Hush-Kit is eight years old today, here’s what we’re doing to celebrate.
What do you love? The thunderous naan triangle that was the Avro Vulcan? The evil insectoid menace of the Apache? Or perhaps the elegant beauty of the de Havilland Comet racer?
The arrogant brutality of the Thunderchief is appealing…but then so is the industrial madness of the MiG-25 or the batshit eccentricity of the Wyvern. You can choose absolutely any aircraft. Have a think, make this impossible choice and pop your answer in the comment section below.Â
Let us know your favourite aircraft in the comments section below and after a month (closing date 23/5/2020) we’ll tally the votes and assemble a top ten with a quirky history of each type that is included in the list.Â
“If you have any interest in aviation, you’ll be surprised, entertained and fascinated by Hush-Kit – the world’s best aviation blogâ€. Rowland White, author of the best-selling ‘Vulcan 607’
I’ve selected the richest juiciest cuts of Hush-Kit, added a huge slab of new unpublished material, and with Unbound, I want to create a beautiful coffee-table book. Pre-order your copy now right here Â
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From the cocaine, blood and flying scarves of World War One dogfighting to the dark arts of modern air combat, here is an enthralling ode to these brutally exciting killing machines.
The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is a beautifully designed, highly visual, collection of the best articles from the fascinating world of military aviation –hand-picked from the highly acclaimed Hush-kit online magazine (and mixed with a heavy punch of new exclusive material). It is packed with a feast of material, ranging from interviews with fighter pilots (including the English Electric Lightning, stealthy F-35B and Mach 3 MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’), to wicked satire, expert historical analysis, top 10s and all manner of things aeronautical, from the site described as:
“the thinking-man’s Top Gear… but for planesâ€.
The solid well-researched information about aeroplanes is brilliantly combined with an irreverent attitude and real insight into the dangerous romantic world of combat aircraft.
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The book will be a stunning object: an essential addition to the library of anyone with even a passing interest in the high-flying world of warplanes, and featuring first-rate photography and a wealth of new world-class illustrations.
Rewards levels include these packs of specially produced trump cards.
The PBY Catalina, of course. 🙂
The first vote is cast! Catalina is now the leading aircraft
F-4 Phantom II
Got to be in there right?
still gonna go for xfv12 XD
I’ve always had a thing for the SEPECAT Jaguar GR1
Me too! Very nice.
The Northrop F-5. A clever concept well-executed. Quite the looker, to boot.
Got to be the A10 warthog for me
Great choice!
A-10
Vickers Valiant B Mk 2. Only one was built, but it should have been far more. With RR Conway engines of 20,500 lb thrust it was more suited to the role that was later given to the Vulcan.
EXCELLENT choice. More that here: https://hushkit.net/2013/05/12/the-black-bomber-rowland-white-discusses-the-valiant-b2/
Mirage 2000 !
The P39 Airacobra an insane engineering airplane with a door, the reinforced cockpit mid-engine and the driveshaft running through the pilots legs, and if it had been delivered as designed would have been a fairly advanced fighter for its time. So advanced, but hobbled by procurement clerks still managed to make a contribution with the Soviets and in the Pacific.
Two votes for Aircobra.
The recently released -The Bell P-39 Airacobra and P-63 Kingcobra Fighters: Soviet Service during World War II – Gordon, Yefim, Komissarov, Dmitriy, Komissarov, Sergey adds a lot to the Soviet service history.
Similar to the P-38, it was a dog in one theater of the war, and a world beater in another. The Soviets worked with Bell to get a lot of minor bugs out, but it was mostly just being used in a way more suitable to its design.
I know it’s like the flying equivalent of that Granada Ghia that John Thaw drove in The Sweeney, but the F4 Phantom has always done it for me.
Bloom und Voss BV 141.
For sheer weirdness and as a manifestation of Doktor Vogt’s fixation with asymmetry.
SU-17
De Havilland Mosquito. Because.
It can only be the SU27. Feminine curves with real muscle.
The JF-17 is, under no uncertain terms, a mutt.
It’s a bastard, the beast of three nations – seven if you count the other countries which contributed their technology in some way or another.
In it beats a Russian heart, the electricity it generates powering an American brain and nervous system. On wings of steel mined from the lands of the Baloch and glass fibre imported from ChongQing rest a truly multinational armament – American PGMs bought conditionally, Italian missiles and French anti-runway munitions licensed mostly-freely (and built in China, duly).
It can carry everything you’ll ever need – laser-guided rockets, EO and radar guided air to surface missiles, glide bombs and JSOWs, drop tanks and ASELPOD. It has short legs – no mistake about that – but between air-to-air refueling and the enemy on the doorstep it doesn’t have to go far. 2,300 kilograms of fuel and a top-off from a KC-130 is enough to make it to the LOC, loose a pair of JSOWs and be back in time for tea.
