most important military aircraft ?

[NEIOWA]

Only one? then would have to be the Wright Flyer two seater of 1907. Showed what was possible and the grandaddy of all that followed.

For greatest impact C-47. All the other P- this and B- of WWII (and since) were/are marginally relevant fluff.

 

[SETOYOTA]

SR-71, U2, TR-1.

For all the stuff we don't know about that these planes photographed and helped end the cold war without a nuke attack.

Chuck H

 

[dilvoy]

how about this there are only 3 aircraft that I know of that after 50 years are still flying and in there orginal role for governments. the b-52, the c-47, and the c-130

Don't forget about the KC135 and it's civilian twin the Boeing 707 that revolutionised comercial avaition.

 

[Desert Deuce]

Hi Dilvoy,

You wrote "Don't forget about the KC135" . Look back 3 posts. I agree, It has allowed us to project our power for over 50 years. All the "KC's" are unsung workhorses.

 

[jimk]

Easy - 4 engine WWII bombers.

B17 - Flying Fortress
B24 - Liberator
B29 - Superfortress
Avro Lancaster
Short Sterling
Handley Page Halifax
Arado AR 234 C(prototype)
others?

Technologies developed or advanced with these:Long range,high speed,high altitude,armor,offensive weapon systems,supercharging,pressurization,jet engine,radar,radar jamming-windows(foil), pathfinders,laminar flow wing,tallboy,grand slam,upkeep(dam busters),Fat Man,Little Boy...

More importantly - They took the war there instead of waiting for it to come here.

JimK

 

[NEIOWA]

how about this there are only 3 aircraft that I know of that after 50 years are still flying and in there orginal role for governments. the b-52, the c-47, and the c-130

Don't forget about the KC135 and it's civilian twin the Boeing 707 that revolutionised comercial avaition.

Not twins. Significant differences between the two. But the same daddy so closely related (engineering manager for the 1991 rtl model kit project of the 135 series).

 

[Katch1]

military channel ran the top ten of aircraft
1. F-15 eagle
2.Spad
3. F-4 Phantom
Very interesting, spitfire and c-47 came in below these three

 

[dilvoy]

Desert Deuce, I was in such a rush to let everyone hear my "wisdom" that I must have missed your earlier post.
NEIOWA, I still have difficulty telling the difference between a Cessna 172 and 182 and a Camaro from a Firebird as well. Some day I'll get things all sorted out.

 

[Adamlee]

most important military aircraft

this almost becomes a "my favorite aircraft" exercise pretty quickly....

I'm thinking C-17 especially after watching them depart Charleston's AFB all day last week....willing to bet these fat boys hold lots of crackers, cheese, and Humvees for the sand box.....

 

[texas-5-ton]

I like or "liked" The UH-1 Huey. It could do lots of things and get into some pretty tight places but I very rarely see them in service anymore

Chad

 

[clinto]

UH-1's fly over my house every day.....I never get tired of that sound.....


whupwhupwhupwhupwhup

GA ARNG Aviation support facility about 2 miles from me......

 

[Desert Deuce]

Hey Dilvoy, glad to see we agree, Tankers make it all possible, remember France not giviing us flyover rights in the Libian F-111 mission. My 2nd choice would the B52. No other platform has done as much. Heck, even launched the X-15 199 times!

 

[bigford]

SR-71, U2, TR-1.

For all the stuff we don't know about that these planes photographed and helped end the cold war without a nuke attack.

Chuck H

I tend to agree. This plane was so far ahead of it's time. Kelly was brilliant.
Each of the aircraft listed could claim the honor for it's time period but they were small steps forward in technology for the time. The Blackbird rewrote the book. As an example, the engine tubes and movable cones to "trick" the engines into thinking they were operating at sub-sonic levels while the aircraft is at mach 3. The majority of the air went straight to the afterburners bypassing the compressor/turbines when at speed.
Of course the aircraft are only as good as the men and women who fly them.

