Worst 5 aircraft ever built

[Ivan]

Why do people keep saying planes like the F-22 and F-35 are the worst aircraft ever built?

Price - perfomance ratio for F-22
Jack-of-all trades, master of none for the F-35 (and that you are flying a slow speed airframe as there isnt a separate carrier version)

[DaveSims]

I think its hard to compare aircraft when it comes to price.  You have to take into account inflation, and the amount of development required for new aircraft.  In WW2 it was enough to slap some metal together and bolt a big engine on it.  Now you have tons of hydraulics, electronics, and computer stuff to cram into the airplane, all the while making it faster, stealthier, and more manuevarable than its predecessor.  Not to mention, the manufacturers only get to build so many airplanes and have to turn a profit.  When you are making thousands of a certain model, your costs go down.  But when you are making just a couple hundred of a certain model, your costs must go up.

[Slotback]

I fail to understand why people hate the F-35. Pessimistic price has been proved wrong. STOVL system inferiority has been proved wrong. Anti-Stealth claims have been proved wrong. Payload concerns have been proved wrong. Range concerns have been proved wrong... etc...

It's simply the best multirole fighter there is, for Australia particularly. And in the big picture it truely becomes a jack of all trades, master of all, aircraft. Maybe not to APA & Karlo Kopp, & Eric Palmer, who continually recycle the same vomit all over and over again, but as always, they are WRONG.

Jack-of-all trades, master of none for the F-35 (and that you are flying a slow speed airframe as there isnt a separate carrier version)

The F-35C is designed for carrier ops. Strengthened airframe, larger wings, larger control surfaces, removed gun, & internal fuel capacity is increased to 9 tons which is about the same as the Su-27, F-22 & F-14.

[C]

I fail to understand why people hate the F-35. Pessimistic price has been proved wrong. STOVL system inferiority has been proved wrong. Anti-Stealth claims have been proved wrong. Payload concerns have been proved wrong. Range concerns have been proved wrong... etc...

I'm not trying to say you're wrong, but surely you cannot say that until the aircraft is a) delivered to customers, and b) proven in a pseudo-operational/operational environment.

[Anxyous]

One bad thing about the F-35 is the two versions...

By that, I mean the American version, and the foreign export version...

The foreign export version will without doubt be downgraded and (fact) the foreign nations won't be able to update the planes themselves, but must ship them back to the factory for that.

But with that said, the F-35 has the best avionics suite in the world.

[BigTruck]

I fail to understand why people hate the F-35. .

My guess is because it's ugly.

[Slotback]

One bad thing about the F-35 is the two versions...

By that, I mean the American version, and the foreign export version...

The foreign export version will without doubt be downgraded and (fact) the foreign nations won't be able to update the planes themselves, but must ship them back to the factory for that.

But with that said, the F-35 has the best avionics suite in the world.

I'm almost 100% sure the JSF partners are getting the same F-35 as the USAF - there was a news article somewhere, but I cannot find it. The whole degraded stealth F-35 thing I beleive was started by Karlo Kopp in yet another one of his rediculous court hearings.

[Anxyous]

The production F-35 definitely looks much better than the prototype.

[DaveSims]

I fail to understand why people hate the F-35. .

My guess is because it's ugly.

[BigTruck]

I fail to understand why people hate the F-35. .

My guess is because it's ugly.

[DONTREADMYUSERNAME]

Myasishchev VM-T......... WOW!(and not in a good way)

[Dr.bob7]

Myasishchev VM-T......... WOW!(and not in a good way)

so Russians lauch hot air ballons from 30000 feet?

[Ivan]

Myasishchev VM-T......... WOW!(and not in a good way)

Design a bad bomber, make it into a reasonable tanker and a mediocre cargo plane

so Russians lauch hot air ballons from 30000 feet?

Rocket parts transporter and Buran carrier until the Antonv came

[Jet Black1]

2. Slingsby FireFly
The USAF Academy killed several cadets with these before pulling them from service.

1.Slingsby were very unfairly "scapegoated" by the USAF over those incidents - and it makes me deepely unhappy when I see so called "interlectual" US aviation magazines talk utter rubbish about the "deadly" Firelfly. Not to mention of course, the families were all steered by their leeching lawyers into sueing Slingsby.

Every other operator has had no major problems. The fact the USAF decided to operate them from an airfield at 6500ft AMSL, and the circumstances of on or two of the accidents has alway made me wonder if it was more the way they were operated - of the three fatal crashes, 2 were pilot error (relateting to poor spin recoveries I believe), and the third and unrecoverable stall (which, had it been carried out safely, should have been high enough to abandon the aircraft, otherwise would most likely have been poor aircraft handling). The engine failure issues could well be down to where the aircraft was operated from reading the issues involved.

Nothing wrong with the aeroplane at all.


2.C150/2 - God-awful soulless spam can built for people who are under 6ft and 10 stone! Taught gazillions to fly though, people just like me.

Slingsby, 1.Yea it's a great airplane.........as long as you don't fly it

C150/2, 2.It's a trainer it's not ment to be cool or fast just a good basic stable airplane..... and it is...... I think you must be confused this is the 5 worst aircraft not the 5 best because thats where the Cessna 150/2 should be 8-)

[evanatorx]

This is easy.

The Wright Flyer is the worst aircraft of all time! Everything after that was just an improvement!