The most beautiful aeroplane ever:-

[Stoneboat]

Two candidates:

A friend of mine flies this one in his spare time when not on his day job of dropping water on forest fires from a Martin Mars.



I've flown the 12, liked it better than the 10.

[Wodrick]

Somebody loves that L12

[Stoneboat]

Somebody loves that L12.

Yes indeed, a lot of elbow grease went into that finish.

No beautiful aircraft thread would be complete without this one.
Dash 94 engines, 52 inches of boost on takeoff. One of our DC-3's was equipped with -94's it was 15 kt faster than our -92S equipped aircraft. We had two -3's that could be equipped with skis in the winter, hence -92S. It was basically a -92 crankcase with the -94 heavy finned cylinders. Same 1200 HP, but the power limits were longer, and believe me there were times when you needed it.

[bbvideo=560,315]https://vimeo.com/203544093[/bbvideo]

[Shaggy sheep driver]

IMG_6702 resized.jpg (321.02 KiB) Viewed 1584 times

[Capetonian]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/spi ... e-man-has/

Directors: David Fairhead, Anthony Palmer. PG cert, 97 mins

“There are some people who’d rather have a flight in a Spitfire than spend their pension money on a Jag,” a 99-year-old pilot points out in David Fairhead and Ant Palmer’s lyrical documentary. Narrated by Charles Dance, this is a film that will thrill those people – but it’s not only for them.

It captures the tactile pleasure of the plane’s design, lingering on a hand as it grazes the edge of a wing. Newsreels and grainy but gripping gun-camera footage are intercut with sumptuous new film (shot with flair by John Dibbs) of some of the few remaining Spitfires in the air. It’s the pin-sharp memories of the people who flew them, however, that give this film its broader purpose and appeal.

That 99-year-old pilot, for instance, is Mary Ellis. During the Second World War, she flew more than 1,000 aircraft – including hundreds of Spitfires – from their factories to the RAF airfields. If there’s anyone who has an excuse to be bored of them, it’s her.

And yet, the elegance of the Spitfire – “like a dancing fairy” – still enthralls her, even though she’s not blind to its faults. The plane, she says, was “a lady in the air but a bitch on the ground”, difficult and dangerous to land.

It’s an interview that gets to the heart of Spitfire’s have-your-cake-and-eat-it approach, at once enlarging and undercutting myths about the plane. The life of its inventor, RJ Mitchell, is partly told through clips from The First of the Few, Leslie Howard’s celebrated drama about him. But Spitfire challenges that film’s portrayal of Mitchell’s solitary genius; we learn that one of his colleagues, who previously worked for the Luftwaffe, may well have copied the famous elliptical wing from an earlier German design.

The highlight is an interview with flying ace Tom Neil, who describes his part in the Battle of Malta as if it happened yesterday: “I hated taking off at dawn. Why in God’s name can’t we do it after a good lunch?” It’s poignant to see him so bright-eyed and full of energy, having read the news of his death just last week.

These are some of very last voices from a crucial moment in Britain’s history. As one pilot ruefully notes, in five years they may all be gone. The giddy younger enthusiasts who pop up here – one calls the Spitfire “the most beautiful machine man has ever made” – might be irksome if they weren’t balanced by the grit of the first-hand accounts.

To many of those who used them as weapons, “this Spitfire business” is baffling. “The aura around the Spitfire is a postwar thing,” one shrugs. “It was just an instrument of war then.”

Spitfire manages to hold that aura in check, while making the most of its shimmer.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

The Concorde and the Spit look good from almost any angle. As a child I was seduced by the Lightning just rot'ed into a vertical climb - it looked just like Thunderbird 1. However, they closed the LTU just before I finished TWU, and I asked for and got the Tornado F3. It seemed appropriate, since this was picture from the cover of the 'Fighter Pilot' book that crystallized my decision to join the RAF

f3 low cleanmini.jpg (6.97 KiB) Viewed 1495 times

It looked like the Fastest Thing on Earth at low level, and it was. I still remember flicking the HUD from Mach to ASI on a 250' asl chasedown and seeing 835 kts, 35 over limit, and still accelerating. This is substantially faster than the official low level speed record. I flicked back to Mach and left the throttles in the top corner. It was fantastic at what it was designed for, and I think this is a key characteristic of all the aircraft so far nominated. I also remember an advert Lockheed ran for the Hercules, with a picture of the nose and the clever title of "A face only a mother could love" and then the story of a bunch of victims of a natural disaster being evacuated by Herc. A Tornado isn't going to save you and your children from a flash flood. And if your mountain cottage is in the path of a raging wildfire, only a Martin Mars will do.

