Cool Plane/Real Life

Flight has always fascinated humanity. So it's no surprise that, when powered-flying machines were invented at last in 1903, they were considered to be cool. As aircraft became more commonplace over the decades, though, only the most awesome among them ascended to true Cool Plane glory. Despite this, Real Life aviation has produced more examples of the Cool Plane than many fiction works put together - so much so that a lot of writers are satisfied to just use Real Life planes in their works without having to imagine their own.

Listed below, in approximate order of the era in which they went into production, or would have gone into production had their development not been halted, for whatever reason, are the awesome flying machines from reality. Enjoy.

Dawn of Aerial Warfare (World War One and before)

 * The German Fokker Eindecker was one of the first official "Cool Planes". It featured the first synchronized machine gun that let a pilot fire through the propeller without shooting it off, thus allowing accuracy not available to other planes. It single-handedly allowed German domination of the air (see the Fokker Scourge) until the Allies caught up with the Nieuport 11 and de Havilland DH.2.
 * The Felixstowe F.2 was a big-ass two engine WWI flying boat with a 95 foot wingspan and up to seven machine guns - so well-armed it was nicknamed the "flying porcupine". It was designed by Cyril Porte to provide a long flying time for naval air patrols, as well as to engage enemy patrol aircraft, fighters and submarines, which it did very well too.
 * The Russian Ilya Muromets bomber, designed by the famous Igor Sikorsky. It was the world's first four-engine strategic bomber and was used to form the first dedicated strategic bombing unit. Its internal racks carried up to 800 kg of bombs, and positions for up to nine machine guns were added for self-defense in various locations, including the extreme tail... all this, in World War One. German fighter pilots sometimes flatly refused to attack it; only one was lost to hostile action, and it took three German fighters teaming up to bring it down.
 * The German Fokker Dr.1 Triplane -- though it was more famous due to its most famous pilot (most of whose kills were in other designs, having died shortly after transitioning to the Dr.I considered by most to be his "signature" plane) than due to its own qualities, as it was a temperamental, unreliable vehicle largely copied from Allied designs. In the hands of a skilled pilot, however, the temperamental aircraft was very maneuverable.
 * All the faults of the Dr.1 were rectified in its successor aircraft, the Fokker D.7, to such an extent that in the Treaty of Versailles, the Allies specifically required that Germany surrender all copies of the plans. Interestingly, the true advantage of the D.7 lay not so much in exceptional performance as its peerless and viceless handling characteristics, very important things to have in a era when many fighter aircraft were almost as dangerous to their own pilots as they were to the enemy.
 * While everybody could tell you that the first cruise missiles were developed by the Germans in World War II, that wouldn't be quite right. The Curtiss-Sperry Flying Bomb was an "Aerial Torpedo", essentially an unpiloted Curtiss biplane with a thousand pound explosive payload, developed for the US Navy during World War I. Sadly, they couldn't get the bugs worked out of it, and it wouldn't be until the second World War that both sides would be launching cruise missiles (purpose-built German ones, and conventional warplanes modified into drones by the Allies)
 * The first case of power flight it self should count as pretty cool. Granted there is a bit of controversy over which plane was the 'first.' most people know the Wrights were first. But they weren't according to the Brazilians.

Between the World Wars

 * Believe it or not, the most awesome aircraft ever built is probably the C-47 Skytrain/DC-3 Dakota. First flown in 1935 and in service ever since, it was so popular that it was licence-built by the Russians and the Japanese, who flew their own version during the Pacific War (leading to much confusion amongst Allied fighter pilots). Over 17,000 were produced and more than 400 were still in service in 1998, some in modified and overhauled form, including with various turboprop engines. It's been used as everything from an ambulance to a gunship (as the AC-47 Spooky, or ('Puff the Magic Dragon' to its friends) and was one of the first aircraft to arrive in Haiti carrying relief supplies after the 2010 earthquake. It's been theorized that not one single day has passed without a DC-3 flying somewhere in the world for over 75 years. No other aircraft can make that claim: no other aircraft can even come close.
 * The Dakota has awesome in its pedigree. Howard Hughes commissioned the design from Douglas to serve as a flagship airliner for Transcontinental and Western Airways (that's right, they changed their name to the same-initials Trans-World Airlines later on) to give the fledgling airline a plane that would be able to outshine United Airlines' flagship Boeing 247. The rest is history.
 * Perhaps the C-47/DC-3's Crowning Moment of Awesome came during the Berlin Airlift. Most of the planes carrying supplies to Berlin were either the small, twin engine C-47s or the much larger 4-engine C-54s (the military version of the DC-6). Once, a full C-54 cargo load was accidentally loaded aboard a C-47, and nobody (including the pilot) caught the error. Nevertheless, this critically overloaded C-47 managed to take off, fly all the way to Berlin, land, and offload its cargo without a hitch!
 * The Junkers F.13 was an all-metal cantilever transport monoplane, with advanced aerodynamics, liquid-cooled engine, heated passenger cabin, and it flew first on June 25, 1919. That's right. A modern passenger airplane in the age of string and fabric biplanes, and even better, in a defeated militarily-occupied country torn by World War One and countless minor revolution attempts. The Germans mean business even when they're down.
 * Descended from the F.13 was the Junkers Ju 52 trimotor, which was to Germany as the C-47 was to the Allies. Like the C-47 it continued in service long after the Second World War with Spain and Switzerland, as a military and civilian aircraft. Its slab-sided, corrugated fuselage became familiar from countless war films, especially Where Eagles Dare.
 * Ernest K. Gann's novel Band of Brothers and Martin Caidin's Ju-52 each had a character who sang the praises of the "Iron Annie" and its durability, with one calling it (approximate quote) "the plane made all of iron, the plane that could do anything...." One scene in Caidin's book has the corrugated fuselage reflecting radar waves in a distorted way that spooks everybody operating a radar anywhere for a hundred or so miles around by making the plane appear to be many times its actual size ... bigger than anything flying could really be.
 * Savoia-Marchetti S.55 was just the weird looking plane one might expect from the age of strings and fabric, straight from an Indiana Jones film, and yet this 1920s creation flew for years and years, until right after World War Two, setting record after record. Even the prototype set 14 world records for speed, altitude and distance with a payload, in 1926 only. Although a fully operational commercial airliner, it crossed the Atlantic East to West just months before Charles Lindbergh's purpose-built Spirit of St. Louis. It also did fly in formation over the Atlantic, Italy to USA, in 1933.
 * Speaking of Lindbergh, his first choice to fly from New York to Paris was a Super Prototype called the Wright-Bellanca WB-2, which had been commissioned by the Wright Aeronautical Company to show off the capabilities of its Whirlwind engine. The Bellanca had more than enough range and endurance for the flight; it broke the world endurance record by staying in the air for fifty-one hours without refueling, and except for some severe Executive Meddling, it would have been the Spirit of St. Louis. (And only further Executive Meddling prevented the Bellanca from making the New-York-to-Paris flight before Lindbergh.)
 * Background: Lindbergh and his Spirit of St. Louis organization were literally seconds away from closing the deal to buy the Bellanca from the Columbia Aircraft Company, when Charles Levine, Columbia's chairman, suddenly demanded the right to choose the crew that would fly the plane from New York to Paris. Lindbergh, understandably not happy with a deal that would have left him and his backers "paying fifteen thousand dollars for the right to paint the name of St. Louis on the fuselage", walked away from the deal, and over the next three months, the true Spirit of St. Louis was commissioned, designed, built, tested, flown on a record-setting trans-continental journey from San Diego to St. Louis to New York, and then flown from New York to Paris, all while the Columbia Aircraft Company dinked around with public-relations stunts and got bogged down with court injunctions and the like.

