@Pardel-Lux and @Shoeless @kenobi_65, the blackbird and the P-38 round out my top five faves, (along with, of all planes Boeing 747) but I didn’t want to hog all the coolest 
planes in my op.
@Qadgop_the_Mercotan, biplanes did not cross my mind, but that does have some cool factor going for it. I’ll bet those are a hoot to fly.
They used to say that the Phantom was proof that a brick could fly if you put big enough engines on it.
I love the looks of the Phantom. Ironically, the things that make it distinctive were all fixes for things that they did wrong when designing it. Originally it was supposed to have a simple delta wing, but that was changed to its distinctive upturned wings due to lateral instability. The downward angle of the rear stabilizers was done due to control issues at high angles of attack.
FWIW, I worked on an updated RADAR for the F-4 back in the 1980s. I also worked on the F-16 and the A-12 Flying Dorito. The cancellation of the A-12 project is what got me out of defense work.
I have models of the F-4 and the F-16.
If I can ask a dumb question, why so many?
I built a lot of model airplanes in my teenage years, but I don’t think I ever built the same plane twice.
Different models (e.g., F-4B, F-4D, F-4E, F-4J…) and different squadrons (mostly Navy).
Favorite warbird - F4U Corsair
Regular airplane - Aero Commander 690/840
Dear Qadgop,
You can put me down as officially very envious of your flying history. Except maybe the crash part. Sounds like you’ve had fun. I did get one ride in the front seat of a Stearman. Pretty entertaining.
Oh, and my choice? I’d probably go with one of the single engine turboprops (Piper, Daher, Pilatus). I know, not flashy, but practical transportation, they don’t require 10,000’ runways, I can put my bike in the back, and within my piloting skills (with a little type training). Or maybe, for a little more flash, a Marchetti SF-260?
Trying to be somewhat practical: as a long-lapsed private pilot, and a plane I could conceivably not only pilot, but afford to maintain, I’d pick either a TBM 930 or, if I’m expecting rugged territory, a Cessna Caravan; PC-12 would probably work, too.
Hmm, tough question. Do I want something traditional and useful (Bonanza, Baron), something more modern (DA62, Cirrus Vision Jet), something classic and stylish (Staggerwing Beech, Lockheed Model 10 Electra), or something rare and eccentric (Beechcraft Starship)?
If I have to pick just one, how about a Spartan Executive.
I have a ‘New in Box’ kit of 4 Thunderbirds F4’s. I built one as a kid, and somehow got ahold of another over the years. I recall it being a tedious build. But I bet it’s worth a bunch now.
I had the 1/72 Blue Angels F9F kit when I was a kid. My one Blue Angels was a 1/32 plane.
I saw the Blue Angels flying the F-4 when I was 10. I’d broken my arm, and it was in a cast. They were so loud, I wanted to cover my ears, but I couldn’t.
When I was, like, five, I told my mom ‘I don’t know if I want to be an officer like day, or fly F-4s.’ She told me that 1) To fly F-4s, you have to be a officer; but 2) By the time I grew up, there wouldn’t be any F-4s. As it turned out, there were still F-4s. But I’d injured myself my last year of high school, and I was into the F-14s by that time anyway.
For coolness I would pick SR-71 Blackbird like many others.
Though if I was an eccentric billionaire I would buy the plans for the Hughes H-4 Hercules a.k.a. The “Spruce Goose” and build a version of it with modern materials and equipment that could actually fly. Hughes H-4 Hercules - Wikipedia
Ah, yes. Whistling Death, as the Japanese on the ground called it.
Am I really the only one who would choose the B-17 Flying Fortress? It’s the plan I most modeled, drew, and yearned for as a kid.
I did have a fascination with the Bede 5, back in the day. They even had a jet model.
I saw them fly, including the jet version, at EAA Oshkosh too.
I understand they did kill a lot of pilots. Glad I never tried to fly one.
My dad flew 50 combat missions in B-24s, then rotated stateside and became an instructor for B-29s. He respected the Liberator, but he really loved the Superfortress. So I would go with the B-29.
My dad was building a BD-5. He paid for components (e.g., the drive shaft) that he never received. The engines became unavailable when Hirth Motoren wen bankrupt. Dad had a friend who had access to a small turbojet from a drone. The friend offered a deal. In exchange for the engine, he would be half-owner in the aircraft. Dad contacted Jim Bede to ask him if putting a jet engine in the BD-5 would be feasible. Bede effectively told him ‘No way, no how.’ He’d already been working on the BD-5J.
When he was transferred from DAG to WJF he packed it carefully and got extra insurance. Dad said a moving company driver needed a longer ramp than the one he had, so he took the one from the truck with dad’s stuff and just tossed his shorter ramp onto the flat spot in that truck. Squashed the kit. Dad was incredibly meticulous. He polished the lightening holes in the wing spars, even though they only needed to be de-burred and no one would see them once the wings were complete. Spent 80 hours doing that. He didn’t want to spend the time starting over, so a friend in Long Beach said he could build a kit to the same (80%) level of completion, and reproducing dad’s exacting build standards, for $10,200. The insurance paid, and dad used the money to buy a six-year-old Cessna 172K Skyhawk.
When I was a kid, I had a Testors c/l BD-5.
The BD-5 deserved its reputation as a pilot killer. The first version with the short ‘A’ wings was particularly bad - of the first four customer planes built with that wing, three crashed on takeoff and the other crashed attempting to land. Three of the four pilots were killed.
Of the first 25 BD-5’s built (some with the better, longer wings), 14 crashed, and 9 pilots were killed.
The Aviation Safety Institute has said that 15% of all BD-5 flights ended in crashes. A big part of the problem was the engine, which was always a poor choice and not designed for airplane use. It was packed into the rear of the airplane where it got inadequate cooling. So engine failures were common.
Adding to that problem was that the BD-5 was incredibly sensitive to Cg location, and a lot of them were built tail heavy by people trying to fix the engine issues with different engines. The wing also had a sharp stall with little warning and the plane had a tendency to snap roll on stall.
Finally, the engine thrustline was way above the centerline. So if you were taking off and the engine quit, the airplane would want to pitch up. If you weren’t really fast with a pitch-down, the plane would stall and roll over and you’d die.
Some of these problems were fixed over the years by other companies who modified the wings, tail, and engine stuff. But the BD-5 has never been a safe airplane, and still isn’t. It’s just not an instant killer like it used to be.
Still, as a dream plane I would love one with the problems fixed. I lusted over those things when I was a kid.
Dad was building the A-model, with the largest (ostensibly) available engine. Big engine and short wings would have been a speedy plane.
Of course he was better off with the Skyhawk. He said he had the world’s only 4-place BD-5. 
The guy who crushed the kit probably saved your dad’s life. Most of the early deaths were professional pilots. Skill didn’t save them.
How about an F-82?