[Capetonian]

'The most memorable day of your life': How to fly a Spitfire in England

The video may have been 36 minutes long, but I’ve never paid more attention to an aeroplane safety announcement. I was about to board a Spitfire with my pilot, Brian, and, if I was good, he had promised I could take hold of the controls. The briefing outlined what to do in the event of engine failure, a mid-air collision, or the pilot becoming incapacitated. I needed to remember this.

The announcer concluded by saying there was less than a one-in-300,000 chance of death, a statistic I interpreted positively, even though I expect to win the jackpot every time I play the lottery.

Inducing a frisson of danger seems appropriate when introducing a Spitfire. Beautiful and beloved by the nation for the pivotal role they played in the Battle of Britain, the planes are weapons of war – brutal and agile assailants that should be taken deathly seriously.

They’re precious, too. Although more than 20,000 Spitfires were built between 1936 and 1948, only around 50 are airworthy today. Members of the public can fly the aircraft at the Boultbee Flight Academy in Goodwood, West Sussex.

Highlights from John O'Ceallaigh's flight, including the Victory Roll and Loop. Drag the cursor for 360-degree views.

My flight was arranged by Eden Being, the lifestyle and retail brand operated by the Oetker Collection of hotels. Its newly launched package begins with an overnight stay at The Lanesborough, a venerable Knightsbridge address that feels very proper and classically British. There’s a butler for every room; one of London’s most glamorous spas in the basement; and Michelin-starred dining at Céleste. Couples can avail of the amenities before being driven to Goodwood for what the safety announcement promises will be “one of the most memorable days of your life”.

It’s a presumptuous statement, but as it turns out, devoid of hyperbole. With the briefing over, I was suited up, fitted with a parachute and led to our aircraft.

While it’s believed that there was only ever one two-seater Spitfire in RAF service, Boultbee Flight Academy owns a TR9 G-ILDA that was converted to a Trainer 9 two-seater decades after its 1944 construction. Seated in the front cockpit, Brian would take us to about 3,500ft before handing over the controls.

He started her up. A guttural blast, a burst of smoke and a heady rush of fumes as fuel flushed through the aircraft, the sleeping Spitfire erupted into consciousness. The wickedly hot heatwave and cramped conditions meant that every droplet of moisture seemed to evaporate from my body, expunged by a surge of excitement (and maybe a smidgen of fear). This was really happening. We sped along the grass runway and suddenly were airborne.

Exhilarating though the ascent was, I soon settled in. Having flown Spitfires for close to 40 years, Brian was an accomplished host and, on a blazing summer day a few weeks ago, England looked especially beautiful. Gold and green, a patchwork of fields spread beneath us; custard ribbons of beach met shimmering turquoise waters. We looked towards Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower and the Isle of Wight; on the other side, a blast of sunlight lent a preternatural glow to the white cliffs of Beachy Head.

It was spectacular but, inevitably, my thoughts turned to those first young Spitfire pilots who flew these planes under completely different circumstances. I was awed by their courage. With the RAF celebrating its centenary this year, and the documentary Spitfire premiering in cinemas this week, their legacy shines as brightly as ever. I was told that veterans still regularly join flights. For Brian and his colleagues, it is always an exceptional honour to have them on board.

I must have just about passed muster too, because Brian then said it was my turn to take over. Mimicking the instructions he had so carefully relayed on the ground, I gently nudged the controls left and right, up and down. Just a breath of pressure was all it took for the plane to swoon and swoop. They were built to kill, but it seemed Spitfires could be gentle.