World War Two

 * The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (as well as her derivative models) has been denigrated by many as an obsolete airframe with poor handling characteristics, suitable only as a stopgap in the ground-attack role. However, The P-40's wartime record, to say nothing of the recommendations of her pilots, tells a different story. Far from being a poor dogfighter, the P-40 had one of the tightest turning radii of her contemporaries at high speed. Further, the Warhawk's modular construction and 5-spar wing design meant that it was a rugged aircraft which could sustain horrific damage and be repaired easily. There is a photo on The Other Wiki of a P-40 which lost a quarter of a wing from artillery shell hit and managed to return home.
 * The SBD Dauntless, though nicknamed "Slow But Deadly" made a major contribution to the Pacific War, especially during the Battle of Midway. When it was replaced by the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, many pilots were not happy, as they still deemed the Dauntless a superior aircraft.
 * The Supermarine Spitfire, often named as one of the most beautiful aircraft ever designed, used in a variety of roles from fighter to high-altitude photo-reconnaissance aircraft, possessing an impressive combat record and iconic status in British culture.
 * The Hawker Hurricane, a contemporary of the Spitfire, easier to produce and thus more numerous earlier in the war. Though slower and an inferior dogfighter compared to the Spit, it was still responsible for shooting down a larger number of enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain (especially bombers) and also proved to be excellent as a ground attack and "tank buster" aircraft.
 * The Short Sunderland was a big-ass flying boat which bristled with both radar apparatus and machine-guns. It was mainly used for searching for U-boats but it could handle itself in an air-fight; one once fought eight Ju-88 heavy fighters. Though the Sunderland barely limped home, six of the attackers didn't look as good. No wonder the Germans called it the "Flying Porcupine" (even better in German, Fliegendes Stachelschwein).
 * The P-47 Thunderbolt. Extremely tough and large, surprisingly fast considering its size and a capable fighter-bomber that was the front-line American fighter until the more famous P-51 Mustang appeared. It was then relegated to ground-attack roles, being more heavily armed, with eight .50-cal machine guns and up to 2000 lbs worth of bombs or 10 rockets and remained much tougher than the Mustang could ever hope to be, possessing a reputation for returning home with various parts shot off. The A-10 is named Thunderbolt II for a reason.
 * The P-51 Mustang, originally an average performer, became one of the best WWII fighters when paired with the Merlin engine. Its large range enabled it to escort bombers all along the way into enemy airspace and back, making them very popular with the bomber crews in addition to its own pilots. The aircraft's excellent quality meant that it was exported to and used by a large number of countries and some examples were used well into 1980s.
 * The Grumman F4F Wildcat, while slower and less maneuverable than the Japanese Zero, it was far more rugged and could sustain more damage, which together with the superior training and tactics of American pilots meant it could hold its own before more advanced US fighters arrived. Later in the war, Wildcats were deployed from escort carriers too small to be used by those fighters, protecting convoys.
 * The Gloster Meteor, which aside from having a Badass name, was incredibly fast and would (if the war had gone on longer) gone toe to toe with ME 262. As it was, it was mostly an interceptor dealing with the V-1 bombers.
 * The F6F Hellcat, developed from the Wildcat, it was a big, chunky, and powerful aircraft, with heavy armament. The Hellcat was responsible for over 75% of the US Navy's confirmed kills, made 305 aces, more than any American aircraft at the time and ended the war with a kill/loss ratio of over 19:1.
 * The F-4U Corsair. The distinctive gull-winged carrier plane was built around the biggest engine and propeller the US Navy could find at the time. Navy airmen nicknamed it "The Ensign Eliminator" or the "Bent-Wing Bastard" on account of it's sometimes tricky handling; but in the hands of a skilled pilot, it could engage any air or land target in the whole Pacific theater and come out a winner. Corsairs did everything from shooting down enemy fighters to close air support for landing Marines and wouldn't leave front-line service with the US until the Korean War. It was the plane of choice for the famed Black Sheep Squadron. One Corsair pilot to go on to later achieve world fame is a US Marine Corps pilot by the name of John Glenn.
 * On the other side, we have there is the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, known among Allied pilots as the "Butcherbird". Outclassed anything the Allies could throw at it at the time of its introduction in 1942 and the last marque, the Focke-Wulf Ta 152, could outfly even a Mustang. The "Fw" designation was changed to reflect the name of its designer, Kurt Tank, who was pounced on by P-51s during a test flight and managed to escape simply by opening the throttle. Like the Me 262, though, the Ta 152 was introduced too late to have any real impact on an air war that had become extremely one-sided. In and on itself however, it was one of the best piston-engined fighter ever developed.
 * The Messerschmitt Bf-109 scored more aerial victories than any other airplane, having gotten its start during the Spanish Civil War, and continuing on until well after the end of World War 2, even in the face of more advanced designs.
 * The Junkers Ju-87 is one of the most recognisable dive-bombers of the WWII era. The Stuka's design included several innovative features, including automatic pull-up dive brakes under both wings to ensure that the aircraft recovered from its attack dive even if the pilot blacked out from the high acceleration. Although an easy target for fighters, it was sturdy, accurate and effective in it's role. Adding a Jericho's Trumpet just made it sound awesome.
 * The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe, the world's first operational jet fighter. In World War II stories, frequently appears as the sudden never-before-seen bad guy superplane that the daring Ace Pilot must shoot down in a one-on-one dogfight late in the story arc. In reality, it was a menace to Allied bombers, with its four 30mm cannons and a load of 24 anti-aircraft R4M rockets, but it came too little and far too late to have a serious impact on the war. It was rarely able to fly missions due to the lack of fuel Germany was facing at the time.
 * One prototype variant of the Me 262 was even armed with a frickin' 50mm tank-cannon and still capable of outrunning just about any Allied fighter.
 * Likewise, the Horten IX prototype flying wing jet fighter-bomber, for when even the Schwalbe is not cool enough, mostly because it was stealthy, before the concept was properly explored. An evergreen of flight simulators that want to give the player an even rarer bird to play with.
 * Northrop Grumman recently did a study of the design and found that the combination of speed and stealth would have made it very effective.
 * Yet another cool German jet, the He 162 Volksjaeger, or "People's Fighter", made from wood due to German strategic metal shortages towards the end of the war. While it was the fastest of all WWII jets, the late point in the war at which it was built meant that not all design bugs were ironed out and it proved rather difficult to fly and not entirely structurally sound. Nonetheless, proposals for further versions, including one with forward-swept wings, were drawn up before the war ended.
 * The Me-163 Komet was the first (and to this day only) rocket-powered airplane to see full-blown combat, the fastest fighter of the war, twin-cannon-armed and had an exceptional manoeuvrability. This hardly compensated for the very short powered range, speed so fast that pilots could barely aim their weapons towards the much slower bombers and the fact that it actually had to glide back to base since it burned its fuel and oxidizer in 7.5 minutes at best. Additionally these propellants were hypergolic, igniting explosively at the slightest touch between them, which could easily happen in an accident during bumpy landings on a single skid.
 * The De Havilland Mosquito. Perhaps a surprising entry as a Cool Plane, but the Mossie was one of the most versatile British aircraft of WWII. Came in multiple variants ranging from fighter-bombers to reconnaissance planes and night fighters to ground attack aircraft, some variants armed with a 57mm autocannon, which was used to bust up vehicles and small ships. Across all of its variants the Mosquito suffered the lowest casualties throughout the war due to its sheer speed. It was also called "The Wooden Wonder" and, for Alliteration, "The Timber Terror" since its fuselage was made out of laminated plywood which could take a surprising amount of punishment. This fact wound Hermann Göring up to no end, as it meant that the British could churn out Mosquitos at a fast rate while using very few strategic materials. As an added bonus, the plywood absorbed some radar waves, thus inadvertently making the Mosquito the first stealth aircraft.
