What is your Favourite aircraft?

[Harrier]

and who is your favourite manufacturer of aircrafts?


Hey

Ok my favourite aircraft type would have to be the harrier, basically because its like none else, other than the soon to be Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) plus it was the aircraft that made me want to become a pilot. There are many other aircraft types i like, especially the stealth jets but the harrier got my vote.

And for my favourite manufacturer i will have to pick Mig or British Aerospace, Mig because i absolutely adore the 29 or "Fulcrum" (not as much as the harrier of course

[C]

My favourite manufacturer would be Hawker I think...

Fury (nice)
Nimrod ( even prettier than the Fury) (added by Felix)
Hart/Hind (nicer)
Hurricane (lurverly)
Typhoon (ooooh)
Tempest (OOOOH)
Sea Fury (WOW)
Sea Hawk (nice)
Hunter (BIG OOOOOH)
Harrier... (Silly idea :-/ - but it worked!)

My favourite aircraft is a hard one, Gloster Gladiator maybe?

[Harrier]

Hawker?
never heard of them, is the typhoon you mentioned the eurofighter?

[Mr. Bones]

hmmm i have to chose between the three current US bombers...but i'll vote for the B-2A! everytime i see this flying wing...i almost start crying. the B-1B gets silver, i love to see it taking of (my ears still hurt), third place goes to the B-52...beautiful bomber with a long history!

favorite manufacturer...i think Lockheed Martin. they produced so many planes and the still keep going (with the JSF). i especially like the Skunk Works...with the amazing SR-71 and F-117. god bless Kelly!  ;)

[C]

Hawker?
never heard of them, is the typhoon you mentioned the eurofighter?

Harrier, once upon a time there was an aeroplane called the Kestrel, built by Hawker, which then became Hawker Siddeley, which eventually became BAe, the BAE SYSTEMS, to give it its correct current name. The Kestrel lead to the development of the HARRIER...

The Typhoon I mention is the Hawker Typhoon, a very sucessful WW2 ground attack aircraft...

Charlie

[Harrier]

Harrier, once upon a time there was an aeroplane called the Kestrel, built by Hawker, which then became Hawker Siddeley, which eventually became BAe, the BAE SYSTEMS, to give it its correct current name. The Kestrel lead to the development of the HARRIER...

The Typhoon I mention is the Hawker Typhoon, a very sucessful WW2 ground attack aircraft...

Charlie

Thanks  ;)
what do you think of the new eurofighter typhoon? its deliberately made unstable for the maneauvres (sp?) it pulls and its a "fly-by-wire" jet too.

[Felix/FFDS]

Hawker?
never heard of them, is the typhoon you mentioned the eurofighter?

Harrier - you have revealed your age -

The Eurofighter, of course, is an excellent machine.  I just hope that it - and it's contemporaries - never have to find out just how good they really can be.

[Craig.]

firstly the euro-fighter(not my fav plane just comments on) It is some 15 years out of date if not more, it has turned into a huge waste of money, and is still having problems, despite being god knows how many years late for delivery. had it been brought into service when originally planed it would have been the best thing flying for any air-force, however with the F-22 now coming into service and the JSF just round the corner the eurofighter will be pushed into the mediocre area of planes.

as for fav plane jet fighter F14
overall plane the DC10

[ozzy72]

The Supermarine Spitfire V!!!!!!!! Pure deliciousness with wings on
Favourite manufacturer Mil. I'm not at all biased, they build great ground attack helicopters Did I mention my little day out in the Hind?

[Harrier]

firstly the euro-fighter(not my fav plane just comments on) It is some 15 years out of date if not more, it has turned into a huge waste of money, and is still having problems, despite being god knows how many years late for delivery. had it been brought into service when originally planed it would have been the best thing flying for any air-force, however with the F-22 now coming into service and the JSF just round the corner the eurofighter will be pushed into the mediocre area of planes.

as for fav plane jet fighter F14
overall plane the DC10

so you dont like the typhoon  ;)
ill be in service with the navy by the time the JSF takes over the Harrier (im 16 felix  ;) )
the JSF is a marvellous machine, hovering, breaking sound barriers, and being stealthy (only heard about the stealt bit, is it true?) oh yeah by the way can the JSF hover for longer than the harrier? last time i recall the harrier could only hover for about 90 seconds due to insufficent water aboard.

[Craig.]

lol, actually i do like the typhoon i am just dissapointed that i saw this aircraft at the farnborough airshow on one of its first ever outings my cousin got us backstage passes and everything really cool to see up close, however at that time what was only a demo model should have actually been operational.
and yes the JSF is stealth equipped. however like the F-22 its still not quite as stealthy as the F117.
as for the hovering, you really cant compair the harrier and the JSF, the harrier lives to hover and do party tricks while having fun, the JSF is designed to use the hover function as an operational tool, its still not as good as the harrier in that respect

[Harrier]

True, the JSF is quite unsteady vertical landing and i get what you mean, the JSF's hovering compatabilities just for getting back on the ground where as the harrier is a real show stopper at the air shows but any idea what the maximum hover time is on the JSF?

[Craig.]

quick check turned up nothing on exact hover times but it did turn up the fact it can operate in operational STOVL mode for 10 mins

[Harrier]

10 minutes, i knew it could hover longer than the harrier but not that much longer, anyway thanks for the info guys, anymore would be appreciated.
Keeps the favourites comin!

[C]

Harrier

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a very good aircraft, and in the hands of the very capable pilots of the RAF should be second to none. The F/A-22 on paper* should theoretically be able to win a one on one dogfight, but an RAF/USAF conflict is highly unlikey, as is one between USAF and potential Typhoon customers.

(*the same should true about an F-15 v. Sea Harrier FRS. 1 conflict. However, in the early 80s this was done and the Sea Harriers won!)

Also, you are right about its Aerodynamic instability. This allows the manouvrability that we've seen in its displays. This is also why you hope that you don't have a complete failure of all the flight control computers (I believe a 64g somersault swiftly follows!)

All in all it should be perfectly capable of doing all it needs to do in replacing the Tornado F3 and the Jaguar (sob).

And yes, you're quite right about the water in the Harrier...

Charlie