Lest I get the wrong idea, Brian then gave me an indication of their full strength, deftly performing a victory roll and then a loop that saw the sky and ground suddenly swap places. As the g-force of 2.5 took hold, my body compressed into my seat, a crumpling tin can. But, of course, this was nothing compared with the pressures that those original pilots endured.

And then, just as quickly, the world was the right way up and we had come in to land. I threw back the canopy and stepped on to solid ground, rendered momentarily numb and dumb by the intensity of the experience. The views had been magnificent, and the aerial acrobatics invigorating, but most affecting of all was following in the original pilots’ footsteps. For fans of British aviation, it is a privilege that is unparalleled.

The Eden Being Spitfire experience includes a night at The Lanesborough for two, limousine transfers, and lunch for up to four people. It costs from £6,000 if one person flies, or £9,000 for two separate flights. The flight experience lasts 30 minutes. Available from April to November.

[larsssnowpharter]

One is rather surprised that the achingly beautiful DH Hornet or Sea Hornet has not been mentioned although someone mentioned that Dr Havilland had a habit of making good looking aircraft.

There's a pic of me sitting in one on TOP when I was a nipper.

[larsssnowpharter]

One is rather surprised that the achingly beautiful DH Hornet or Sea Hornet has not been mentioned although someone mentioned that Dr Havilland had a habit of making good looking aircraft.

There's a pic of me sitting in one on TOP when I was a nipper.

[Pontius Navigator]

I vote for the Devon, of course another Dr Haviland. But my favourite, not yet mentioned has to be that other English Electric aircraft, the Canberra B2

[boing]

When you can't see the wing planform there is a hint of Spitfire in her lines.




.

[Pontius Navigator]

You can see a Comet at the Hatfield Galleria, or you could, model I think.

[Cacophonix]

I have always judged the Hawker Hunter to be, alongside the early Spitfire marques, to be the most aesthetically pleasing aircraft. I am sure if assessed the ratio of the length of the fuselage to span of both wings you would find it might accord with the Golden Mean or some other pleasing mathematical relationship beloved of the ancients and artists. It is truly a piece of engineering artifice that could reasonably be described as beautiful.

I note that the winspan is equal to 33.66 feet (which itself an interesting number) and the length of the fuselage =45.93 feet and given that the rule for the golden ratio states:

In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities.

and

45.93/33.66=1.364527629


(45.93+33.66)/45.93=1.366427172


one will see that aircraft comes within a gnat's (but not Folland) whisker of a pleasing mean but not exactly the Golden Mean which is 1.61803398874989484820...

Hunter T7.jpg (28.32 KiB) Viewed 1396 times

Whatever the case it is still beautiful.


Caco

[Boac]

Agreed, Caco - a definite thing of beauty.

[AtomKraft]

Larss.
For many years there were no known DH Hornet, or sea Hornet survivors, but amazingly one turned up in Canada and is now under rebuild to fly.
It's a Sea Hornet T.20, TT193.

[Undried Plum]

I know the thread asks for just one nomination, but airliners are so different to warbirds that I'm going to grant myself the right to name one of each.

The VC10 wins over Concorde by a narrow margin because Conc's form comes from its function. It needed to be that shape in order to achieve the design objective of carrying 100 pax across the Atlantic at M2.0. The VC10 is gratuitously beautiful. They didn't *have* to make the horizontal stab as beautiful as that, they just did it because it is both efficient and beautiful.

Spitfire is the obvious warbird choice, though Hunter comes close.

[AtomKraft]

Sorry, it's actually a Sea Hornet F.20.

[Cacophonix]

I must say that the Sea Vixen, for all its faults, had a "je ne sais quoi!"

Sea Vixen.JPG (54.23 KiB) Viewed 1241 times

Caco

[G-CPTN]

The sea vixen was one of the Keil Kraft flying scale models that I built, and, when you spend time building such a model from the balsa kit, you get familiar with the detail (especially as a child - children have a natural ability to remember fine detail).
I remember it as a fine aircraft.
There is a survivor at the De Havilland museum at London Colney which you can sit in - my grandchildren seem to enjoy the experience whenever we go there.

[Alisoncc]

XG 255 at Sharjah 1963. Beuuuuutiful.

XG255-Sharjah_1963.jpg (42.84 KiB) Viewed 1235 times