Posted on 01/11/2014 8:25:52 AM PST by Sir Napsalot
Over the last century of military aviation, several fighters have earned the nickname “flying coffin.” Military aviation inherently pushes up against the limits of technology and human endurance, particularly where fighter and pursuit aviation is concerned. Flying a fighter is remarkably dangerous, even when no one is trying to shoot you down.
Engineering a capable fighter plane is also a struggle. Relatively small changes in engine, armament, and airframe design can transform a clunker into an elite fighting machine; many of the best fighters in history were initially viewed askance by their pilots. But elite status rarely lasts for long, especially in World War I and World War II. Fighters that dominated the sky in one year become “flying coffins” as technology and tactics move forward.
And thus the difference between a great fighter and a terrible fighter can be remarkably small. As with the previous list, the critical work is in determining the criteria. Fighters are national strategic assets, and must be evaluated as such:
· Did this aircraft fail at the tactical tasks that it was given? Did it perform poorly against its direct contemporaries?
· Did the fighter show up, or was it in the hangar when it was needed? Was it more of a danger to its pilots than to enemy fighters?
· Did it represent a misappropriation of national assets?
So what are the worst fighter aircraft of all time? For these purposes, we’ll be concentrating on fighters that enjoyed production runs of 500 or more aircraft (listed in parentheses); curiosities such as the XF-84H “Thunderscreech” need not apply.
(Click through the pages for the *top* 5 list)
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalinterest.org ...
That was....odd!
BTW, the third and final second lieutenant shown in that sequence from “Starfighters” is none other than “B-1” Bob Dornan!
That wouldn't have been a problem since the Pave Tack pod rotates up and into the weapons bay.
I know ... ;-)
But was the mounting for it strong enough to survive a carrier landing without braking loose?
The plane was flown by the Air Force, Navy, and Marines, it saved a hell of alot of US and Vietnamese personnel, and killed a lot of VC.
It will always be number one in my list of The Best Planes.
Semper Fi.
The Me-110 turned into a good nightfighter.
Pratt and Whitney F100 powered aka the F-16 F-15 engine. From a former Pratt guy I know now in his 90's retired noted, it did things a Phantom never should have done...
Cool
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