 * The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" (or, officially to the Allies, Zeke). It terrorized American fighters during the early stages of the Pacific War (including Pearl Harbor) with its exceptional maneuverability and speed. Later it was found that it was actually an underpowered Fragile Speedster, which achieved its high performance by lacking any armor whatsoever. The fuel tanks were particularly vulnerable and would cause the whole aircraft to go up in flames at the slightest hit. When faced with better tactics and better trained pilots, the Zero was soon reduced to lowly Cannon Fodder. The development of later fighter designs like the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair only made it worse.
 * The J7W1 Shinden. One of the most radical designs of WW 2, it was an experimental Japanese interceptor that never made it into service. The fact that it's 1) Japanese and 2) unusual looking gives it epic Japanophile supertech wank. Not enough epic in this plane? Try its planned jet-powered upgrade: the J7W3 Shinden-Kai.
 * Similarly, the American XP-55 Ascender. Though looks were about all the XP-55 had, it's flight characteritics were poor and it was underpowered, earning it the unfortunate nickname, the "Ass-ender".
 * The German Do 335 Pfeil, a unique aircraft whose "Push/Pull" tandem-twin engine arrangement necessitated it having the first functional ejection seat. It matched speed with early jet fighters and easily out-manoeuvered them. Unfortunately, it was more complex than even a contemporary jet fighter, and like the Schwalbe was limited by Germany's declining fortunes late in the war.
 * The history of the Do-335 is debated in WWII, because while there are no definitive reports of US pilots meeting them, it's because the German pilots simply opened the throttles and left P-51s and the like in the dust.
 * The P-38 Lightning, the instantly recognizable twin-tailed fighter of WW 2. Designed by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, also responsible for the SR-71 Blackbird, F-104 Starfighter and the U-2/TR-1 spy plane (all mentioned below). The Lightning was durable for the time, heavily armed, and could do just about anything you asked of it. Escort fighting, recon, ground attack/support, bombing, dive bombing - the Lightning did it all. Known to the Germans as the Fork-Tailed Devil.
 * The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress lived up to its name: up to 17 .50-caliber Machine Guns, and a reputation of flying back to England with 3 engines out and huge holes everywhere, which led to the aircraft's legendary status and made it probably the most famous heavy bomber of the war. The B-17 was credited with shooting down as many German fighters as all other Allied fighters combined The name came from a reporter shown an early model describing it as such: Boeing went Sure Why Not and made it official.
 * The B-24 Liberator deserves as much credit as its more famous cousin, if only for its still unchallenged record as the most-produced military aircraft of all time. The PB4Y-2 Privateer was a modification designed for maritime patrol and proved a factor in the Battle of the Atlantic for the Allies to finally get the edge over Germany's U-Boats.
 * Developed from the failed Manchester, the Avro Lancaster was a heavy bomber almost as tough B-17, and equally important, carrying out night attacks to supplement the USAF daylight raids. The Lancaster was the only aircraft that could carry heavy ordinance such as the Tallboy penetration bomb, which could single-handedly wreck battleships, the "bouncing bomb" or "dambuster", which blew open dams, and the Grand Slam, a 22,000 lb. bomb that created earthquakes.
 * The Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber. Despite being considered obsolete before the war even began, it served right til the end, even outlasting the two aircraft built to replace it, the Albacore and the Barracuda. The aircraft had excellent all-weather performance and was so slow, enemy fighters and gunners would simply overshoot it. On the 11th November 1940, the Swordfish's performance at the Battle of Taranto, where they sank 3 Italian cruisers, went on to inspire the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. It also played a part in the sinking of the Bismarck, a chance torpedo hit jamming the rudder, forcing the ship to sail in a large circle and letting the pursuing British ships catch up.
 * The IL-2 has a well-earned reputation as an excellent attack aircraft that could survive a lot of damage; this plane wasn't called "flying tank" for nothing. With two 23mm cannon and a relatively heavy payload of rockets and/or bombs, it was understandably described by Stalin as needed "as much as bread, as much as air". It is known worldwide as Il-2 Sturmovik which translates as "attack plane", making it The Attack Plane.
 * While we're on the subject of the Russians, the Yakvelov Yak-3 was so feared by the Germans that by 1944 they had standing orders not to engage Yakvelov fighters below 10,000 feet unless they had 3-to-1 numerical superiority.
 * Another Soviet fighter was the Yak-9 that, while not quite as thoroughbred a dogfighter as the Yak-3, was still faster and more maneuverable than its main foe, the Bf-109, at lower altitudes. It also has the distinction of being the first Soviet aircraft to shoot down a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter.
 * While the P-39 Airacobra didn't get get much love by the Western allies during WW 2 since its mediocre high-altitude performance was poorly suited to most air combat in the Western Theatre (because USAAF brass thought the turbocharger was "too expensive" and had it elminated), it was a well-liked by pilots in the Eastern Theatre, where it racked up the highest number of individual kills of any American fighter design. The low-speed, low-altitude turning nature of most air combat on the Russian Front suited the P-39's strengths: sturdy construction, reliable radio gear, and adequate firepower (including a nose-mounted 37mm cannon). As such, Soviet pilots fell in love with the P-39 after they received a large number through lend-lease. The usual nickname for the well-loved Airacobra among Soviet pilots was Kobrushka, "little cobra", or Kobrastochka, a portmanteau of Kobra and Lastochka (swallow), "dear little cobra".
 * As a testament to the P-39's strengths, Chuck Yeager (who trained in the P-39 before moving on to the P-51), is on record as claiming he would have gladly taken the -39 to war. One great moment in his autobiography centers around a goodwill trip to Russia he took with Jacqueline Cochrane during the height of the Cold War: at one point, Yeager met up with a group of Soviet fighter pilots who had flown the P-39 during World War II. He spent the rest of the evening swapping fond stories of the P-39 with the Russians.
 * The B-29 Superfortress deserves mention. One of the last heavy bombers developed by the Allies, it featured what at the time was the very latest technology, including remotely controlled guns so the gunners did not actually have to sit inside the turrets to fire, and a pressurized cabin. It had many variants, a few of which were still in service at the start of the 1960's. Not only did it infamously serve as the first nuclear bomber, it was also used on both sides during the first part of the Cold War, with the Soviets reverse engineering the design from aircraft that emergency-landed in Russia, after bombing runs over Japan. Eventually, these copies led to the mighty Tu-95, featured below in "Cold War".
 * Though never ordered into full-scale production, the Blohm Und Voss BV-141 was an unorthodox design that worked for its intended purpose as a recon plane. By not obstructing forward and downward view with the huge engine, it had incredible visibility.
 * The Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake", and the Vought XF5U "Flying Flapjack" developed from it. Canceled because of the transition from propeller to jet engine. Both proved to be Nigh Invulnerable -- the V-173 once flipped over during an emergency landing without taking any significant damage or severely injuring the pilot, and the XF5U had to be destroyed with a wrecking ball.
 * Special mention should go to the Rolls Royce Merlin aero engine, which, in one version or another, powered many of the Allied aircraft in the above list.
 * Those Allied planes in the above list that were not powered by a Merlin were often powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp and/or its variant engines. Both the Merlin and the Wasp--and the people who made them--deserve a lot of credit.
 * For Finns, Brewster 239. While the Brewster fighter has received a lot bad press from US media, the Finns loved it. Almost all top Finnish aces scored at least some victories on Brewster, with top pilot being Hans Wind (39 kills of his 78 with Brewster). Finnish top ace Ilmari Juutilainen (94 kills) scored 36 on Brewsters. The plane had 32:1 kill to loss ratio against Soviets, and some pilots scored victories even in the Lapland War against the Germans. The last Brewsters were phased out in 1944. Brewster was manouevreable, durable and had long range (4+ hours) So popular it was that the State Aircraft Factory (today's Patria Industries) designed a wooden copy, VL Humu, of it. It was slower but more manouevreable than Brewster, and the prototype is today in Central Finland Aviation Museum.

