Got a personal favorite? I thourougly enjoy watching the Blue Angels myself. They started flying F/A-18s the year I was born.

I've always like the look of the Sukhoi line of aircraft. Namely the Su-37.

And the Su-47

I like the look of the F-22, F-15 and the F-18.

Yup, I love military airshows. Something about the raw power of the jet engines get me all amped up!

Funny story, I was working the Miramar Airshow with my cousin, and setup was the day before the show. So we were setting up our booth, and the Thunderbirds were practicing their routines. Since there were "technically" no civillians on base, they were allowed push the envelope a bit futher.

I was just enthralled in getting to watch them practice, then I noticed that two of the planes were missing, and I hadn't noticed where they had gone. My cousin, who had spent some time in the Air Force, knew exactly what they were doing, and when I looked at him, he had this purely evil smile. He pointed over a hangar, and said, "watch this." I noticed the two missing planes flying VERY low over the hangar, but didn't hear them. All of a sudden..."BOOM BOOM." They performed the "sneaker," the manouver designed to catch people off-guard and wow them with the sound.

Again, since there were no "civillians," on base, and they were pushing a little harder, we estimated that they flew over close to .9 mach, which any of you know is just about the speed of sound.

EDIT: F-14 Tomcat is my favorite. Not sure why, just always loved that plane!

I worked that whole weekend, and thankfully, I knew each and every time the "sneaker" was coming, but each time it happened, shivers went down my spine!

F-35 JSF
http://stores.wildmanngraphics.com/catalog/F%2035.bmp
http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/07/09/f35_wideweb__470x314,0.jpg

su-33 Flanker is the most beautiful aircraft I've ever seen, it's the only fighter i fly on ace combat, i can make that baby dance.

The F-111.

I'll let you figure out why.

Lord Harrab:
su-33 Flanker is the most beautiful aircraft I've ever seen, it's the only fighter i fly on ace combat, i can make that baby dance.

Yeah, man. That's what I flew too in Ace Combat 5.

If you can't identify either of these two planes, kindly throw yourself off of a cliff into a pit filled with rusty surgical equipment.

Michael_McCloud:

If you can't identify either of these two planes, kindly throw yourself off of a cliff into a pit filled with rusty surgical equipment.

the p-51 mustang and the B 52 "Fuck you commie" bomber. nice choice(s)

Lord Harrab:

the p-51 mustang and the B 52 "Fuck you commie" bomber. nice choice(s)

Thanks. My grandfather used to work with the latter in his younger days.

My favorite military aircraft?... Well I thought that would be obvious the Harrier Jump Jet beats the shit out of any other fighter ever and the FA-22 Raptor can piss of with its giant fan thing.
(cheating Americans with their money and resources).

P.S. how do you put a picture in a thread?

Michael_McCloud:

Lord Harrab:

the p-51 mustang and the B 52 "Fuck you commie" bomber. nice choice(s)

Thanks. My grandfather used to work with the latter in his younger days.

it says something about the aircraft if after nearly fifty years of service, they still can't think of any other plane to replace it.

The A-10 Warthog

Spitfire!

Allmost anything that ends in "Gunship" will be cool.

I like pretty much any American Aircraft built since WW2. But I've always liked the:
F/A-18 Super Hornet - A very versatile aircraft.
A-10 Thunderbolt - The most kick ass Close Air Support aircraft. EVAR!
AH-64D Apache Longbow - Best Attack Helicopter to date.

I love stealth jets!

So black and sleek...

*drools*

MiG-35, I like them Russians.

The P-38 is beauty incarnate in my opinion.

F16 is my favorite I find it an interesting piece of tech from back in the day, if you ever see the thunderbirds it's really fun when they are on the ground to see the elevators and ailerons (sp) moving around due to the fly by wire comp trying to keep it "level" i suppose. Plus I always thought the joystick off to the side was always awesome originally it was supposed to just rely on pressure on the joystick to fly the plane but pilots had trouble adjusting to that so it now moves about an inch in any direction if i'm not mistaken. I remember sitting in one and since i'm 6,4 my head almost scrapes the canopy,(i'm sure the seat adjust somehow but I couldn't figure it out.

Classically, I like the Hawker Tempest

The Lancaster Bomber:

and the J7W Shinden
.

I also like the modern Kamov Ka-50 Werewolf/ Hokum/ Black Shark

I don't really like modern jets that much. Obviously they're effective bit I don't find them as aesthetically pleasing as older aircraft.

If helicopters count, then my favorite aircraft has gotta be the Mi-28 HIND, that thing is flying awesome.

The Kind Cannibal:
The A-10 Warthog

The most badass plane ever. I live near Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina and one of our friends did all the maintenance on those planes. We got a personal tour on the flight line of the squadron, pure awesome.

