There can only be one and that’s the Spitfire. It’s practically a scientific fact that the Spitfire is the most beautiful aircraft ever made. It’s pretty much perfect from every angle.
She drew envy and admiration from her enemies, was almost non-stop the best all round dogfighter in the world (granted it’s thirstier than a Mustang but you don’t buy a Bentley for fuel economy) and could be adapted for multiple different roles. She fought in almost every theatre of the war and with the Hurricane successfully defended its island home against the German war machine despite the odds.
Modern aircraft are great but they’re largely built and designed by machines for wars usually being fought thousands of miles away. The Spitfires were built by the people, damn strong people both men and women as their homes and the very factory they worked in was being bombed by a force that at this point must’ve seemed almost invincible.
It’s not just the looks that makes the Spitfire truly special. But the people that made it and flew it.
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”
*I only recently learned why so many japanese planes of this time period (including the Ki-43) are so often seen unpainted. It wasn’t a paint shortage, but rather the use of Alclad for corrosion prevention.