Cold War

 * Although reliant on more WWII technology, the F-82 Twin Mustang is definitely worth a mention. Basically, it's essentially two P-51s kitbashed together, with the propellers geared to spin in opposite directions to avoid gyroscopic issues. On the occasions where a Twin Mustang pilot found himself being tailed by a jet fighter, he could basically pull a Crazy Ivan by cutting one of the engines and slamming on the rudder, pulling a tight turn that no jet of the era could hope to match.
 * The English Electric Canberra, Great Britain's first jet bomber. Although not unheard of, it wasn't normal that the US licensed production of them (as the Martin-built B-57; the original model was a close copy of the British design, but later models were redesigned to meet US operational requirements), suggesting that the Commonwealth weren't the only ones who thought it cool.
 * It was also a Badass Grandpa in its own right; consider that it made its first flight in 1949 and the Royal Air Force retained it for photo recon until 2006, while India pulled its own Canberras from combat duties a year later. NASA has two B-57s (highly modified from the original Canberra design) that it still uses to this day for high-altitude research.
 * The grandparents of the B-2 Spirit, the YB-35 and YB-49, definitely qualify, although more conventional designs of the time were accepted into service over them since flying wing designs, which lack a large vertical tail, have the tendency to yaw all over the place, needing constant correction by pilots. This was bad for long-range bombers since absolutely exhausted pilots have a bad tendency of crashing, making the desing Awesome but Impractical until the advent of fly-by-wire technology, where computers can do the constant yaw corrections.
 * The B-47 Stratojet, America's prime nuclear-capable jet bomber for the Strategic Air Command during the 50s and early 60s. Its design was essentially an upscaled fighter jet, and its performance was almost like a that of fighter too.
 * The MiG-15, cool granddaddy of the Mikoyan jets. This caused positive nightmares for the US in Korea, to the point they offered $100,000 to anyone who would defect with one (someone eventually did in 1953, not aware of the award, but got it anyway).
 * The MiG-21. The archetypal bad guy Cannon Fodder or Mook as featured in various plane-related media. Sure, not quite as classy and pretty as most of the fighters mentioned here, but still quite capable. Also quite rugged, as the Soviets designed it to sit out on the tarmac with only a tarp for protection against the elements and still be ready to fly at a moment's notice. Fielded by about 50 nations, with about 20 still fielding them to this day, it was the AK-47 of fighter planes, with just under 20,000 built in all (counting the Chinese version, the Chengdu J-7), in three generations existing from 1950 to 1990. A source of horrors to American aircraft in the Vietnam War. Also responsible for the only claimed air-to-air kill of a USAF B-52 Stratofortress bomber (although, this is disputed).
 * OK, it gets the reporting name "Fishbed," but that doesn't dent its status.
 * The Mi G-21 become the archetypal Mook because it was designed to be Mook-ish to exploit the advantages of cost, maintenance ease, mass production and Mach 2 ability in a sort of "World War Two battle logic". Poor avionics, horrible cabin design, dubious agility, combat range was laughably short, but assuming a large scale conflict with nuclear hits on both sides, there would still be enough of them to fly in the end. It had to be "an AK-47 of fighter jets" because in a post-nuclear world a "match-grade rifle" with no spare parts, suitable ammo or repair shops is an impractical metal club.
 * All of the Mig-21's shortcomings can be explained in one sentence: It was the first interceptor of the jet age. On paper the concept sounds awesome: faster, better armed and better at climbing than fighters. In reality, they tend to be lousy in dogfights as their high wing-load translates to bad turn rates. However, in their intended role all those sacrifices seemed justified: Strategic bombers at the time lacked fighter escort, were even worse at maneuvering and carried very big nukes! With such monsters inbound, intercepting them as far out - and fast - as possible was a priority, hence the interceptor.
 * The F-86 Sabre, star of The Korean War and the first jet fighter that could truly be called an air superiority fighter. Capable of transonic speeds and, thanks to an ingenious system of wing surface extension flaps, very maneuverable. Its integrated targeting radar gave it an accuracy edge over its nemesis, the MiG-15 (which was roughly equal in other areas performance wise), allowing it to dominate the skies over the Korean peninsula. Its success led to an extended production run of over 7,800 aircraft between 1949 and 1956. It was by far the most-produced Western jet fighter, with total production of all variants at 9,860 units.
 * One of the features that gave it an edge over the MiG-15 was better air conditioning. If both planes were at high altitude and went into a power dive, the F-86's canopy wouldn't fog up from the temperature change. What do you call a blind pilot in a dogfight? A target.
 * Russian pilots dispute this. Russians built and tested their planes in the arctic. They knew how to defrost windows. It's speculated that the Mi G that the Americans tested had bum defrosters (or they couldn't read the Russian instructions for how to turn them on.)
 * The C-130 Hercules. It's been kicking around since the mid-fifties, and is, perhaps like the DC-3, one of the ultimate examples of "if it isn't broken, don't fix it". Sure it's been upgraded several times (the current model is the C-130J) but the project to design a replacement was shut down, and the C-130 is still in production. Unfortunately, somewhere in the region of 70 were lost during the Vietnam war, and more than 15% of the 2,350~ production hulls have also been lost, discounting airframes that were retired or withdrawn from service.
 * The C-130 also spawned the infamous AC-130 line of gunships, all current variants of which sport a 105mm "light" howitzer as a main gun, and a 40mm Bofors Autocannon as a secondary, along with either a two 20mm or one 25mm gatling gun to achieve More Dakka. It is also carries the BLU-82 "Daisy-cutter" and the famous MOAB; conventional bombs so large their explosions look like low-yield nukes.
 * Even the world's least cool plane, the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, has one cool thing about it: Fully 50% of all of the registered civil aircraft in the world are high-wing Cessnas. That's right, every other (civlian) airplane on this page is at most a small percentage of the other half.
 * It actually does have another cool thing about it (possibly related to that 50% stat). It's likely that almost all civil (and many military) pilots' first time actually using a yoke was in a 172.
 * The Avro Vulcan. A bomber that looks like a fighter, and thanks to its huge wing area maneuvers much like one at high altitude, to boot. There are not many bombers you can roll at an air show. In 1982, months from retirement, it pulled off one of the longest distance bombing raids in history (Ascension Island to the Falklands), with the help of its only slightly less cool cousin, the Handley Page Victor (originally a bomber, but converted to a tanker). One has been restored to flying condition.
 * To give an idea of the coolness of the plane, its display at the 2008 Farnborough Air Show was on the Wednesday, a trade day. The trade tents emptied when this aircraft was doing its thing.
 * In addition to its kinked delta flying wing shape, there's the NOISE of it. The intakes for the Bristol Olympus engines resonate at high power in certain air conditions, causing the famous Vulcan howl. *quivers*
 * For sheer Up to Eleven value in terms of size, there's the Antonov An-225, the world's heaviest plane. It can carry a payload of 250,000 kg, has 6 engines producing 51,600 lbs thrust each, and has a maximum takeoff weight of 640,000 kg. Despite this, it can take off and land at airports inaccessible to other aircraft remotely close in size, and its maximum takeoff distance is only a bit longer than that of a fully-loaded 747. The downside however, is that it's so huge that take-offs can cause severe air turbulence on the ground, rendering an airstrip unusable until the disturbances die down.
 * Perhaps another thing that makes it really cool is that not only is it unique (a second airframe was built, but has never flown, and efforts to finish it have been abandoned), many speculate that no bigger plane will ever be built, as there is simply no need for it.
 * On the other side of speculation however, the plane is frequently contracted to carry heavy and oversized loads like power generation units and entire locomotives. It's all a matter of requirement.
 * This plane was originally designed for two purposes: carrying Buran shuttle and, in perspective, as a launch platform for Spyral' spacecraft.
 * Just in case you're wondering, the Buran was about the same size as the US Space Shuttle.
 * The F-14 Tomcat was the world's first and only homoerotic fighter jet. Between its advanced radar, swing wings, and ability to use the totally awesome AIM-54 Phoenix missile to engage targets up to 150 miles away, this plane practically drips "cool". Unfortunately, it didn't do so enough to prevent it from being retired from US service, unlike those in the Iranian Air Force (though experts aren't sure how viable they are, due to the difficulties in obtaining replacement/repair parts thanks to the current political environment).
 * According to official US Navy battle doctrine, any pilots caught singing "Highway to the Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins while piloting the F-14 were to be shot down on sight, while "Take My Breath Away" warranted being shot at some more if you eject.
 * The F-111 Aardvark: A long range all-weather tactical strike aircraft (roughly the same size as an F-14 or Su-27), able to deliver nuclear weapons. The original design purpose was to serve in the fighter role for both the USAF and USN, under Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, but it was discovered that technological limitations made this impractical, so the plane was repurposed. As a bomber, it could go very fast at low level, also fulfilled the roles of reconnaissance and electronic warfare in its various versions. The F-111 pioneered many military aircraft technologies, including but not limited to the first use of variable geometry wings in an operational combat aircraft (barely beating out the USSR's Su-17 "Fitter"), afterburning turbofan engines, and more, much of the work for which later went into the F-14, above, also the F-111 was nuclear launch capable, and it is theorised in some circles that the squadrons of these based at the UK during the cold war were one of the reasons why the USSR never contemplated launching nukes (they were scared of them to the point that they tried to get the get the planes moved elsewhere during the various negotiations that took place during that time.).
 * Was only used by the Royal Australian Air Force (who affectionately called it "the pig"), but has been retired as of 2010 due to being too expensive and spare parts being hard to find.