There’s no elegance to its design, no fancy contours dreamed by artisans or brutalist industrial might made corporeal. It’s not a hellduck, it’s not a Foxglove. The cockpit is all-glass, the controls are digital fly-by-wire. It has the boring style and the absolute pragmatism of a Leatherman multitool. And it doesn’t pretend otherwise.
The JF-17. It’s a small fish in big lake, with large teeth and bigger bite. It’s an underdog, and who doesn’t love an underdog story?
Hallucinations
The Beardmore Inflexible – arguably the best name ever given to an aircraft, and it holds an important position in the development of British aeronautical engineering.
Mosquito FB MkVI
Normally I’d say something like the F4U Corsair or Panavia Tornado. But this being Hush-Kit, I gotta go with a weird and wonderful failed prototype aircraft of some sort, so it’s gonna be the XB-70 Valkyrie. The plane that most looked like it should be on some ’70s sci-fi TV series as an alien space battlecruiser.
I agree. The B-70 is, to my eye, the most beautiful aircraft ever built
The B-58 Hustler…It still looks modern and menacing 60 years after it was designed. Way WAY ahead of its time.
It also scared the crap out of me as a young boy as it flew over Milwaukee Wisconsin in the middle of the night at Mach 2 in the early 60s on practice bombing missions! Many windows were cracked and nerves were frazzled before the practice was stopped.
Catalina / PBY: it saved lives.
10. Bell-Boeing V-22
9. de Havilland DH. 110 Sea Vixen
8. Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut
7. Arado Ar.234 Blitz
6. Scaled Composites ARES
5. Martin P6M SeaMaster
4.Handley Page Victor
3. Sukhoi T-10 (Su-27)
2. Focke-Wulf Fw 200
1. North American XB-70 Valkyrie
One vote per person please (great choices though)
one vote per person
per day or
personality type?
I don’t intend to be THAT Saab fanboy, but the Draken is some beautiful warbird. Besides the looks, it was ground-breaking in both systems and aerodynamics, all from a small country and with mostly native technology
FW190-D9
Ok so… late 1930’s – 1940 is my fav. era; inlines over radials, and beautiful noses… the P-40 does it for me. Overall, a far more fluid and balanced design than the Spitfire, I mean take away those elliptical wings and what you have is a vanilla ice cream with a hideous vertical tail (haha boy do I have a deathwish). TBH the Griffin marks with the broader fins and bubble canopies were lovely and the Seafang was *gorgeous* but then so was the P-40Q, so… this is the hill I die on.
Vought XF5U
I’m involved in the avionics and aircraft systems development in Russia, full-time, Dept. Chief Designer as of now.
Came to love aviation in all of its forms over the past years, love many flying things all across the spectrum – from Mi-28 to the Rafale, from C-5 to the 747.
But THE favourite aircraft has always been the P-51D. I’ve never been more entranced than its balance, agility and sheer performance did for me back in youth.
F-4. Phantoms Phorever!
F-4. Phantoms Phorever!
The Supermarine Seagull Type 381. A Rolls Royce Griffon driving contra-rotating props on a catapult launched amphibian? Yes, please.
When I first worked at RAE there were about 20 Seagull tail assemblies out the back of Structures Dept. Presumably having been used in research on fatigue. Disappeared somewhere around ’76.
PBY Catalina. All aircraft are awesome, but the Catalina is my grandfather’s plane from WWII.
F/A-18…the descendant of a lovely and wonderful lineage,the one and only,the navy multi-role to rule them all…
Fokker G1, no doubt the most beautifull heavy fighter ever
P-51 Mustang
SR71 Blackbird. Still top of the class! Closely followed by A10. I gotta say I like everyone else’s choices too
Easy…. F14
Anywhere else, I would say my favorite is wonderful DeHavilland Mosquito. But for this realm of Hush Kit Sky, I definitely vote to that beautiful, graceful, highflying, high-and-mighty and useless Westland Welkin!
gotta show up for that XFV-12 🙂
There are so many, many possibilities, for so many reasons. But if there is just one plane to put in the garden where I could look at it every day, it would be the Lockheed XP-38. Gawdammmm… that thing is beautiful!
SR71 Blackbird is my favourite aircraft.
There can be only one: the SR-71. Gorgeous plane, amazing machine.
de Havilland DH.103 Hornet. Sooooo beautiful
Beautiful, powerful and fast. The ultimate piston powered FB.
P-39 Airacobra: the Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer of WW2 fighters, and by far the most underappreciated in terms of raw beauty
The Fokker G1, a true Dutch mean machine.
