1.F-22 Raptor
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F-4 Corsair
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Su-47 Berkut
I don’t think there is one answer to this,but :
Favorite modern-retired aircraft.
F-14D , “Vandy 1” VX-9 .
F-14D was pretty, but in black camo is amazing!
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That’s most likely because the F9F Cougar is not that well-known of a popular aircraft (since it had a relatively short service life with the U.S. Navy before being replaced by the F-11F Tiger and F3H Demon).
I personally think it’s still pretty high up there for easily one of the best-looking jets of the 1950s
(my favourite era of aircraft) in terms of aesthetics and looks. Everything from the nose, wings and tail is very symmetrical and sleek. It may just simply be basically an F9F Panther with swept wings, but the F9F Cougar was also quite an important step for Grumman since it was their first ever swept-winged navy aircraft while also being able to carry nuclear bombs, Zuni FFARs and AIM-9 Sidewinders at the same time.
It was also one of the few jets in the world at the time to go supersonic in a full nose dive like the MiG-17 and Hawker Hunter.
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TRUE also the AAM-5 is also mmm
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The XB70 is a very cool looking jet but it looks like a paper aeroplane you’d make at school, the one that looks great but flew like a brick when you threw it. The Concorde to me just looks classy and clean, elegant even. If the XB70 got rid of those canards it’d look a lot better.
A couple of other honourable mentions for the best looking aircraft:
Hawker Fury/Sea Fury:
Heinkel He-111
The MiG-3 was also a seriously pretty aircraft.
Also somewhat controversially I’m sure… MiG-31.
Yes it looks like it was designed with a ruler as it’s nothing but straight edges but it looks exactly like what it is, powerful. It doesn’t want to turn that’s for Nancy’s it just wants to go fast and get the job done. If it were a car it’d be a work truck that might not be beautiful as such but it gets the job done and starts first piston up no matter what.
The ugliest jets to me are most of the “5th gen” aircraft. The F-22’s nose is far too short and stumpy and the rudders are far too large. Park it next to something like a Mirage and it looks like an absolute brick. The F-35 is its even uglier little cousin known as “fat Amy” amongst its pilots and it’s not difficult to see why.
The J-20 is fugly as well but at least it has an odd coolness factor to it because of just how strange it is. It’s probably the worst of the bunch but you can’t help but look at it and think “huh that’s different”.