Every aircraft has to be judged by its function and service era. The Starfighter F-104 was an interceptor designed to climb quickly to high altitude and fire missiles at incoming bombers. That mission was taken over by ground based missiles almost before the Starfighter came into service. The USAF tried to use it in Viet Nam, but it was totally unsuited to the climate and mission. It was, however, one of the sexiest designs ever.
The Vulcan was a heavy bomber, designed for the type of air-ground missions that fortunately were never required. It was an innovative machine with a unique, memorable design, and served many nations quite well. The F-4 Phantom II was one of the most versatile aircraft ever made, fulfilling several functions over a long period of time. Its Mach 2 speed and ability to carry almost any weapon, made it the vehicle of choice in the West for several decades. I always though it a beautiful aircraft, with its coke-bottle fuselage, dihedral wings and anhedral horizontal stabilizer, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. <G> The other airplane in which I flew, the A-6 Intruder, is what I consider to be an ugly bird: http://www.veteran.com/content/a6a-intruder http://www.veteran.com/content/a6a-intruder-vma%28aw%29533-nighthawks For sheer beauty, my favorite military airplane is the gull-winged F-4U Corsair from WW II: http://www.aviation-history.com/vought/f4u.html That was a very tough plane to land and take-off, from what I have heard, but in the air, it's distinctive shape is unforgettable. Dan Matyola http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
