What Are Your 'Milestones Of Flight' Aircraft?

To go back to the original question:-

Montgolfier balloon,

Stringfellow’s steam-powered aeroplane (ok this was a scale,unmanned model which flew,albeit inside his factory)-arguably the first powered heavier-than- air aeroplane to fly,

Then the Wright flyer (arguably the first manned HTA powered aeroplane),

Vickers Vimy- trans-Atlantic flyer,

Sikorsky VS-300 1st helicopter,

Heinkel 176, Gloster Whittle,

Bell X-1,

X-15,

TU 144 & Concorde

& Rockwell SST-1 Columbia.

In 1965 the IAF and PAF went a bit further than air assimilation tests with their respective Hunters and Sabres………;)

But combat betwen two, ahhm…less than first world…(Is that polite enough?)
air forces hardly show the capabilities of the aircraft.
Besides, it’s generally considered the Indians had a higher level of training.

Maybe we should examine record of the Jordanian Hunters vs the Isreali AF…:D

there must have been air assimilation tests between Hunters and F-86’s, anyone aware of this and have results.

In 1965 the IAF and PAF went a bit further than air assimilation tests with their respective Hunters and Sabres………;)

do you have the old Wings Of Fame?

Which family, yours?

Don’t knock it, the Hunter proved to be a great aircraft, there must have been air assimilation tests between Hunters and F-86’s, anyone aware of this and have results.

last issue with the Hunter feature, Hunter had better growth potential (not used?) more stable gun platform, could do rapid scramble and climb, a lot more in the volume than I can copy down here, including Indian-Pakistan wars and I’ve also read about Hunters giving Israeli Mirage III’s a hard time.

I like people’s suggestions, but it’s all a bit easy and, frankly, pointless posting up lists. I’d suggest picking, say, ten, and then explaining each choice with a single sentence. Some of the later posts (DH-60 & C-130) do that well.

Cheers

Alright.

Sopwith Camel – served in more squadrons and with more kills than any other Allied scout – taking into consideration performance, success rate and versatility, just about the best Allied scout of the war even if it seems to be less fashionable than the SE5 these days for some reason

Curtiss R3C – totally transformed the Schneider Trophy from a race between existing and relatively practical designs into a full-on performance at all costs arms race – also revolutionised warplane development

Fairey Fox – showed the brass what ‘blue sky thinking’ could achieve, outperformed the fighters of the day and led to a revolution in bomber and fighter design, the Hart/Fury family etc. Criminal that Faireys barely benefited from their work

Short Stirling – see my last post

Blackburn Buccaneer – proof that the British aircraft industry was at the top of its game in the early-mid 50s, and raised the game for everyone else. One of the most potent strike aircraft of the postwar period.

A bit like my DC-4 choice in post 6 you mean JDK?:rolleyes:

XN923, must admit I lost sight of the brief, my fault. What I was getting at was that the Halifax was designed and built to a spec as a four engined heavy (more successfully than the Stirling) and led to the lay out of most British bombers afterwards, where as the Lancaster really came from a failed twin engine type that the manufacturer had the foresight to develop into a four engined bomber afterwards.

Not quite – S.13/36 originally called for a twin, and Handley Page designed their aircraft first as a twin. They were very sceptical about two engines per wing as it would require a big redesign into new territory, big weight gain and increased complexity. Shorts, meanwhile, came along with their flying boat experience and quietly put four powerful engines on before the acknowledged big bomber ‘experts’ – in a spec (S.12/36) that actually asked for four engines. Chadwick wanted to put four Merlins on a Manchester for quite some time, it wasn’t a case of ‘me too’ following the relative success of the Halifax and failure of the Manchester. Either you go for the best of the three, the Lancaster, or the first, the Stirling, in my view.

….explaining each choice with a single sentence. Some of the later posts (DH-60 & C-130) do that well.
Cheers

A bit like my DC-4 choice in post 6 you mean JDK?:rolleyes:

XN923, must admit I lost sight of the brief, my fault. What I was getting at was that the Halifax was designed and built to a spec as a four engined heavy (more successfully than the Stirling) and led to the lay out of most British bombers afterwards, where as the Lancaster really came from a failed twin engine type that the manufacturer had the foresight to develop into a four engined bomber afterwards.

I want to see them get a C-130 into the Hendon ‘Milestones’ – that would be fun….

