Britain's Top 10 Most Beautiful Aircraft

over the past 18 months or so I've given my opinions on some of the less aesthetically pleasing aircraft from various countries which has sparked some fiery debates and some passionate defenses look no further than the fairy ganet but during this time many of you have also asked what about the good aircraft what about the eye candy what about the ones that make you stand still and stare and suddenly you're a 10-year-old child at an air show for the first time time well today I'm going to be shifting course and we're going to begin to explore some of the best looking aircraft ever made and by way of an apology to fairy ganet enthusiasts we're going to start by looking at some of the best looking aircraft produced by Britain now to say this is a broad category would be an understatement and narrowing down my top 10 choices was not exactly easy and I'm sure my selection of beautiful aircraft will be as equally controversial as my selection of ugly aircraft but beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all however to keep things varied and somewhat Fair I've done my best to include aircraft from all eras and from various types and today's selection includes aircraft of Fairly modern Origins and some with a vintage dating all the way back to the days of the first world war now speaking of the first world war today's video is kindly sponsored by Supremacy 1914 Supremacy 1914 is a free-to-play Online PVP strategy game where you get to choose a real country to lead during the tumultuous time of the first world war it has a vast sense of scope letting you fight with up to 500 other players in real time in epic battles that can take weeks to complete much like a real life campaign but it's not just about Brute Force it's about your strategic mindset whether you're deploying cavalry tanks or planes every decision could turn the tide of War Forge alliances or declare war on your neighbors to expand your Empire the choice is yours and every strategy will lead to a unique outcome now what I personally like about this game is the long-term strategy aspect it's not just about the short battles that you fight over a couple of hours but also the Diplomatic relationships you build with other players and the complex strategies and larger battles you devise and fight over days and weeks and the best part is that you can play with the same account on both PC and mobile making it easy to manage your Empire wherever you go so to sign up for free click on the link in the description below and in doing so today you will get an added bonus you'll get 15,000 gold and 1 month of Premium subscription for free but this offer is only available for the next 30 days so take advantage of it whilst it lasts once again thank you to suprem pry 1914 for sponsoring today's video and now let's look at some truly beautiful British aircraft coming in at number 10 we have the Sopwith snipe one of the prettiest B plane fighters from the first world war well I say that but it barely entered service before the war ended nevertheless it was still a very pretty machine designed as a replacement for the venerable swith camel the snipe was designed to provide better performance at high altitudes improved Pilot's visibility and greater physical endurance unlike many bipl fighters which sometimes looked clunky rough or straight up ill proportioned the snipe was sleek and aggressive it did away with the slab-sided fuselage found on most aircraft of its day and instead had a smooth circular cross-section that Blended seam seamlessly with the engines cowling this combined with a pair of swept back staggered Wings neither too large nor too small gave the snipe almost perfect proportions entering service in August 1918 it didn't have much time to prove its worth but despite this the snipe did prove to be a worthy successor to the swi camel it was highly maneuverable performed excellently at high altitudes and displayed a remarkable ability to absorb punishment owing to this brief but excellent performance it became the primary Fighter for the newly formed Raf in the post-war period remaining in active military service until the mid 1920s cruising in at number nine we have the Vicor VC 10 a lot of people say that the davand comet was the prettiest of Britain's early jet airliners and that's fair enough the the comet does look very nice but for me I much prefer the longer sleeker slightly more aggressive looking vc10 developed by Vicor Armstrong in the late 1950s it was designed to operate from airports along the old Empire air routes these were often hot remote locations with moderately short runways in Africa Asia and South America and because of this the vc10 needed a lot of power to get off off the ground quickly that is why it has the distinction of being only one of two passenger transports to use four rear mounted engines these were Rolls-Royce conways which were the first turbofan jet engines to enter service not only did these provide better fuel efficiency than turbo Jets but they were also quieter because of this the vc10 soon earned itself an excellent reputation for passenger Comfort but despite this and its advant Advanced design and excellent performance it was not a commercial success new airports with longer runways were rapidly being built all over the world and the need to operate from older shorter runways rapidly diminished though its commercial life was shortlived the vc10 would have a longer military career serving as a transport and aerial fuel tanker with the RAF until it was finally retired in 2013 coming in at number eight we have another airliner the airspeed Ambassador designed for short and medium Hall air rots and entering service in the early 50s it was part of the last and grandest generation