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[SAS~Storebror]

Lovely Lightning picture.

Another underestimated beauty, too far ahead of it's time:



Mike

[BlackAce7727]

The Mirage 4000....a jet that was sadly a step too far for Dassault...but still a very recognizable shape! 

[Mick]

... and what about the Lockheed SR71 ...? 

[SAS~Storebror]

The Lockheed "I'm Lyndon B. Johnson and I confuse things as I see fit" RS SR-71 is...

...
...

meh.


Mike

[bomberkiller]

The Lockheed "I'm Lyndon B. Johnson and I confuse things as I see fit" RS SR-71 is...

Mike, I don't understand this.

 

Gerhard

[SAS~Storebror]

From Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben R. Rich:

President Johnson first announced in 1964 the existence of the RS-71, the Air Force two-seater Blackbird. That’s right, RS-71 was its official designation, but Johnson accidentally turned it around and called it the “SR-71.” Instead of putting out a brief correction, the Air Force decided not to call attention to a very minor mistake by the commander in chief and ordered us to change about twenty-nine thousand blueprints and drawings at a cost of thousands of dollars so that they would read “SR-71” and not “RS-71.”

Mike

[Flanker27]

mike, maybe you should pin this topic for everyone? so we can add to it as we see fit? Im always finding new and cool looking planes

[Mick]

... regarding the F104 Starfighter, wasn't it the one that was called the widdow maker, especially in Germany ...? 

[enry711]

... regarding the F104 Starfighter, wasn't it the one that was called the widdow maker, especially in Germany ...? 

Yeah well...Germany and Canada had lots of incidents with 104s so they nicknamed them "Widowmaker" but in reality, it's accident rate is the synonimus of a huge plane transition (ex: Germany from F-86K to the F-104G) and the extreme concept applied to it. It was designed to intercept quickly Soviet bombers, not fast and low bombing raids. In fact the US did not like the 104 in Vietnam, mainly because of small payload (ground attack) and big difficulties when dogfighting with MiGs (which was not supposed to do).
Here in Italy we love the 104; 2 days ago i spoke with a Colonel of A.M.I. and when we started talking about the 104 he was very happy to speak about it. Every person i met that was somewhat connected with A.M.I. always started smiling when the 104 was concerned, or the G.91. 
Many nations liked the 104 for its unique features and it's huge tecnological advancements, while many other disliked it and even made jokes about it for it's defiances.
I am a fan of this plane, my father even more, and we have a very special nickname here in Italy for the 104, a "poetic" one if i can say so: "Cacciatore di Stelle" or "Star Hunter",due to its impressive climb rate, speed and service ceiling. 

[LameHawk]

As for beauty there is but one: the Spitfire (of course)



The 109F is good contender.
Strange:
When you put a DB on a Spit, it looks ugly.
When you put a RR on a 109, it looks ugly.

Sexy is slightly different.

The Phantom is not pretty (wings put on haphazardly, not fitting properly) - but very sexy



Goes for the Tomcat as well


B-17 and Corsair - sexy beasts as well

[WxTech]

The FW190-A, followed closely by the Zero. Radial engines are part of it, with the shorter, round snout merging into the flattened gun platform. Even on the ground these designs are beauties, with the wide-track u/c exuding surefootedness and an undertone of business-like menace.

[vpmedia]

Here's a great gallery by a photographer who can really capture the beauty of these ww2 warbirds:
https://www.warbirdsphotographer.co.uk/DavidStoddartsPhotography/

My personal toplist:

ww1: Albatros D.Va
ww2: Spitfire Mk.V/IX, P-51D for allied, Bf-109F and Fw-190A for axis
modern era: F-15, F-16, Su-27