Bruce

Don’t knock it, the Hunter proved to be a great aircraft, there must have been air assimilation tests between Hunters and F-86’s, anyone aware of this and have results.

Hunter vs F-86. Consider:
Combat hours & kills and kill ratio…
Numbers built & used.
Nos sold to other countries.
Developed versions, successful, and foreign production.
Date into production, length of service.
Teething problems.
Cost/effective ratio, inc or exl production.
Servicability.

And then, if you want;
Naval versions.
Further developments.
Numbers of aerobatic teams.

The Hunter’s a very ‘nice’ aircraft, but isn’t even in the F-86 league. The Hunter also failed to leave any developed versions for the next generation of fighters. Sorry, I do like the Hunter, but it’s simply not a significant type, except, perhaps, for looks. 😉

I like people’s suggestions, but it’s all a bit easy and, frankly, pointless posting up lists. I’d suggest picking, say, ten, and then explaining each choice with a single sentence. Some of the later posts (DH-60 & C-130) do that well.

Cheers

No one mentioned the DH.60?????

Brought flying to the masses worldwide, most successful light aeroplane series ever????

😉

Hunter Vs F-86 Sabre (and family)?

…as you say, the Hunter looks very nice. 😀

Which family, yours?

Don’t knock it, the Hunter proved to be a great aircraft, there must have been air assimilation tests between Hunters and F-86’s, anyone aware of this and have results.

I want to add the C-130 Hercules to the list, surely an aircraft that has been in production since 1954 has become a milestone.

Hawker Hunter for it’s position as Britains first true all ‘singing and dancing’, almost supersonic jet fighter.

Hunter Vs F-86 Sabre (and family)?

…as you say, the Hunter looks very nice. 😀

Two aircraft that I’m surprised haven’t been mentioned:-
DH Mosquito for it’s speed, versatility and weapons carrying capability.
Hawker Hunter for it’s position as Britains first true all ‘singing and dancing’, almost supersonic jet fighter.
Oh, and of course, both aircraft are very pretty.

In hindsight, I should probably replace the Supermarine S5 with the Macchi M.39 and add the Fairey Fox in there as well, just for being a rocket up ‘their Airships’

Bleriot 1X (first frenchman to crash land in england)
Fokker DV11 (best fighter of ww1)
Vickers Vimy

That would be the Vimy of the two Englishmen who weren’t even the first to crash into Ireland? 😀

BTW, I think you mean IX and VII

In no particular order (not even chronological)..

Wright Flyer
Bleriot monoplane
AEA Silver Dart
Nieuport 17
Douglas DC-2/DC3
He-178
Me-262
Gloster Meteor
Supermarine Spitfire
Grumman F6F Hellcat
Avro C102 Jetliner
North American F-86
Yak-15
MiG-15
Avro Canada CF-100
Avro Canada CF-105
Convair B-36 Peacemaker
Lockheed U-2
Boeing 707
Lockheed F-104
North American X-15
North American XB-70
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk
N-G B-2 Spirit
Antonov An-225

I could probably go on and on…

Wright flyer, Bleriot monoplanes, Sopwith Triplane, Fokker D-VII, Polikarpov I-16, Hawker fury, Messerschmitt 109 and 262, Mustang, Spitfire, Boeings B-29, 707 and ’47, Boeing B-47, Hawker Harrier and Lockheed SR-71

Not sure the Lanc is a good choice influence wise, didn’t the also successful Halifax pre-date it?

Successful but far less so. Both originated from the same Air Ministry specification for a medium bomber (though both became heavies). Avro had to fight somewhat against Air Ministry scepticism, but it is testament to the Lancaster’s brilliance that it quickly became the RAF’s main heavy. Whichever way you cut it, the Lanc was a brilliant aircraft, the Halifax merely a good one. Lanc led to York, Lancastrian, Lincoln, Tudor and Shackleton. Halifax led to Halton, Hermes and Hastings. Greater influence?

I’ve gone for the Stirling as truly the first RAF heavy.

Avro Triplane
Albatros DIII
Sopwith Camel
Curtiss R3C
Supermarine S5
Douglas DC3
Fairey Swordfish
Junkers Ju87
Short Stirling
Hawker Hurricane
Focke-Wulf Fw190
North American P-51 Mustang
Gloster Meteor
North American F-86 Sabre
de Havilland Comet
Avro Vulcan
Boeing 707
Blackburn Buccaneer
English Electric Lightning
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
Airbus A300
Eurofighter Typhoon