 * The Avro Arrow. A Canadian-built interceptor with a long list of firsts. The Mark I, with interim J-75 engines, had performance specs easily comparable to the best of the contemporary American Century Series. The Mark II with Canadian-built PS-13 engines was head-and-shoulders above its contemporaries (theoretically, that is; the only completed Arrow 2 was scrapped before its first flight), and could actually stack up surprisingly well against modern aircraft prior to the F-22 and the Eurofighter. Rollout was on October 4, 1957. Unfortunately, politics and a steep price tag, combined with changing threat perception, killed it.
 * The F-15 Eagle. First of the fourth-generation fighters, this fighter has never suffered a single confirmed loss to air-to-air combat... save from another F-15, in an accident. Also became a strike plane.
 * This record is helped by the fact that the F-15 has been flown and landed successfully with an entire wing missing after a mid-air collision. Having a lifting body fuselage helps, but still seriously badass.
 * Among the F-15's recorded kills are an air-to-air kill on a helicopte with a laser-guided bomb.
 * It's also the only aircraft to shoot down a satellite, using the ASM-135. Doing so required the aircraft to accelerate to super-sonic speeds while in a vertical climb.
 * Now there's the "Silent Eagle", not to mention the F-15 ACTIVE.
 * The B-1 Lancer deserves an entry on this page. With the retirement of the F-14 and F-111 (and variants), mentioned above, this supersonic strategic bomber is the only swing-wing aircraft still in the American inventory. While not a true stealth aircraft, its design has a radar signature only 1/100th that of the B-52 Stratofortress, facilitating its ability to survive in hostile airspace.
 * There are plans for a version that could serve as a missile interceptor as well as a bomber, the B-1R (for Regional), though these have yet to advance beyond the study stage. One of the modifications, besides to weapon hardpoints, is to refit the B-1's engines with those used in the Raptor, increasing its top speed from the current Mach 1.2 to Mach 2.2, with a 10% reduction in overall range (though still pretty long-legged, even without in-flight refueling).
 * The F-16 Fighting Falcon is the first production combat plane to use true fly-by-wire. The "Viper" (so nicknamed for the fighters from Battlestar Galactica Classic) has been the backbone of the U.S. Air Force since the early 80s. In the first Gulf War, it flew more sorties than any other Coalition aircraft (13,340 to be exact). A few years later, it was the plane that scored the first combat kills of the AIM-120 AMRAAM. It's also been exported to 25 other countries. While it's a little on the old side now, it's been upgraded along with the F-15 and F/A-18 to be able to utilize a helmet-mounted sight and the new AIM-9X model of the Sidewinder, which is capable of truly spectacular Roboteching. It'll be in service until the 2020s.
 * It's also the current plane that the United States Air Force Thunderbirds use.
 * The Space Shuttle. Although it's basically a rocket, it looks enough like a plane that goes into space, to qualify, and is currently the only reusable space vehicle, in spite of its flaws.
 * The Space Shuttle Discovery in particular - she was the workhorse of the fleet, flew more time (365 days, 12 hours) and more miles (nearly 150 million) than any other spacecraft in history, except for space stations. And if that's not cool enough, she was America's phoenix, rising from the ashes of disaster twice, as she was the Return to Flight orbiter after both the Challenger (STS-51-L) and Columbia (STS-107) disasters.
 * Unfortunately, it won't remain that way for long. After STS-135, flown by the shuttle Atlantis, the Space Shuttle will be retired. The flight is slated to take place on June 28th, 2011, and Atlantis touches down for the last time on July 10th.
 * The F/A-18. You can strap almost every weapon known in North America on it and it`s family still refuses to go down for the count after over 30 years. One of the, if not THE finest multirole fighter ever built. It`s used in multiple air forces, to great effect, and it's the current aircraft used by the US Navy's Blue Angels demonstration team.
 * In the US Navy, the Super Hornet replaced the F-14 in the fleet defense role, while the F-35, once deployed to the fleet, will step in for the attack role also currently covered by the F-18.
 * The Saab Gripen. Imagine a plane taking off from an interstate. The Gripen can do that. Really handy for getting through rush hour traffic.
 * The Gripen also is the smallest fighter currently in production and relatively cheap for a fighter as well. For example, the Gripen uses the same powerplant as the F/A-18 Hornet with half as many engines, and the upcoming NG variant will use the same engine as the Super Hornet. The engines are licensed copies built by Volvo Flygmotor. It's just as capable as the Viggen, but more modern.
 * The Gripen's predecessor, the aforementioned Viggen, was capable of the same feat. During the Cold War, the wartime airbases in Sweden were mostly stretches of highway with some improvements. The master plan was to scatter the military aircraft all over the country when warclouds were seen approaching, so it would be hard for the enemy to do a Pearl Harbor-style decapitation strike. It could also be rearmed and refueled in ten minutes by seven people, six of them conscripts.
 * Its "sister," the Saab Draken is also one hell of a sexy-looking fighter, almost to the point of Perverse Sexual Lust for some. For years, it was the plane of choice for the Swedish Air Force's aerobatic display team, the Acro Delta's
 * Suffice to say that there is a reason why the Useful Notes page about the Swedish military is called Swedes With Cool Planes. Although the historic point at which that name becomes warranted is a matter of some debate.
 * Other SAAB planes are also worthy of mention:
 * The Saab 21, later modified into the jet powered 21R, making it the only airframe to be used for both piston and jet engines.
 * Saab Tunnan, "The Flying Barrel", one of the first jet fighters with a swept wing, after a member of the engineering team was allowed to look at some German documents stored in Switzerland. Was very agile despite it's appearance.
 * The aforementioned Saab Viggen. The first plane to use integrated circuits in its flight computer, the plane that used a "fighter link" system, enabling one plane to share it's targets with three other planes and ground control ten years before any other country could do something similar. Also the only plane to ever achieve a lock on the SR-71 Blackbird, by feeding target location from ground-based radars to the fire-control computer in the Viggen.
 * The English Electric Lightning. Described by a guy working on the tabletop game Birds of Prey as looking like something out of a Gerry Anderson show, it was capable of Mach 2.2 and very high altitude. It could challenge aircraft that were a whole generation ahead (like the F-15) in a climb race, and could catch other craft that operate in extremes almost untouchable by most fighters. Up to its retirement, it was the most sought after posting in the RAF.
 * The F-104 Starfighter. The fighter jet equivalent to having all brawn and no brains. It flew fast, it looked fast, and it crashed fast; they didn't call it the original "lawn dart" for nothing. In spite of its accident rates and being used in roles for which it wasn't designed, though, if nothing else it counts as cool because it's about the closest thing you can get to strapping on an engine and going supersonic.
 * The Concorde, a supersonic passenger plane made through a joint effort of British Aerospace Company and Aérospatiale. A relatively rare example of a Cool Plane that was not designed to break stuff, and not run by a military at all. Hard to believe that, ten years ago, you could cross the Atlantic in under 4 hours. Also very handy for observing eclipses.
 * The Concorde was also quite fast. Not in all-out raw top speed, but in the length of time for which it could maintain its top speed (Mach 2+ ). Almost all fighters need to use afterburners to go supersonic and can only do a small sprint of afterburner fire before running low on fuel and being forced to back off. The Concorde, on the other hand, could supercruise (fly at supersonic speeds without using afterburners) at a speed that most fighters could barely manage for hours on end, a feat matched only by the SR-71 Blackbird and XB-70 Valkyrie. Only now have fighters began to enter this kind of performance territory, with the F-22 having supercruising capabilities.
 * F-4 Phantom II. The "Double Ugly," to give but one nickname, was operated by 10 countries other than the U.S., including the UK and West Germany. Fast, heavily armed, and shot down Soviet-built planes like no one's business. Featured in both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy's display teams, and to this day, the only aircraft to be used by both teams simultaneously. It set the standard for all fighter jets to come after it.
 * There had been quoted that even the 1958-1960 prototypes had enough thrust-to-weight ratio to achieve Mach 2.6, if the airframe could be made to withstand heat and enough fuel could be carried. Neither was done. During Operation Skyburner, on December 22, 1961, a special version achieved Mach 2.6 strictly to set a record.
 * According to both pilot and eyewitness accounts, the "Flying Brick" could cruise around Mach 1 at very low level (that is, about 100 ft) without afterburner or using it just intermittently, achieve Mach 2 on full afterburner also while "skimming treetops", and perform attack and evasive manoeuvers in similar conditions, despite the primitive 1960s avionics. Although the pilot might have needed a strong pair of balls made from steel...
 * As quoted by the January 2009 edition of Air & Space Magazine, a remote-controlled drone of a F-4 Phantom II flying the straight and unevasive trajectory of a drone is still able to hold his own against a flight of 4 rocket-armed modern F-22 Raptors, and some of them withstood 10 or 12 flights like this. Just where in the name of Mordor is the advantage of 50-year technology evolution?..
 * The F-4 Phantom II saw a long list of variants, but a particularly interesting proposal that was never constructed was the F-4X, which was originally conceived as a reconnaissance plane to give to Israel. Allegedly, the advances in cooling system technology would've allowed the F-4X to have a top speed exceeding Mach 3. The project was immediately scrapped when this was made clear; it would not be difficult to adapt the new F-4 to an interception role. To make matters worse, such a high performance plane threatened the SR-71's legendary and unmatched speed and the funding for the newer F-15 Eagle. The F-4X was a rare example of a Cool Plane that was too cool to be made.
 * The F-8 Crusader, nicknamed "The Last Gunfighter" for being the final US design to use 20mm cannon as its main weapons. Its derivative the XF-8U3, which was theoretically capable of Mach 2.9 and practically capable of Mach 2.6. The XF-8U3 was able to fly rings around the much heavier Phantom, but the USAF decided not to purchase it because its maneuverability was judged less useful in the age of radar-guided missiles. Then the Vietnam War rolled around, and it turned out that that the NVAF MiG-17's and MiG-21's ability to outturn American fighters gave them a huge edge in air-to-air combat. Cue collective Face Palm by Crusader fans.
