Most Beautiful Aircraft Ever Built

[Victor Bravo]

Luigi Colani designed the Optica? I didn't know that....

 

[Brünner]

Mitsubishi AM6 Zeroooooooooo.

Agree. It's a gorgeous plane.

 

[Protech Racing]

 

[robertl]

Just plain sexy!
View attachment 102087

This gets my vote !

 

[C Michael Hoover]

So, the guy that started this thread (which I just now came across) submitted the Bugatti Racer as the best looking. But his avatar is of the REALLy best looking ever: The Bellanca Super Viking.

 

[Orange4sky]

Bugatti 100P still in the top spot for me. It's just the most beautiful distillation of form and function IMHO.

 

[hombreux]

Simple:
Prowler Jaguar & Eracer in homebuilding category

 

[BJC]

Bugatti 100P still in the top spot for me. It's just the most beautiful distillation of form and function IMHO

Well, it gets 50% credit on that basis.


BJC

 

[Orange4sky]

Yeah, I guess the function side of that was never time tested. From the little time it had in the air, do we know how well it performed?

 

[BJC]

Yeah, I guess the function side of that was never time tested. From the little time it had in the air, do we know how well it performed?

AFAIK, the original Bugatti never flew. The replica crashed on its third and (supposedly) final flight.


BJC

 

[BJC]

I drooled over a Prowler Jaguar that an EAA chapter member had in his hangar. The engine was off, “for some work”, and I never saw it fly.


BJC

 

[billyvray]

14 pages and no Beech 18? 2048 × 1365

 

[TarDevil]

I drooled over a Prowler Jaguar that an EAA chapter member had in his hangar. The engine was off, “for some work”, and I never saw it fly.


BJC

Long have I lusted for this airframe.

 

[TarDevil]

14 pages and no Beech 18? 2048 × 1365

Rock on, Buddy! Great choice.

 

[Bill-Higdon]

I'm thinking the Stretch DC-8 that brought me back to the "Real World" from Viet Nam ranks pretty high

 

[Pilot-34]

Lol
I had a friend who flew home on one of those stretch DC-8s
When he landed in Seattle he walked down the street to the first bar he came to kiss the first girl he came to and eventually went home with her
He spent 12 years providing a home for her and her five-year-old son
During that time he had a framed picture of a DC eight on his wall
When he left her and return to the family home in Illinois that picture was one of the few items brought home with him. When he moved into his new home it was the very first thing he hung on the wall
I noticed a few weeks later that he had placed a dartboard grill over it!

 

[Angusnofangus]

14 pages and no Beech 18? 2048 × 1365

My new desktop picture.

 

[Twodeaddogs]

I met a pilot flying a Volpar Beech fitted with pt-6s on night runs full of cancelled cheques. He was on barely above minimum wage and hated the very sight of it but he was knocking down several hours per night to hit the magic 1500 hrs to get a shot at an airline.

 

[AJLiberatore]

View attachment 20653S

o many pretty, Bad, Sweet, and cool planes! Here's my vote, Jim Rust's Whitman W-10 Tailwind. A superbly built example of an old design that is still viable and usefull today, simple, cost effective, good performance. That's my "beauty". Simple, effective.

I can't remember if I saw it at OSH, but this thing reminds me of a high end Street Rod, only the Ariel version, I wouldn't change a thing. I downloaded every picture I could find, absolutely stunning w/ it' simple mix of white, blue, and polished aluminum. Note, this is nothing against many of the W8's/W10's many are stunning, but this one is art.

 

[Pilot-34]

I met a pilot flying a Volpar Beech fitted with pt-6s on night runs full of cancelled cheques. He was on barely above minimum wage and hated the very sight of it but he was knocking down several hours per night to hit the magic 1500 hrs to get a shot at an airline.

Back when I was training for my private license I flew into Flora Illinois airport where I met two private jet crews
One was a single guy who flew for a small company owner he flew four or five trips a year to the man’s business interest and one flight to Canada hunting and one flight to the Caribbean or similar pleasant vacation place
On the hunting and fishing trip He was a paid guest just like his boss.
On the tropical vacation trip him and his wife both had their expenses fully paid.
Yes he was on call all the time but for the most part he flew less than 40 hours a year For the boss.
Most months he had to take the aircraft up and fly off the insurance minimum I think that was 12 hours a month.
This was way back in the 80s and at that point I think he was making about 80,000 a year
The other crew was two pilots the both looked to be totally fatigued and confided they flew every hour legal and worked far more hours at other duties.
The lead was making 28,000 a year and the second was making 24
And the single guy crew making 80+ thousand a year was extremely jealous of them!