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/TESTORS%20MIG%2037-B%20FERRETT%20PAGE.htm) stealth fighter, another model I quite enjoyed. Now, the F-117 ended up not quite living up to the hype, but I still find it a cool aircraft. Otherwise, the A-10 Warthog would have to get my vote. And the F-15 as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/66 "2015-04-11T20:23:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I remember playing the hell out of [this game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFXKz5FRCsc), [This is the one I remember so well](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBG3E5RHoGg). So many nights, skimming low over the Kola peninsula, running on vapor, heading for home. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/67 "2015-04-13T19:41:29Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > [This is the one I remember so well](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBG3E5RHoGg). So many nights, skimming low over the Kola peninsula, running on vapor, heading for home. I coulda kicked Chuck Yeager’s ass flying that simulator – I was the God if Flight. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/68 "2015-04-13T20:07:08Z")
Little known cold war fact. The Cuban missile crisis was discovered when the CIA questioned soccer fields appearing in areas of Cuba. Soccer wasn’t a Cuban sport, but it was a popular Russian sport. Somebody decided to look and see if there were Russians about. And there was, and yikes, they had missiles. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/69 "2015-04-14T04:47:40Z")
> [@bump](#): > > F-4 Phantom II. > > I don’t really know how to describe it, but it just looks like a predator in a way that few others do. I know exactly what you mean. It looks a stone killer. I think its the way the nose is shaped, at least to me. Reminds me of a bird of prey. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/70 "2015-04-14T05:01:31Z")
Blackbird is a no-brainer, but it wasn’t really weaponized other than being a fuselage atop a pair of gigantic roman candles. For my money, in terms of capability as a platform, speed, looks, etc, it’s hands down the B1-B (“Bone”). The B-52 is far more iconic but the B1B is a stellar aircraft, and the delivery of nuclear weapons was all the rage in the Cold War, so that thing gets my vote. Image here: [http://www.virtavia.com/images/b1b/fullsize/B-1B\_FSX\_06.jpg](http://www.virtavia.com/images/b1b/fullsize/B-1B_FSX_06.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/71 "2015-04-14T05:43:49Z")
I’m surprised the B-2 hasn’t gotten any love. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/72 "2015-04-14T06:40:47Z")
> [@bump](#): > > F-4 Phantom II. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it just looks like a predator in a way that few others do. About the only others that I can think of might be the F/A-18E Super Hornets and the A-10 Warthog Predator is not the word I would use, and this goes the same for the A-10, since they both have that same look. Enforcer, now that would be the word I would use. When you see one coming, its going to fuck you up, grind you into the pavement, piss on your broken and battered body, and casually toss a smoke stub at your face, as it flys away. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/73 "2015-04-14T06:42:30Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > And I’ll throw in a vote for a peculiarly Cold War creation, the [S-3 Viking](https://www.google.com/search?q=s-3+viking&biw=1920&bih=969&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=1mEoVcWBE4LUgwT2u4DQDg&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ): a jet plane that listens for submarines. I get chills thinking about them dropping lines of sonobouys and crisscrossing the waves, listening, trolling their MAD sensor behind, ceaselessly looking for the most elusive prey of all. Meh, throw a couple of harpoons on em, and let em go a-viking against some skimmers. None of this ASW stuff. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/74 "2015-04-14T11:28:07Z")
Sabre (F 86) for me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/75 "2015-04-14T12:39:49Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I’m surprised the B-2 hasn’t gotten any love. It might be because it doesn’t really qualify as a Cold War aircraft in terms of service (if at all–its first flight was in mid-1989, and the first operational aircraft wasn’t delivered until late 1993, well after the Cold War.) ---
**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:** [April 14, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/76 "2015-04-14T13:31:59Z")
For me, the aircraft that exemplifies the Cold War is the [U2](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/77 "2015-04-14T15:16:15Z")
The [Grumman A-6 Intruder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_A-6_Intruder). Not pretty but it lingered longer, penetrated deeper and dropped a bigger load than other aircraft of similar size. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/78 "2015-04-14T15:57:12Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > _cough_ 😉 In the words of Gilly, Umm,…Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/79 "2015-04-14T19:00:30Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It might be because it doesn’t really qualify as a Cold War aircraft in terms of service (if at all–its first flight was in mid-1989, and the first operational aircraft wasn’t delivered until late 1993, well after the Cold War.) I understand what you’re saying but the B-2 was created solely to penetrate Soviet airspace, which I’d say counts as Cold War. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265/80 "2015-04-14T19:52:59Z")
[This aircraft penetrated Soviet airspace](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Cessna_172_D-ECJB_of_Mathias_Rust.jpg/1920px-Cessna_172_D-ECJB_of_Mathias_Rust.jpg). 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-cold-war-era-military-aircraft-and-why/717265.md?page=5)