Lord Harrab:

Michael_McCloud:

If you can't identify either of these two planes, kindly throw yourself off of a cliff into a pit filled with rusty surgical equipment.

the p-51 mustang and the B 52 "Fuck you commie" bomber. nice choice(s)

indeed

Ruzzian Roulette:
If helicopters count, then my favorite aircraft has gotta be the Mi-28 HIND, that thing is flying awesome.

That's so ugly, yet so terrifying and awesome at the same time.

It's like a flying Ogre.

It may not win any prizes for aesthetics, but for shear terror and iconic awesomeness, it's number 1.

I'm sorry all of you that didn't vote Warthog, but the A-10 is simply put, the best piece of hardware in the sky. Why? Because the Hog is a unique craft filling a role that they've always needed but never addressed. You've got jets for long-range, medium range, and short range anti-air, dogfighters, interceptors, and air superiority fighters. You have bombers big and small, dropping anything from 500lb gravity bombs to air-borne launch nuclear warheads and MOABs, but traditional jet bombers are not efficient means to harass ground forces.

Enter the A-10. Capable of a controlled flight at speeds so slow that any other jet would fall out of the sky, and at such low altitudes that it would be comparable to helicopters, the Thunderbolt II (Aka Warthog) can circle the field like a vulture, picking off targets as it goes. Yes, jump jets like the harrier or JSF can also perform this role, but VTOL maneuvers are very fuel consuming, and for the same jet fuel that would allow the harrier to hover-engage one target, a warthog can fly for an hour. Add to that the Hog's greater payload; a hair under 3,000lbs more than the AV-8B when it comes to hardpoint munitions and almost 4x as many rounds for the cannon.

But jump jets aren't the only craft losing work to the Warthog, the AH-64 Apache is also being out-done by the A-10. While the Warthog will never fully replace helicopter gunships, pitting the US's top copter against the hog, the AH-64 has half the operational range and only 1/3rd the speed that the A-10 possesses, and like the AV-8B, carries less payload (9600lbs compared to 19400lbs) and of a less various nature, mostly limited to hellfire missiles and rockets.

Finally, the A-10 is one tough son of a bitch. Every possible component onboard was designed to be left/right compatible. You can literally take an entire wing and flip it to the other side with minimal adjustment, the engines are the same on either side, making maintenance costs, repair times, and required parts inventories drastically less than any other military jet. The A-10 can take a severe beating in the air, and its low flight speed makes crash landings a survivable affair.

It kicks the shit out of jets, tanks, infantry, and helicopters. It can take far more punishment than any other jet aircraft, and at the end of the day, they can strip off damaged parts and replace them in less time than it would take to ready another jet for flight. And that's not exaggerating. Give the damn thing a 10-disc MP3/CD player and a cup holder in the cockpit, and you'd have to worship it as a god.

I forgot to ask, can the A-10 engage other aircraft (helicopters, fighter, bombers)? If so, how effective are they/would they be?

Lord Harrab:
su-33 Flanker is the most beautiful aircraft I've ever seen, it's the only fighter i fly on ace combat, i can make that baby dance.

Me too!

I love all types of aircraft, but Im a vintage nut. Here is just a few of my favs

Khell_Sennet:
A10 A10 more A10

You meet with my approval, good sir.
Jamash, did you get introduced to some of those by the old Dynamix/Sierra Aces of the Pacific and Aces over Europe, perhaps? I recognized everything but the twin-tail brit in this thread, is that a Vampire?

I like the Mosquito VI and the B-25-J as well (The Wooden Wonder and the American Bomber with ~14 forward facing .50s? classic)

well, obviously being British a love for the spitfire,hurricane and mosquito is in my blood.
favourite yankee aircraft would have to be the F-117 Nighthawk it just looks so otherworldly

helicopter apache of course..except the more powerful British one

The B-17 Flying Fortress is worth a mention at least. Amazing plane even with its shorter range and smaller bomb-rack than the B-24 Liberator.

Focke-Wulf 190 too while I'm thinking WWII.

The UH-60(Blackhawk) is the most purty chopper around, if you want my opinion (which you apperantly do, having asked for it on a forum. Ha ha! I am victorious!)

Course, how could I not love the Spitfire or Lancaster, or, indeed, pretty much all WW2 military aircraft. They are all beautiful.

Modern jets, I think, are not nearly as iconic, though the Eurofighter typoon and the Harrier jump jet are rather, rather nice. The hercules is also damn impressive, especially when one comes up over the crest of a hill on training as you walk along Hadrians wall. That and a Chinnok suddenly appearing over some trees behind me in Snowdonia, about 10 metres up, waving door-gunner and all. Military hardware has a tendancy to be beautiful in its power and might. Tanks, helicopters and guns all seem strangley attractive to me, like a Tiger or a Cheetah.

Maybe that's just me.