Vought F4U Corsair
A5 Vigilante: big, pointy, beautiful and shot from boats.
It’s a struggle for me, Tomcat, Eagle or Flanker… but will have to go with SR-71 if I only get one choice.
Supermarine Scimitar
Vulcan all the way! (And back again too.)
A-10, so good it can’t be killed off.
the blackbird
A12, YF12, SR71
without a doubt
AH64 Apache.
Uncompromising, ugly, beautiful.
(Except for the Lolbow which spoils everything with that ridiculous Swiss Cheese)
AH64 Apache.
Except for that ridiculous looking Lolbow.
Shorts G Class Flying Boat
The Grumman Widgeon because I’m Mr Widgeon !
I might add, that of the 317 Widgeons and SCAN 30s built between 60 and 75 are still flying to 80 years after the first flight, try matching that with all of your fighters and bombers.
Favourite aircraft: Handley-Page Victor
Hands down on looks and presence.
Favourite aircraft I have flown: CAP10, narrowly over the Chipmunk
Favourite of the programs I worked on: Typhoon
MiG 21
Oh dear, this is so difficult! Probably the MiG-23, specifically the late model MLA and MLD, though the eccentric crappiness of the early generation Floggers is neat in and of itself.
Harrier T.2
Oops….A-10, sorry
de havilland dh.88 comet. Form follows function and by God, what a beautiful form. Asthetically the most beautiful airplane ever designed imo.
Hawker Sea Hawk
The one and only F-14 Tomcat
Gonna say Saab Viggen, obviously.
Sukhoi Su-27.
The most beautiful airplane.
Corsair – a badass beauty
I suspect that if I tried to think of a top ten list, it would end up being at least twice that long, but if I have to pick just one, I’m going to say the De Havilland Vampire.
Simple, attractive, widely used, abit hampered slightly by being a very early jet.
What? Nobody has voted for the Saab 37 Viggen yet? Am I the only guy here with real good taste? So disappointing. (go Viggen!)
On looks yf23, but I would go for f117. So much mystery about stealth, and when revealed looked so different from the f19 model kits I had built.
I remember when they had one of these on ground display at the Mildenhall Air Show and it was one of the only planes I ever saw there that had armed guards and a solid fence around it, rather than a rope. It does make you wonder what the debates were among the higher-ups before they let it appear, as that was a solution that surely satisfied nobody.
[…] What is your favourite aircraft? Top 10 aircraft of our readers (vote now) […]
VC-10…….most beautiful airliner ever (in BOAC blue best, but RAF white was nae too bad)
Fokker G1, no doubt the most beautifull plane evr built
Saab Draken, the double delta really does it for me
Lockheed Starfighter F104. Not a good plane, but achingly beautiful!
The F-4 Phantom II
Seeing my dad;s Vietnam pictures as an Air Force Phantom mechanic got the airplane bug going.
F-16 XL. Looked great, faster than an F-16, more weapons and more fuel.
Late model lightning with long belly, overwing tanks and looking well used. It might be an obvious favourite now for those, especially for those who have commemorative RAF plates on their walls but back in the 80s it felt like an oddball choice as a favourite. They were being phased out when I was 8 and the rest of the world focused on Fulcrums and Falcons and no Lightning ever appearing in any game. But it was then that I had my first airfix model, a Lightning, a copy of dad’s aviation magazine with a Lightning on the front with a peeling front radome and streaked bodywork. That year was my first airshow at Leuchars where we drove in a queue past a series of dismantled lightnings in various stages of scrap. I think I liked it especially as it doesn’t look like an aggressive killing machine, but more innocent or strange even, perhaps a supersonic flying trout? I’m similarly drawn to EAW gannets, with bulbous parts and stained, patched panels. As with most things, childhood experiences inform the choice.
The de Havilland Mosquito! Too bad they put all those Merlins in Lancasters – coulda had a fleet of Mossies!
When I graduated from high school a Cavalier 2000 (cleaned up and deluxed P-51D) was available for $20,000. Boy did I miss out on that, best deal and best airplane.
Saab Draken
Another one for the F104 Starfighter. The sheer audacity of it.
Love the F9F Cougar.
I love the SR-71. The sinuous curves and looks like nothing else combined with staggering performance.
The F-104 G. Been a fan since I first saw it in the skies over Jutland (Denmark)
Supermarine Spiteful… all engine and brute but sleek force…
Tie between P-38 and DH Hornet.
Latécoère 631
Blackburn Buccaneer. Preferably howling over the desert at a ridiculously low altitude on a Red Flag exercise.
Love Buccs I do.
F111 because they were awesome and the RAAF flew them.
MiG 25..in its era
Su 57…current
The Rockwell B-1. Too elegant to be a military jet.
