Whats your favourite Military aircraft ?

Question

The F-22 raptor does it for me! Awesome plane,
Also does anyone know any details about the Aurora ?

thanks for the page danny. And for all of you who have taken an interest in this Q. Such a wide variety of planes which people love!If we are talking about bomber planes not fighters i would have to choose the B-1b Lancer. Not sure if it's still used in Iraq anymore though :/

Answer 1

A10 Thunderbolt

As a child they would fly over my house using the Church steeple
As a target and fly as if attacking.
Great to watch from bedrooms windows.All i get these days is the Eurofighter and the sentry every 20 mins.

Also great to see then on transformers film pointed them out to my young lads.

Answer 2

That is such an unfair question - there are too many!

I have a real thing for four-engine heavy bombers - the Lancaster and Liberator being my favourites. I'm quite partial to a Tornado GR4 and Harrier, but if the mighty Vulcan is restored to her ear-splitting glory this year as planned I will be a very happy anorak indeed!

The F22 is a pretty impressive looking aircraft - there was a mock-up at Fairford this year, but I'm a fan of Soviet hardware as well, in particular the Mig 29 and Sukhoi 27, which I saw flown in spectacular fashion at Fairford (again) in the 90's. Now they really are awesome planes!

Answer 3

The Tornado GR4. The best low level strike aircraft in the world with no exceptions. Nothing else in the world even comes close in the strike role, it can launch cruise missiles and drop all western smart weapons and doesnt need stealth because it flys itself underneath radar. It was designed to fly all the way to moscow at 100ft and drop a nuke or the Kremlin.
The Bae Hawk is a close second. A true pilots aircraft, you dont fly a computer, its the only jet trainer in the world with no mach limit (it can go through the sound barrier in a dive with no damage to the structure) and its a dream to fly.

Aurora was supposed (it never got off the drawing board) to be a replacement for the SR71. An ultra-high performance recce jet. Trouble is 99% of all recce work is done either by satellites or normal frontline jets fitted with decent cameras. Look at the Tornado GR4-A and the Raptor camera pod and you get the idea.
The costs prevented its development although its hypersonic scramjets that were supposed to be used were put on the experimental vehicle that flew last year, cant remember its name sorry.

Actually thinking about it, the vulcan was pretty good, at 30000ft or more it was more manouverable then contemporary f15's and the Lightning (frightning) was the only armed aircraft to ever catch Concorde from behind. Only one other aircraft might have been able to do the same, the Mig 25, but it was never tested.
The Harrier is the best CAS aircraft because it can operate so close to frontline troops. It doesnt need prepared runways, just a few hundred ft of rough, fod-plodded ground if they are running heavy.
The buccaneer was the class act at extreme low level before the tornado and a top class anti shipping jet.

The best all rounder for my money though is the Tornado, plus it sounds cracking on takeoff with the afterburners going.

Answer 4

The B-1B Lancer (Bone) bomber is the best military airplane ever made. Fast, powerful, packed with electronic wizardry, practically invulnerable to everything except lucky groundfire and capable of carrying and delivering practically any weapon in the NATO inventory instantly through state-of-the-art realtime datalink communication.

It is currently the "Grunt's Best Friend" in Iraq/Afghanistan as it can carry a massive bombload of precision guided weapons and loiter indefinitely, ready for instant call-up to any part of the battlefield, delivering weapons with 3m circle of accuracy at low level from anywhere.

Answer 5

F-18 Super Hornet

Answer 6

Has to be the Supermarine Spitfire, in all its variants. I'm lucky and only live down the road from Coningsby where the Battle of Britain flight resides, so we see one nearly every weekend. We also have the East Kirkby aviation centre which also has a flying Spitfire. For those of you who stated the Mustang, remember that plane was a dog until it was fitted with Rolls Royce Merlin engines, made under license in the States.

For modern jets I would say the Euro Fighter, also stationed at Coningsby. Those things are awesome and so quiet! They ought to be nicknamed Silent Death.

Answer 7

First so some distance as militia airplane, maximum won't debate that the P-fifty one grew to become into and nonetheless is the excellent fighter that grew to become into prop pushed. For our jet standards right this moment, the F-sixteen has constantly been the main magnificent. i could concur with the respond earlier provide related to the F/A 18, yet maximum pupils of the layout and flight residences of the F-sixteen vs. the F/A-18 could guess on the F-sixteen. i could guess on the F-sixteen. no longer that the F/A-18 isn't eye-catching in it is own genuine. And on each occasion i think of of Naval Aviators, i will constantly think of F-14, and now the F/A-18. the two eye-catching. Now if we are considering the F-22. Then it is the actual extensive debate. by way of fact the F-sixteen has been dominant for see you later, it makes on hardship that it is unbeatable. yet having seen demonstration video of the try flights with an F-22 try flying with a F-sixteen chase airplane, i'm now having of venture on the F-22 to be extra advantageous interior the air. It merely is. so so some distance as my favorites: P-fifty one for propeller pushed. F-sixteen for fighter of the 20 th century. And F-22 for fighter to start the twenty first century. word that albeit some planes may well be older, they're merely as eye-catching now as whilst they first rolled off the line. those 3 will constantly be like that.

Answer 8

Mi-26 Russian Cargo Chopter

http://www.airforce.ru/show/gelendzhik2000/Mi-26.jpg

Answer 9

Tornado F-3

Answer 10

I would have to say my favorite military aircraft are the F4U corsair and the P-51 Mustang!!! I realize they are world war 2 era aircraft but i love the body styles on both of these aircraft as well as their service in the war.

Answer 11

KODIAK, Alaska – Coast Guard Lt. Bill Friday and Lt. Doug Atkins assist a survivor from a helicopter to triage after a plane crash in Hallo Bay Monday. A DeHaviland Beaver float plane operated by Andrew Airways crashed in Hallo Bay with six people on board. All six people were rescued by air crews from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak. The Coast Guard rescue coordination center in Juneau received a call at 1:12 p.m. regarding the downed aircraft, which was enroute from Hallo Bay to Kodiak A Coast Guard C-130 arrived on scene and immediately deployed several life rafts. Two Coast Guard C-130 aircraft and two helicopters, an HH-60 Jayhawk and an HH-65 Dolphin from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak responded to the crash. Both C-130 aircrews and the Dolphin aircrew were diverted from training missions near the area of the crash which saved precious time. The Jayhawk crew rescued four people in the water, and the Dolphin crew rescued the remaining two. All passengers from the Beaver were transported to Kodiak where they were treated for hypothermia and minor injuries. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Paul Roszkowski)
So the C-130, HH-60 and others that save life are my faves.