of piston powered airliners it was also by far and way the best looking of its British contemporaries its pointed nose High mounted wing and triple fin tail gave it an elegant countenance that has often been compared to the locked constellation which is considered by many to be the prettiest piston powered airliner ever built but sadly looks do not always equal success and on the whole the Ambassador could be considered a dismal failure this was partly due to its conventional engines as it was quickly superseded by turboprop designs such as the Vicor VI count and partly due to internal company politics the havland had recently taken over air speed in 1951 and they immediately prioritized the use of airs speed's factories for the production of their own designs Instead This left little time and a little money for airp Speed to look into improving their own designs and although they had wanted to install turbo props on the Ambassador this was never done and in the end less than 25 of these beautiful machines were ever built hauling its way into seventh place we have the Majestic short Empire in the interwar period the flying boat was the queen of the Skies as far as commercial transport was concerned they were big they were spacious they had luxurious cabins but until the mid 1930s many of them could not be considered beautiful or Majestic or goodlooking in any conceivable away the Sleek all metal monoplane flying boats of the late 30s did make up for this though and the short Empire was the best looking flying boat to come off British slipways in the inter War period intended for long distance and transcontinental routs connecting the British Empire's various territories across the globe the short Empire formed the backbone of Imperial Airways operations until it was merged into boac in 1939 it was most notable for its regular service between Britain and Australia and its popularity with passengers soon saw six aircraft being ordered directly by Quantus though successful the Empire's profitable career was brief due to the outbreak of the second world war however it did have one big impact as its design and the lessons learned from producing it directly influenced the development of the highly successful and highly famous short [Music] Sunderland coming in at to number six we have the Hawker heart the heart was one of Britain's best interwar military aircraft and it also happened to be one of the few biplane designs of this period that had the beauty to match its performance the Sleek silver noosed heart was designed as a light bomber and it caused no small amount of embarrassment for fighter designers when it became the fastest aircraft in the RAF when it entered service in 1930 not only did it have a decent top speed of 185 mph or just under 300 km per hour but the heart was also highly maneuverable sturdy and reliable unsurprisingly it spawned a whole family of subvariants the Hawker orax an army Corporation plane the Hardy a general purpose aircraft the hind an improved light bomber version the Osprey a carborn version and the demon which was a fighter variant that like its predecessor outperformed most other fighters in RAF service much to hawker's Glee the heart would prove to be so good that despite being overshadowed by later monoplane designs it remained in use in various roles including training and secondary duties well into the Second World [Music] War our number five aircraft and indeed all the rest in this video is one that needs no introduction but it's getting one anyway it is of course the BAE Hawk I mean just look at it it is bloody gorgeous originally developed by Haw a sidley in the 1970s the hawk has since been used by the Royal Air Force and numerous other Air Forces all around the world as a pilot trainer as well as a lowcost combat aircraft during its tenur career it has earned a reputation for reliability ease of Maintenance and low operating costs becoming one of the most successful jet trainer aircraft ever produced but for many of us myself included we all know the hawk from the countless air shows in which it has performed the most famous operator of the Hawks is of course the raf's Red Arrows aerobatic team which uses the T1 variant of the hawk the the red arrows are renowned for their Precision flying and spectacular displays which are by far the best way in which you can set your eyes on such a good looking aircraft now the final four aircraft of this video are in no particular order as in a perfect world I would rank them all as number one so at number four and this will come as no surprise to anyone which is why I'm getting it out of the way first we have the supermarine Spitfire the brainchild of RJ Mitchell who died barely a year after it first flew the Spitfire was one of the most successful and most beautiful aircraft of the piston engine era it would be the only British fighter to see continual production throughout the entirety of the second world war and over 20,000 of these magnificent machines would eventually be built powered initially by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and later the Griffin the Spitfire entered service in 1938 and quickly became a symbol of British Air power the Spitfire was integral to Britain's air defense during the war playing a key role in the Battle of Britain and it served in every major theater filling the role of fighter Interceptor photo reconnaissance platform and even as a fighter bomber Not only was it an excellent performer but its roaring Merlin engine and the Griffin that followed it combined with the elliptical Wings made it instantly recognizable wherever it went now and to number three the other piston powered Beauty may cause a bit of debate but here it is we have the davand Hornet what the Hornet not the davand mosquito