My second choice was the B1. Saw a low high speed pass with wings back that scared hell out of me. Truly a bomber for the end of the world.
For a long time it was the mighty phantom but my head has turned recently and so I must vote for the wonderful Blackburn Buccaneer.
Super Crusader
I’m tempted to say the F-4E, but while it was (and still is) one of the best fighters ever built, it wasn’t really nice to fly, compared to the F-104 and F-16 that I was also lucky enough to try out. So my choice goes a different way: The Republic XP-72. Big, powerful, just looks perfect. If those stupid suck and blow jets hadn’t shown up to ruin the day, it would have been an awesome fighter.
Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation
[…] What is your favourite aircraft? Top 10 aircraft of our readers (vote now) […]
Lockheed C-130, for two reasons. Having worked in an office in Wroughton, they were a familiar sight and sound
Secondly, the bonkers bells-and-whistles variation that was W2 “Snoopyâ€
Northrop F-5
Avro CF-105 Arrow
The Concorde.
Might not have made much economic sense, but it was one of the most beautiful machines ever built. And I bet that if it was built today, it would still be considered ahead of its time.
I’m getting this in just under the wire! There are a lot of contenders, but for me it has to be the P-39 Airacobra. It’s such a wonderfully weird, unappreciated aircraft, with one of the most interesting careers in aviation.
[…] What is your favourite aircraft? Top 10 aircraft of our readers (vote now) […]
No votes for the Hawker Hurricane ?
A-6 Intruder, you name it, it could haul it at any time of day or night and in any weather conditions. Plus I worked on her for many years, every plane was older than I was.
The F4 Corsair. A difficult choice to pick just one from so many favorites, but waiting to the last minute might put the Corsair on top. A long and compelling history from WWII Pacific to the world’s last piston and prop aerial combat and a lot of interesting stories in between from FAA service to French service in Africa. It’s varied and somewhat improbable history after WWII makes it a great HushKit aircraft pick.
Edgley Optica.
MiG 29 for me. Clean lines, sports car performance, rough around the edges yet managing to look slick and sophisticated.The stuff aviation fantasies are made of.
P-51
The A-12 ‘Oxcart’, really for me any Blackbird variant. Kelly Johnson at his finest. Astonishing performance, speed and altitude with endurance. Nothing else even comes close!
Mirage III for me.
Supermarine S6. You can read why later!
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
Leaving aside the Spitfire as too obvious, I’d say DH Sea Vixen. Brutish and slightly bonkers.
Leaving aside Spitfire as too obvious, I’d say DH Sea Vixen. Brutish and slightly bonkers.
Far too many to choose, and lots of great aircraft already mentioned, but as I like flying boats Ive gone for the Latécoère 631. Six engines and a long long nose, so pretty.
F4F Wildcat. Took on the IJN air arm at its peak and won.
A-7 Corsair II – Long live the SLUF!
It is funny that the Convair F-106 looks so sleek and dangerous, but was really not very good in retrospect. Still a favorite as a military plane. As for Civil aircraft, the Douglas DC8-63 is still a benchmark in terms of grace and efficiency.
Mosquito FB MkVI
The more I think about it, the more favourites I come up with. Almost everything can be a favourite for some reason or another. But, if I’m forced to pick just one, I have to stay true to my homeland and go with the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow. Big, beautiful, fast, and years ahead of the competition in so many ways. She was the Canadian aviation industry at its finest.
The longer I think about it, the more favourites I come up with. To be honest, almost anything could be a favourite in some way or another. But, if I’m forced to pick just one, I have to stay true to my homeland and go with the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow. Big, beautiful, fast, and years ahead of the competition in so many ways. She was the Canadian aviation industry at its finest.
Euro opted Tiger. Pretty and criminally underrated
*Eurocopter*
A10 Thunderbolt. Hands down the best warplane to grace the skies.
Either the DH mosquito, or its ww1 equivalent the Bristol Fighter!
Ooh such a hard choice. Spitfire? Fokker dr.1? F-14? Of the perennial viper, the F-16, with its sexy curves and awesome dogfighting prowess? The beautiful flanker? The strange awesomeness of the XB-70?
As much as I love warplanes, in the end it’s a “commercial” jet that takes the cake for me: Concorde. For looks, story, design and aerodynamic achievement it’s just way ahead of the pack.
Honourable mentions to the Spitifre Mk.IX, Buccaneer S2, A-12, CV-990 and Mirages IV and 2000C, but can only pick one, so JA 37 Viggen. Preferably operating in its natural habitat off a backroad in Lapland.
TSR.2
PURE ASTHETIC SIMPLICITY AND COOLNESS
Handley Page Victor
HS Buccaneer
Avro Vulcan
EE Canberra
Gloster Javelin
Avro Shackleton