 * The canceled Boeing Sonic Cruiser would have traveled as far as a 747 without refueling, at Mach .98.
 * Ekranoplans, a boat/plane hybrid. One features in the James Bond novel Devil May Care and some really were that size, and in fact look a lot like something straight out of a James Bond movie.
 * The Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" strategic bomber, built in 1953 and still in service with the Russian Air Force today. Fastest propeller-driven plane in the world, as well as the loudest. Its crews (and even those of US and UK fighter-jets sent to intercept them) routinely suffered hearing loss, and its engines were so loud they could apparently be heard by submarines using their own sonar...which is really funny and ironic, seeing as the Tu-142 variant is also used as an anti-submarine aircraft. Video here
 * The Tu-114, its civilian passenger variant, also deserves a mention. While still noisy as hell (and would handily fail any of the modern noise level restrictions) it was the safest soviet airliner ever built, and had one of the best safety records among airliners in general (only one accident had fatalities, and it wasn't a crash but a malfunction leading to a ground fire) and also held many airliner speed records in its day.
 * The B-52 Stratofortress. Entered service in 1955 and is projected to stay in service until 2040. "This ain't your grandpa's Air Force, but it just might be your grandpa's plane!"
 * Also affectionately called The BUFF, for "Big Ugly Fat Fucker".
 * Also holds the record for longest combat mission ever, doing a 35 hour journey from Louisiana to Saudi Arabia and back to launch cruise missiles at Iraq during the Gulf War.
 * The V-22 Osprey, despite numerous real-life failures of cool, has managed to have so many games, movies, and toys feature it or designs based on it that it can't avoid becoming a cool plane (or, more accurately, cool tilt-rotor).
 * Add the fact that the V-22 now qualifies as One of the Safest Planes in the Marine Corps Inventory its probably safe to assume that it legitimately qualifies as a cool plane.
 * The Su-27 "Flanker" and its many, many derivatives, single-handedly responsible for more raging, frothing-at-the-mouth fanboyism and nationalistic internet flame wars than Xbox Live, if you can actually comprehend that. (though in fairness it is a VERY capable plane, many aerospace and military experts have determined that there are only two aircraft in existence that are its equal, the F-15 and F-22) So many derivatives, in fact, that it is often said that there are more individual designations than actual models. But these variant takes the cake:
 * The Su-34 "Fullback" two-seat tactical bomber. It's got a toilet and food heater in the back. There is literally nothing more that needs to be said than that. Now you can microwave some Chinese, while dropping nukes and microwaving the Chinese.
 * Mecha Expansion Pack brought to life! The Su-30MKI, Su-35, and Su-35BM, all derived from the Su-27, are collectively THE SECOND MOST POWERFUL MOTORFINGER PLANE IN PRODUCTION, just below the frickin F-22 Raptor, and much more affordable.
 * The sturdy Su-37 was even more awesome than the flashy Su-47. It is the plane they nicknamed "Terminator", for crap's sake! And then they had to redub it "Flanker-F" because everyone on the air defense command got shaky knees whenever it was mentioned.
 * MiG-29 "Fulcrum": Successor to the -21, this air-superiority fighter has brilliant agility and was one of the first to use a helmet-mounted sight to aim missiles. Perfect for the aggressive Elite Mook midway through the story arc.
 * The Soviet MiG-25. A Mach 2.8 (2100 mph) capable jet built way the hell back in 1964 that made the entire U.S. Air Force collectively soil themselves until a defecting Soviet pilot landed one in Japan in 1976. They discovered that many sacrifices were made to reach its design speed such as poor range, and it had all the agility of a brick. It still was (and is today) a real record-setter, as it is the fastest production armed aircraft in the world.
 * That MiG had been designed with one specific task in mind: To shoot down the US high-altitude high-speed XB-70 Valkyrie nuclear bomber. However, the Valkyrie project was canceled at the prototype stage and the Soviets ended up with a fighter with no job to do. However, it became a pretty good photo recon aircraft in later versions, as well as the only real way to give SR-71 flights grief.
 * To save costs of insulating the electronics the Soviets build the plane to be run on vacuum tubes... In the process making its Radar extremely powerful and making the plane resistant against EMP.
 * See also Foxbats over Sinai and those reports of reconnaissance missions over Israel's nuclear facility Dimona and into Pakistan airspace.
 * You can take that aircraft to Mach 3.2, but you'll need to replace the engines afterwards.
 * Ten years later after the introduction of the MiG-25, the Soviets brought out the MiG-31 "Foxhound" as the '-25's replacement, addressing many of its shortcomings. Just as fast (if not a little faster), able to go supersonic at low altitudes (unlike the '-25), higher fuel capacity and efficiency, more advanced multi-tracking radar (and the first operational fighter with PESA radar), significantly improved armaments, and (as of 2010) remains in active service in the Russian Air Force. Still eats considerably more fuel than other comparable fighters and as manoeuvrable as an elephant in close-range dogfights, though.
 * The Soviet Tu-22M "Backfire", a Mach 2.2-capable bomber with a payload of up to three nuclear anti-shipping missiles and in-flight refueling capability, raised some eyebrows in the Pentagon, especially when they overestimated its range (which, at over 1600 km combat radius, is still impressive). When this first appeared, they actually thought this was a strategic bomber, which says something. This resulted in an agreement with the USSR to limit production to 30 a year and take out the refueling probes. Still in service and undergoing upgrades.
 * Also, "I'm Bringing Sexy Backfire" jokes actually work; it's a very good-looking bomber.
 * A-10 Thunderbolt II, aka the Warthog. Ugly as hell and just barely capable of exceeding the speed of smell if you put it into a steep dive, the Warthog can fly in a damaged state that would make other planes just fall and go boom, several times over. The aircraft could be smashed to hell and the pilot could be missing all four of his appendages (maybe even his head) and still complete the mission, making it back to base in time for happy hour at the O' Club. Of course, probably the biggest reason why this plane fits under this trope is the depleted-uranium GAU-8 30mm Avenger rotary cannon which the plane is literally built around which can literally slice a tank in half and which by itself is bigger than anything short of an SUV.
 * You've heard of the Implacable Man? This is the Implacable Plane. The exact amount of parts it can lose and still fly (according to The Other Wiki) include one engine, one tail, most of its fuel supply, and a wing. Basically, half the plane can drop off and you're still good. Hell, forget guns; the Hog has been known to take missile hits and keep going undeterred.
 * In fact, it's so durable that it survived two attempts at retirement by idiotic USAF generals who thought that the plane was too ugly, too low-tech, and generally too useless to serve in their Air Force. Both Gulf Wars proved just how wrong they were, and the Hog is getting an well-deserved avionics upgrade (the A-10 pilots fly using avionics not much better than what their grandfathers used when flying the P-47 Thunderbolt) and new wings which will keep it flying well into the 2040s, just like that other Badass Grandpa the B-52. Now that's durable.
 * The Warthog may even be able to survive past 2040, there has been talk about convert the surviving A-10s (which will probably be most of them) into UAVs for ground attack missions. No aircraft in history Served for this long, and will still be used after that. This thing can endure missiles, guns, retirement attempts, and time.
 * "Apparently the A-10 would have been dumped had it not performed so well in Persian Gulf I. (The USAF then started arguing that the A-10 may work in practice, but it still doesn't work in theory.)"-Joe Bednorz
 * The AV-8B Harrier II, developed jointly (sorta, see The Other Wiki for details) by the US and UK. No matter what walk of life you come from, you've undoubtedly heard of the "Jump Jet." It can land vertically, take off inside 400 feet with a full weapons load, and take on almost anything that flies, sails, drives, or crawls. And in the USA, it's flown by Marines. Ooh-rah!
 * Another of the Harrier's capabilities is thrust vectoring, allowing "Vectoring In Forward Flight" or "VIFFing" - essentially redirecting thrust from the engines on the fly to allow some truly spectacular dogfighting moves. This is on a plane deployed in 1969 - it wasn't until the year 2000 before any other aircraft with similar capabilities deployed! (The F-22 Raptor, late model Mig-29 Flanker variants and the upcoming F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are the only other aircraft with similar abilities.)
 * One of the AV-8B's older cousins, the Sea Harrier, was the source of nightmares to Argentine pilots during the Falklands War. It wasn't called La Muerte Negra ("The Black Death") for nothing.
 * Ironical the Sea Harrier was originally designed as fighter bomber, but did horrible at the job. Out of not having enough fighters the British equipped some of the harriers with anti-air missiles and send them out to fight the Argentine fighters. The Harrier's mobility and small size quickly helped to their victories and left both sides with their jaws down.
 * The Harrier family also has the dubious honor of being one of the hardest planes to fly and having killed an impressive amount of trainees.
 * The Dassault Mirage family (III, IV, 5, 50, F1, 2000, and the prototype 4000). The family patriarch, the Mirage III, was one of the first Mach 2-capable fighters, and the family has variants for ground attack, nuclear strikes, and reconnaissance. The Mirage III and 5 were most notably used by the Israelis in 1967 and 1973 to great effect against Arab MiGs, with the Israelis later making some modifications to the type (the IAI Kfir). The most current iteration of the family, the Mirage 2000, is the current front-line fighter of the French Air Force, though it is now being replaced by the Rafale (see below). When you don't want to use American planes, or both Ivan and Uncle Sam won't share their toys, Mirages make good substitutes.
 * It is noteworthy that when M. Dassault offered his plane to the French Air Force and they failed at seeing its awesomeness, he said to them "You don't want to fund the plane?! F*ck it! I'll pay for it with my own money! If you don't buy it, still everybody else will do!". The rest is history. The French finally bought lots of Mirages as well.