Reck how dare you I know I know I can already hear the sound of angry keystrokes but that is my decision I think the hornet looks better I think its proportions are nicer and its tail surfaces don't look like the result of a clipping error in AutoCAD following the success of their wooden wonder the multi-war mosquito theavant began a private venture to develop a long-range fighter aircraft for the Pacific Theater they needed something with long range good high altitude per performance and the fastest top speed possible they achieved this by taking the wooden construction techniques used on the mosquito applied it to an even sleeker aerodynamically refined airframe and then completed the Masterpiece by bolting on a pair of 270 horsepower Merlin engines the result was the Hornet a twin engine fighter with a range of, 1500 M and A blistering top speed of 475 mph or 764 kmph Not only was it fast not only did it look good but it handled like a dream Captain Eric winkl Brown the famous British test pilot put in many hours test flying the navalized version that was known as The seah Hornet and he said that no other aircraft had ever made such a deep and Lasting Impression Not only was it a fantastic fighter that never really got the credit it deserved but it looked AB absolutely gorgeous now in second place and again just a reminder that the top four are in no particular order as I adore all of them we have one of my all-time favorite aircraft which just also happens to be incredibly beautiful and that is the Glorious Hawker Hunter entering service in 1954 the hunter quickly gained recognition for its speed agility and Sleek design setting various air speed records designed by Sir Sydney cam the hunter featured a swept Wing design a single seat cockpit four potent 30 mm cannons and was powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon Turbo Jet which enabled it to reach speeds of over 700 mph or mark. N4 the Hunter's excellent performance characteristics made it a favorite among Pilots over its service life the hunter was used not only by the ra F but by numerous other Air Forces all over the world despite being replaced by more modern aircraft as the years went by the hunter continued to serve in secondary roles with Air Forces of smaller Nations up until the early 21st century and some also still see some limited service today in my humble opinion it is the quintessential example of an old school jet fighter and to top it off not only did it look absolutely amazing being a popular site at air shows but it sounded spectacular the hunter had been famous for producing something called the Blue Note a sort of whistling howl and this was caused by the slipstream passing over the gunports and this has made it a fan favorite at various air shows all over the world ever since it first took to the air and now speaking of aircraft that sound cool and uh many of you can probably guess what I'm going to be saying here at number one we have what is my own personal choice so feel free to disagree with me on this Choice as of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and for this Beholder the best looking British aircraft ever made is the Avo Vulcan the Spitfire The Hornet and the hunter are all incredibly beautiful machines but the AO Vulcan is an aircraft that is as beautiful as it was imposing when this thing first flew in the early 50s its huge deltawing profile made it look like something from the pages of Science Fiction the Vulcan was the most advanced strategic bomber ever developed by the British era industry and it formed the backbone of Britain's nuclear deterrent force in the early Decades of the Cold War affectionately nicknamed the tin triangle owing to the shape of the early prototypes the Vulcan would Captivate the hearts and minds of the British public becoming the ultimate display of air power and Aerial Beauty however for many people who would see the Vulcan fly be it operationally or its aerial displays it was not the Vulcans looks that turned their heads instead it was the Deep spine tingling howl of its [Applause] [Music] engines [Music] I had the privilege of seeing this aircraft fly once just once and I only saw it by chance and it lasted about 15 seconds and to this day no other aircraft has come close to the all inspiring presence that the Vulcan brings and that's it that's why for me at least the a Vulcan is Britain best looking aircraft it has the beauty and it has the Beast once again thank you to Supremacy 1914 for sponsoring today's video don't forget to click on the link below sign up for your free premium benefits choose your nation and fight your way to Victory as always thank you all so much for watching and a big thank you of course to the patron supporters now this video was actually planned to go up weeks ago but I had some problems with licensing of some stock footage I'd purchased which delayed things surprise surprise who would have thought that dealing with companies that hoard archival and public domain footage for commercial gain would be difficult to deal with funny that anyway a big thank you of course to our wing commands and tier patrons our highest tier supporters and a warm welcome to schoa who is the newest member of this special group the latest poll is now up on patreon so don't forget to check that out and cast your votes and more polls will be going up in the near future but as always thank you all so much for your continued support and I'll catch you all next time goodbye

Channel: Rex's Hangar

Views: 105,798

Keywords: rexs hangar, top 10, top 10 best looking aircraft, top 10 most beautiful aircraft, beautiful aircraft, best looking aircraft, aviation history

Id: t84TWpNTa7o

Length: 20min 42sec (1242 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 24 2024