Nothing will ever compare to this.

Nothing will ever compare to this.

Nothing will ever compare to this.

Concord was so far ahead of its time it's silly. Before they decommissioned it BA did a flight from our local airport, most impressive. I would love to see it fly again.

Best plane ever made was the XF-84 "Thunderscreech"

And how awesome was it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XF-84H_Thunderscreech

Who needs fancy psy-ops speakers when you have a plane that can be heard from 20+ miles away

Best plane ever made was the XF-84 "Thunderscreech"

And how awesome was it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XF-84H_Thunderscreech

Who needs fancy psy-ops speakers when you have a plane that can be heard from 20+ miles away

Speaking of noisy aircrafts. The Russians had a 4 engine bomber with counterrotating props. I can't remember the name of it, but the US submarine captains reported that they could hear those aircrafts with their sonar.

Now put an A380 in there

I'm not surprised by things Russians do... they tried to make a tank fly

I'm not surprised by things Russians do... they tried to make a tank fly

Leave the air whale out of this.

You mean the Mi-24 ? well its more like a flying BMP but its still quite the machine.

This is an air whale.

Still looks better then the A380.

This thread is now a Europe vs 'murica discussion.

Sorry, but i won't start a quarrel over CK's obvious lack of taste.

This thread is now a catfight between Indah and Kate

Someone bring the mud! I'll bring Yiole to be my champion!

Hey now I like both, just not the fugly air whale that is the A380.


Now for some classics

F-86 Sabre

English Electric Lightning

Concorde was an impressive machine, but all in all it was a mistake. Was born out of the "faster is better" mentality that transitioned from propellers to jets and also from cheap oil, and lacking those, it was left behind the economy curve. Curently, nobody would pay for the true cost of SST (I think it's telling that military never bothered themselves with SST) and currently air transportation as a business is driven by price. Put in short, there's not enough people whose time is worth enough to pay for SST, and so it's unlikely we ever see SST again.

We did that with 1950s technology.

We have plans for another called the son of concorde.

The total flight time from Brussels to Australia allowing for air traffic control would be four hours and forty minutes. The engines will use liquid hydrogen and the cost of a ticket is estimated to be around $2000.

If we brits had Americas funding by god we would have bases on mars by now.

I blame WW1 for ruining everything.

Just imagine us with todays tech and our 19th century money.

Meh. Imagine Spain with today's tech and 18th century territory...

Right back to the planes.

Now this is a plane!

Nice- but simply nothing beats the Lun..have more pictures of this abandoned behemoth here

Now, how couldn't you just LOVE an airplane called "Jes+¦s del Gran Poder"?

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Sorry, but i won't start a quarrel over CK's obvious lack of taste.

"Jes+¦s del Gran Poder"- I don't speak Spanish, but parts of me are hoping that this name means "Jesus the Great Podder" please, tell me it's true...

"Jes+¦s del Gran Poder"- I don't speak Spanish, but parts of me are hoping that this name means "Jesus the Great Podder" please, tell me it's true...

While it maybe incorrect, for me it shall stay with this meaning.

Screw you reality!

The Kalinin K-7 (yes, the Russians built it)

*Edit: yes, those are artillery pieces

That's a fake CGI, this was the real K-7

Had a short and sad career, as the first prototype suffered structural damage from engine ressonance (an unknown phenomenon at the time) and crashed during a test flight, and so other two were abandoned before completion.

You mean the Mi-24 ? well its more like a flying BMP but its still quite the machine.

The Kalinin K-7 (yes, the Russians built it)

*Edit: yes, those are artillery pieces

That is something I would call a flying fortress.

That is something I would call a flying fortress.

Yay at another fan of the English Electric Lightning, that thing could out climb any plane of its era, is rumoured to have performed an intercept on the U2 spy plane and is the only aircraft to succeed in overtaking Concorde on a stern conversion intercept.
I like the Avro Vulcan as well, it's a monster to look at and the sound of the thing is mindblowing.

Anyway, as a matter of fact, nothing sounds better than a RR Merlin, even on a strange frame...

This one is pretty badass tbh: 2 planes, 1 pilot

and the Germans called it the Fork Tailed Devil.

This one is pretty badass tbh: 2 planes, 1 pilot

and the Germans called it the Fork Tailed Devil.

Nice, but I'll raise you conjoined twins.

North American Aviation sure did build some classics.

This one (Grumman XF5F "Skyrocket") tested well for performance as a carrier plane. But people just couldn't bear to look at it. It made them nervous.

I love Grumman. They always insisted that every plane be as unattractive as possible. One more: Grumman Duck. The poor thing has an odd growth on it. Check out the landing gear.

But admittedly, seaplanes usually have it tough...

The spitfire remains the best plane ever made

The spitfire remains the best plane ever made

The best plane in the world ever is another Hawker project

no runway needed

These are the only things I enjoy seeing flying: Sky Whales, the whole 10:41 minutes of it. Such a beautiful cycle of Flying.

I love Grumman. They always insisted that every plane be as unattractive as possible.

Blasphemy.
The Grumman F6F Hellcat is one of the most beautiful planes ever built.

Blasphemy.
The Grumman F6F Hellcat is one of the most beautiful planes ever built.

I've always had a fascination with the A10 Thunderbolt .. it's just so damn gritty.


Beautiful shot

The GAU-8... language warning

Awesome, I'm saving that one

Funny thing is it's pretty accurate... the plane is built around the gun

Funny thing is it's pretty accurate... the plane is built around the gun

You just reminded me of the terrible lack of spinal mounted weapons in eve

edit: since we are talking about big guns on planes, this might be relevant.

I'll do one better.

AC-130 and its 105mm howitzer.

I think the germans were first to break the MG's on planes format.

In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of that? There is nothing the British do not have. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops. After the war is over I'm going to buy a British radio set - then at least I'll own something that has always worked.

GÇö Hermann G+¦ring

This is what the Germans though of the Mosquito

and now look at us ...we can barely run a bath ... my nation has completely gone to pot

It's the circle of life.
Every nation has this one leader that is the ultimate badass and starts a golden age - and after that everything will slowly go downhill.
Yours was Winston Churchill.
Ours was Frederick II.

edit:

back on topic: Big guns on aircraft: I present you the B 25-J, kind of hard to get more firepower than that onto a single aircraft.