 * The Lockheed U-2, a glider-like high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Operating at altitudes of around 70000, it was deemed to be safe from interception, and even though the eventual loss of several aircraft (during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and more well-known Gary Powers over Soviet territory) led to the development of the Blackbird (see below), the U-2 outlasted that bird and remains in service today with the USAF and NASA:
 * The SR-71 Blackbird: a plane so advanced it set the still-unbroken world record for flight speed of a manned jet aircraft on its retirement flight. Unlike its nearest rival (and sometimes adversary) the MiG-25, it could maintain its high speeds for hours on end.
 * To give an idea of how fast this thing was, standard evasive action upon detection of surface-to-air missiles (which were fired at it in Vietnam) was to simply accelerate.
 * On the same note, the maximum speed of the aircraft is based on the airframe, NOT the engines. At speeds at which the rest of the airframe would fall apart due to heat and drag, the engines would STILL be trying to accelerate the plane even faster.
 * An interesting note: because of the hybrid engine it used (period standard jet engine for what counts as low-speed for the -71, and ramjet for insane speed by any standard), the faster it moved, the LESS fuel it used. Just let that sink in.
 * Even at an age of nearly 50 years, its looks can only be described as "hardcore futuristic".
 * The actual top speed is still classified. Whenever the Russians would demonstrate a plane that could go faster than the last public record set by an SR-71, the Americans would just take an SR-71 up for another public flight, and open the throttle a little more.
 * The Lockheed YF-12: It is the fighter version of the SR-71's prototype the A-12. You heard me right. It can do everything the Blackbird can and launch Phoenix air to air missiles. Mach 3 was cruising speed for this bird. Top speed mach 3.35 continuous. It could deploy its missile a top speed thanks to internal weapons bays. It also had to let the missile drop 60ft(18m) from the plane before the rocket motor ignited so it would not hit the the plane. That's right - it was so fast it could keep up with its own missile. Advancing missile technology, a reduced interest in pwning nuclear bombers, and a cost per unit that makes the F-22 look like a bargain bin item ultimately doomed this Charles Bronson of cool planes. But it is good to know we can make them in case of alien invasion.
 * While speaking of the SR-71, its contemporary badass jet, the XB-70 Valkyrie, deserves a mention as well. This Mach 3 capable bomber could almost match the SR-71 for speed, exceeded its range, and generated most of its lift by riding its own sonic-boom shockwave. Unlike the SR-71, which was armed with nothing but cameras, the XB-70 wielded nuclear bombs. Unfortunately, thanks to ridiculously high costs, advanced surface-to-air missile technology developed by the Soviets, and a disastrous crash during a parade flight (caused by a hapless F-104 pilot who got too close and got sucked into the Valkyrie by the vortex of traumatized air surrounding it), it was canceled. Its role was later taken up by the super-stealthy but much, much slower B-2 Spirit.
 * The Russian Tu-160 "Blackjack", the fastest and shapeliest heavy bomber ever to enter active service. Outperforms its American counterpart, the B-1B Lancer, both in terms of speed and payload.
 * Silhouette and white anti-flash colour lead to this plane receiving Russian nickname "White Swan".
 * F-117A Nighthawk, the "Stealth Fighter." This stealth "fighter" is actually a pure bomber, but that still doesn't prevent the dozens of B-movies and video games made about it from erroneously pimping it out into a sort of Mach 30 hyperfighter with lasers or something. It proved to be immensely effective during the Gulf War, Kosovo, and the War in Iraq with only one combat loss, ever, a case of Rock Beats Laser on the part of the Serbs. The F-117A was retired from active service in early 2009, to be replaced by an F-35/F-22 combination.
 * This cool plane is a case of Cold War era Schizo-Tech, several systems came from other planes (one from the C-130!) and each one was hand built. One of the Have Blue prototypes had a problem with it's exhaust. An extension had to be made. An engineer noticed that one of the filing cabinets was about right size and made of a tough enough steel...
 * One F-117 prototype lost half its tailplane in flight. The FBW software was so robust (required by the design's inherent instability on all three axes) as coping with the loss that the pilot didn't notice until he was told.
 * The reason it's classed as a fighter when it serves as a bomber is, quite frankly, sex. Everybody knows that fighters are cool and bombers aren't; even USAF generals, and even if they are stealthy jet bombers. Thus, since the Nighthawk can, if you need to, fire air-to-air missiles, it can shoot down an enemy, and is therefore a fighter, end of story.
 * As far as the Stealth part goes, one documentary one the thing put it this way: "The F-117A Nighthawk does not have a Cloaking Device. The F-117A Nighthawk is a Cloaking Device." EVERYTHING about this aircraft was all about making it as hard to track on conventional aircraft tracking systems as possible.
 * The B-2 Spirit, the Spiritual Successor to Jack Northrop's flying wing designs of the 40s and 50s, mentioned above. It can strike anywhere in the world with nuclear bombs within 72 hours thanks to its 6000 nautical mile range (thanks to being a flying wing, it had a bonus feature of having among the best fuel economies of all manned military aircraft flying today) - and its victim won't know about it until it strikes. It has a similar radar signature to the F-117 (read: like a small bird) despite having a 172 ft wingspan, due to more advanced stealth features. It's a cool $2 billion apiece, and only requires two pilots. Only 21 B-2s were ever built, and given names as if they were warships (each one is "Spirit of (some state)," save for two, the "Spirit of America" and "Spirit of Kitty Hawk"). As a final mark of coolness, it was given the name "Aurora" when under testing, inspiring fictional Cool Planes.
 * The B-2 is less a Spiritual Successor and more a case of Sequel Displacement. The B-2 was primarily designed and built by Northrop Grumman, a successor to the Northrop Corporation. Jack Northrop was retired and very late in his life when the B-2 was being designed in secret, and the government brought him into a top-secret briefing to show him what had finally become of his previous rejected work. He passed away not long after.
 * The F-117 and B-2 are both Real Life examples of Sinister Geometry. Back when the F-117 was still a black project, two F-16 pilots on patrol saw an F-117 silhouetted against the moon but couldn't detect it on their radars. They thought that they had seen UFOs, but were later told the full story back at base and told to keep shut about it (it was super top-secret, after all).
 * For "cool" in the unusual and unique sense, special mention goes to the PZL M-15 Belphegor, a Polish jet biplane (and the only production jet biplane in the world) design for Soviet agricultural use. The noisiness of its jet engine, coupled with its weird design, caused it to be named after the demon Belphegor.
 * The Mil Mi-24 'Hind', nicknamed the 'devils chariot' by the Mujaheddin when it first saw action in Afghanistan, the hind was the first true helicopter gunship and pioneered the idea of the attack helicopter, early versions had a 4 barrel 12.7mm gatling gun (later versions had this changed to a 23mm twin barrel cannon) 4 rocket pods carrying 32 rockets each, and 4 anti-tank missiles, as well as the capability to carry 8 troops inside its armoured hull, although it was fast and deadly, it suffered from poor agility owing to its weight, the rotor blades would strike the tailboom and break if the pilot pulled back on the joystick too quickly, and the fact that it gave of a lot of heat from its engines, nevertheless the hind remains in use even today and its distinctive silhouette can strike fear into the hearts of the unwary.
 * The unofficial name given by the pilots for the gunship is "Crocodile" owing to its paintjob. When fully loaded, it couldn't lift off vertically and had to use a runway.
 * Hughes (now Boeing) AH-64 'Apache', the quintessential yardstick by which all attack choppers are measured by, the Apache has carved out a reputation as a fearsome tank killer, most notable features being its 30mm chain gun turret which is slaved to the monocle gunsight of gunner's helmet (meaning wherever the gunner points his head the gun will swivel to follow) and its sophisticated and recognizable IR/night vision targeting system mounted on the choppers nose. It is also very damage tolerant, with many Apaches taking enemy hits and still making it back to base (one report had an Apache pilot in action saying on the radio "I think I'm hit; I feel some vibration"; upon landing his Apache was found to have a hole on the engine compartment "big enough to put your fist through"), essentially making it the helicopter equivalent of the good ol' Warthog.
 * Mention must also go to the Augusta Westland Apache AH 1, the British variant of the Apache, which takes everything good about the American model and adds better engines, more rockets, artic warfare hardiness, folding rotors, an automated self-defense system that defends against all forms of missile attack, and enough room to store survival gear, rifles, and plenty of ammo if the chopper is shot down. Crazy Prepared indeed.
 * The Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk, not to be confused with the transport helicopter by the same name, the S-67 was an attempt by Sikorsky to make a high speed attack helicopter, and although that was achieved it was deemed unsatisfactory for the US army's needs, highly manoeuvrable, the S-67 established on 14 December 1970 a new world-class speed record over a 3km course of 348.971km/h. Its development was abandoned after it crashed in 1974.
 * RAH-66 Commanche, the worlds first attempt at a stealth helicopter, it was designed with recconassince in mind, intended to be the Army's next generation armed reconnaissance helicopter. It also was the first helicopter developed specifically for this role. was eventually canceled after 22 years of development on 23 February 2004, due to costs and UAV's proving to be more efficient and cost effective for that role.
 * the most iconic and famous helicopter in the world, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Colloqually known as the 'Huey') is the most numerous helicopter ever built (over 15000) and the 2nd most numerous aircraft built since 1945. doing everything from VIP transport to flying ambulance to attack helicopter. and has continued in service well past the five decades since the first Huey lifted off the ground. the Huey also effectively changed the way most armies fought battles, Instead of fighting an enemy along established front lines, troops would now be taken into and removed from combat by helicopter and dropped at key strategic positions such as enemy escape routes. . synonomous with the Huey is the signature 'thump' sound of its rotors spinning and also has its own cool song, Flight of the Valkyries. da-dada-daadaaa da-dada-daadaaa!! da-dada-DAAAAAAADAAAAA! da-dada-DAAAAA!