 

[M543A2]

I think it is odd the Military Channel rated the F4 like they did. It did a lot, the problem was it was designed when the thinking was that guns on a plane were obsolete because missiles were the wave of future combat. Many opportunities and victories in close-in combat were lost in VN because of the lack of guns.
The consensus of this thread is that there were many good platforms in our arsenal that did what they were designed for and other things very well. It is hard to designate one special aircraft overall. Maybe it would be easiest to designate the best aircraft in each specialty they were designed for. For close in support, my vote goes to the A 10. We don't want to forget the little spotter aircraft over the years that brought down hellfire and brimstone on enemy forces!
Regards Marti

 

[5quarter]

dont forget the "stringbag"

the Fairey Swordfish should not be overlooked even though it was
'old slow and in the way" it has a pretty impressive record
http://www.xs4all.nl/~fbonne/warbirds/ww2htmls/fairswordf.html

 

[DDoyle]

top military aircraft

military channel ran the top ten of aircraft
1. F-15 eagle
2.Spad
3. F-4 Phantom
Very interesting, spitfire and c-47 came in below these three

I was interviewed by the Military Channel for their "top ten APC" episode - I made it to the cutting room floor - but my friend who had tagged along with me stayed in, despite "speaking" a typo. However, the experience did give me an insight into how these shows are done. The pool of "experts" that they draw from is small - and credentials are not carefully reviewed - neither me or my friend Pat consider ourselves experts in APCs for example.

There is some degree of legitimate research done with respect to production figures - but the balance of the show is entirely the opinion of the guests - which can in turn be influenced by how well they speak/look (and likely country boys from down south don't play well!).

So, while entertaining, I wouldn't take their rankings of top military aircraft as seriously as I would if it were done by the Rand Corporation .

Back to the task at hand - something has to be said about the B-36 - no wars on its watch.

Best wishes,
David Doyle

 

[Katch1]

RE: top military aircraft

I believe Mr. Doyle after watching a re-run of that show that they were listed in order of influence, not what they had accoplished. That being said I think the rankings were o.k.
m543a2- Lack of a gun showed its ugly head very early, thats why they came up with the gun pods to load under the wings, untill they could get the -E model up and running,
I believe the big reason the PhantomII made it so high was it was in service so long, they built like 5,000, and was adaptable to many missions. It took them a very long time to come up with a replacement for the -G model, they served for over 20 yrs., a lofetime in the aviation field

 

[Recovry4x4]

Not the best of all time but the AC-130H Spectre and AC-130U Spooky Gunships have carved a path into battle. I work with a guy that was on one. He's pretty explicit when it comes to descrbing the devastation they can create. I hear the enemy doesn't like them.

 

[oifvet]

The key word being, "important?" A hundred posts would equal a hundred opinions. Here's one more. The B-29, (specifically, two of them), were VERY important! But, maybe they are better described as the most "influential" aircraft. They influenced the world, regardless of the lanquage anyone spoke, or what country they were from. And, it happened in an instant. The B-29 was all we had at the time that could carry the load. No other aircraft could complete the mission. What a perfomance! We're here today because of the B-29. I'd call that, "important."

 

[No.2Diesel]

Its difficult to make an unbiased decision without influence from your country of origin butting in. It also depends on how you define "Important." I think that if the battle of Britain were lost, our involvement being inevitable along with Russia, it would have delayed ending the war but the US would have found other ways in although certainly not as ideal as England. The Hawker/Spitfire combo is somewhat overrated. There participation was a grain of sand on the beach compared to that of US bombers. They may be the most important military aircraft for England but not the world.

An Englishman can make the same argument towards the Boeing B-17/B-29/B-47/B-52 "franchise." They can say if the 29 didn't drop the bomb the war would have just been delayed. To I and most Americans, these planes are priceless and the most important; the 17&29 participated globally and delivered winning results, reducing the length of war around the world. No plane has ever taken as many lives or inflicted as much property damage as the 17&29. In the B-52s case the limiting factor is the politician. Vietnam would have been emulsified flesh & dirt if it was left to do what it do .

To sum up... No one model is on top. In a general sense the world's most important military aircraft is: A United States Bomber.

P.S. Hey vtdeucedriver... Our local grass Aerodrome has a Navy N3N. Very cool plane. Is it true that the airframes were constructed using discarded dirigable frame parts. Its all angle iron. The pilot was telling us about the intentionally weak landing gear and wing roots for cadet training. Cool stuff.