Gulf War and Beyond

 * The YAL-1 Airborne Laser. A different kind of Cool Plane. This is not your small, fast, sleek and generally badass fighter, like most of the planes mentioned here. No way. This is actually a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, but not just any ordinary jumbo. This one is completely redesigned around a giant laser cannon. In fact, the plane's only job is to carry the laser into the air and keep it there. Its primary target is tactical ballistic missiles(TBMs) like the "Scud", but it's good enough to kill ICBMs as well. Possible uses in shooting down fighters and satellites are being investigated, in part to its 400 km range letting it reach far into enemy territory from outside their air defenses.
 * The highly controversial F-22 Raptor, pictured above. The F-22 employs just about every piece of badass 5th-generation super-tech available, with thrust-vectoring, stealth, supercruise, and an AESA radar which is capable of disabling its target's electronics. The F-22 usually attacks at long range using its AMRAAM missiles, and its hapless victims end up dead before they know what happened, or it can close in and out-maneuver most other existing fighters to bring its short-range Sidewinder missiles and Vulcan rotary cannon to bear. It can also use its APG-77 AESA radar to blind its enemy's sensors and disable their missiles, helping it protect other not-so-awesome friendly aircraft. In theory at least - it's never been tested in real war. Its main drawbacks are its low armament capacity when under stealth profile and its insanely hefty price tag, which lead to it being dropped after only 187 were built (the USAF originally wanted 750). Also several teething troubles, including stuck canopies, faulty oxygen systems, etc. As it is now their mainstay air superiority fighter, mostly replacing the F-15C, the Raptor has been widely publicized by the USAF and has made several movie appearances, such as in Transformers and Iron Man.
 * Special mention to the Raptor's ultimately cancelled competitor, the YF-23 (the two prototypes actually built named "Grey Ghost" and "Black Widow II"), mainly by its radical appearance - trapesoidal wings and a wide v-tail, making it look like something straight out of science fiction.
 * Indians With Iglas have Moe with Wings in the form of the HAL Tejas. Tejas aren't designed to be Badass, they're designed to be Moe. They're VERY lightweight for that matter, at 5.5 tons unloaded, which makes them fricking agile; they're a bit slow by modern standards, however, with a top speed of only Mach 1.8 (albeit on a single engine).
 * The Russian Su-47 Berkut (Russian for Golden Eagle), the Chuck Norris of aircraft. Sadly, it was only a technology demonstrator; most sources agree that it did not enter service simply because there was no Air Force on the planet that was cool enough to handle the sheer amount of awesome that the Su-47 radiated for more than ten minutes.
 * Despite the speculations, the Sukhoi T-50 PAK FA, the currently-in-testing 5th-generation Russian stealth fighter and expected rival to the F-22, looks more like its other more mundane ancestor, the Su-37 (and it's ancestors, the entire Su-27 family), than it looks like the Su-47 Berkut, ditching the Too Cool to Live forward-swept wing for a stealthier but less awesome design. Still, on a whole, it is more badass than any other Sukhoi plane ever, because it's supposed to do anything Raptor can, while being cheaper to make. Remember: no matter how cool a single plane is, it can't be sent on two missions simultaneously. The T-50 also uses 3-dimensional thrust vectoring, similar to the systems used by the Su-30/35, while the F-22 uses a 2-dimensional system and the F-35 has no tactical thrust vectoring at all (the STOVL system of the B-model can't be used in combat). This does indeed give it a maneuverability edge over the Raptor, but it comes at a minor cost of being less stealthy from the rear in comparison. The entire design emphasizes more on agility and cost-effectiveness while the Raptor emphasizes more on stealth.
 * The emphasis on agility makes alot of sense. Stealth means that close range combat will be emphasized (since your radars will have trouble locking on at long ranges) meaning the advantage goes to the plane that can turn faster.
 * The Eurofighter Typhoon. The pride and joy of the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy. Can supercruise at Mach 1.1 and can carry a decent strike load while still being a great air-to-air fighter. Also a rival to the F-22 by people who have never flown a plane in their life, (the one person who has flown both aircraft has gone on the record as saying that to compare the aircraft is like comparing apples to oranges.)
 * F-35B Lightning II: The newest kid on the block. Scheduled to be the successor to the F-16 as the standard fighter of many nations around the globe. Being the F-22's little brother, this thing is supersonic and stealthy, but, with the B (STOVL: Short Take-Off Vertical Landing) and C (carrier borne) variants, can also take off and land vertically and from aircraft carriers respectively. It is supposed to be cheaper than the Raptor, and more versatile, however the F-35 seems to been struck with the same malaise that hit the F-111, the program keeps running into problems, delaying the rollout even further, as of 2010, only one production type has been made so far, and more aren't expected until 2016-2020 at best. It was savaged for being worse than the F-22 at everything they want it to do for a price tag that is quickly becoming just as big.
 * The F-35's main problem is that it's intended as the Jack Of All Trades, a multi-role aircraft capable of serving multiple needs by multiple services in multiple countries, but ends up being a Master of None. The Air Force has huge runways and doesn't mind a heavier dry weight. The Navy has small runways (they're on boats, after all) and needs higher thrust. The Canadians want something different entirely. See the problems? It should be pointed out that some aircraft (the F-4, the F-16, the F-18) have historically become true multi-role aircraft, but only by accident and chance; almost every plane that was designed to be a jack-of-all-trades and serve with multiple services (particularly the F-111) ended up being single-role. Furthermore, the F-35 tries to do everything while being stealthy - whereas every other stealth aircraft so far has been a dedicated specialist (the F-117 was a precision bomber, B-2 is a heavy bomber, and the F-22 and T-50 are mostly air superiority fighters).
 * The VC-25 is a military conversion of the Boeing 747 passenger jet. While it hasn't been converted for attacks of any kind, it is considered by many to be the safest and most technologically advanced passenger aircraft in existence, which is good...because it's what Americans have come to recognize as "Air Force One" (although the title actually applies to any aircraft containing the President).
 * The Saab Gripen NG (Next Generation) is a technology demonstrator of the upgrades to the previously mentioned Grippen, to be implemented in the future in the 2012-2020 time frame. It has Mach 1.1 supercruise (like the Eurofighter), 40% more fuel (and thus range), AESA radar, will probably get thrust vectoring, and can surpass the Eurofighter in performance at half the price.
 * Dassault Rafale. The coolest thing about this plane is that while its project was started after the Eurofighter project by a single country, it was put into service before the Eurofighter Typhoon, which is built by a consortium of 4 countries. It also boasts supercruise and will have an Active Electronic Scanned Array radar (it currently has a Passive Electronic Scanned Array radar) in 2012, before the Typhoon (which just has a mechanical scanned radar and no prospect at an AESA radar before 2013), and has an electronic warfare suit called SPECTRA which features a software-based virtual stealth technology. It also has a carrier variant, the lack of a carrier-borne Eurofighter being the main reason why France left the consortium. The carrier variant will replace all other fixed wing aircraft of the French Navy except for the E-2 Hawkeye. It will also be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. It's the airplane featured in the first trailer for Tom Clancy's HAWX, probably because it's one of the most good looking planes of the latest generation, easily besting the block-like Typhoon in that regard.
 * Kamov Ka-50 'Black shark', one of the most advanced and fastest helicopters in existence, the Ka-50 is a single seat attack helicopter designed to replace the aging hind, aside from its intimidating armament (including a 30mm autocannon normally mounted on the turret of a BMP-2) and impressive armour, the unit also utilizes Kamov's signature coaxial rotor setup . the Kamov is also the only helicopter in the world to feature an ejection seat. (it avoids the cutting the pilot to bits issue by blowing the rotors away with explosive charges before the pilot is ejected) a 2 seater version called the Ka-52 'Alligator' also exists.
 * Not to be outdone and left behind, the Chinese now have the Chengdu J-20, a stealthy fighter under development that already completed its first flight tests. Appeance wise, it might actually be a Shout-Out to the titular aircraft in the Firefox film.
 * If sheer size were the yardstick to define a Cool Plane, then one of the winners would be the Airbus A380 Superjumbo, currently the world's largest airliner, and the world's only full length double-deck jet airliner in service. Designed to have all the latest and most luxurious features, including king-sized beds, showers, and in a proposal for one Airline, a bar. It's even slated to become the personal plane of Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, who will eventually call his new plane the "Flying Palace".
 * While it took it over 20 years to finally get to defending the Motherland, the Mi-28 entered Russian service in 2006. It's weapons include a "chin mount" 30mm cannon similar to the AH-64, as well as eight guided missiles and two rocket pods. It's planned that by 2015, the Russians will replace their aging Mi-24 stable with these. It also looks like a dragonfly and has probably the coolest NATO reporting name ever: "Havoc".

X-planes
As experimental craft, these didn't go into mass production nor were ever designed to do so, but to deny their coolness and contributions to humanity's knowledge of aviation would be a crime.


 * The Bell X-1: The first manned aircraft EVER to break the sound barrier in level flight, based on a bullet, and colored bright orange, to boot. Flown by the original Chuck Yeager... with a broken rib from a horse riding accident the night prior.
 * The Douglas X-3 Stiletto: One of the wickedest looking planes ever built, though due to development and aerodynamic issues, it was an underpowered dog with a stability problem. It did, however, conquer the "heat barrier" that had plagued the X-2. At supersonic airspeeds, air friction can heat the leading edge of a plane's wings and fuselage red-hot. The X-2's wings, being aircraft-grade aluminum, melted in midair. The X-3 got around this problem by having leading edges made of titanium. For a while, it held the world record for fastest airspeed.
 * The X-15: a mach 6+ rocket plane that flew so high and so fast that all the military pilots have been awarded astronaut wings (civilian pilots hadn't been awarded astronaut wings for various reasons, though they were awarded them in 2005, 35 years after the fact.) This monster set the world speed record for a manned aircraft back in the 1960s, and it still hasn't been surpassed.
 * Or at least, officially. See the SR-71 Blackbird entry, above.
 * The X-24 definitely deserves a place on this page for being an airworthy, heavier-than-air plane without wings. This bizarre little plane was designed to research unpowered reentry and landing for spacecraft. Some design lessons learned in this project were later applied in the space shuttle program.
 * The X-24's father, the Northrop M2-F2. You've probably seen film of the thing crashing. It was used in the opening credits of The Six Million Dollar Man as the aircraft Steve Austin had his crash in. The real life pilot was blinded in the right eye as a consequence of the crash.
 * The current fastest jet-powered aircraft in the world: the Boeing X-43. It's powered by a scramjet and runs on liquid hydrogen, which is also used to cool the engine. Has since led to the development of the bigger, better X-51, which is a stepping stone to the future Blackswift hypersonic drone.
 * Not to mention that the airforce with all of it's GPS and equipment couldn't control it and ended up not being able to find it, due to it being so darn fast.
 * The Grumman X-29, a testbed based on the F-5E tiger airframe. The aircraft featured forward-swept wings (much like the Su-47), though they found that while the wings improved agility and angles of attack, it also robbed the aircraft of speed and was inherently more fragile than conventional wings. In an example of What Might Have Been, the competing General Dynamics bid for the forward swept wing test aircraft would have been a modified F-16. Nevertheless, what was learned from the X-29 program went on to help with development of...
 * The X-31, probably one of the most maneuverable planes ever designed. Thanks to the design of its thrust-vectoring system, it can pull maneuvers that would stall even the much-touted excellent maneuverability of the Su-27 variants.
 * The great grandaddy of all X-planes, not to mention modern powered flight itself, has to be the Wright Flyer built and flown by Orville and Wilbur Wright. Without this rickety-looking plane, we'd still be riding around in hot air balloons.

Go back to the Cool Plane, before someone else flies off with it.