What is your favourite period of aviation, and why?

A nice easy thread to close out 2008 with

As the topic says, what is your favourite period of aviation, and why? What aircraft, civil or military, floats your boat the most? Do you love the latest, greatest aircraft coming off the production line today, or does your lust lie with the great prop fighters of World War 2? Or would you rather spend your time in the fields of France with biplanes?

For me, I have two great loves in aviation:

1. The prop fighters of the early 1940s. The aircraft we went into WW2 with aren't anything special in my eyes, and the aircraft we left WW2 with were the product of 6 years of war and practically unlimited funding, but still are not anything special beyond being perfected killing machines.

The Spitfire Mk IX symbolises, to me, the brilliance of engineering under fire.

2. The mid Cold War era of the RAF - the English Electric Lightning, the Phantom F-4K with Speys, the Canberra, the Buccaneer. As long as it wasn't flown by a computer, its in

The best part of this period is the Fleet Air Arm with its F-4Ks and Buccs operating off the last large Royal Navy carriers.

I wonder what the Falklands War would have been like if we still had the Audacious-class fleet aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (R09), with 12 Buccs and 14 Phantoms within its strike force. Thoughts?

My favourites are the 1930's with the changeover from such as the HP 42 and A W Siskin type aircraft though to the Spitfire, DC-3 etc in a single decade, and the 1950's for similar reasons but with jets! Plus seemingly an exciting new plane to pore over every week! How old was I when I first saw a Tornado? Bloody 10 and its still the mainstay of the RAF! The Janes and Observers books from the 50's are fascinating, its great to see how much all-new material was added each year. For instance the 1949 edition has the Spitfire, Lanc, B-17 et al in it, but the 1959 edition has moved on to Lightnings, MiG 21's and F-4 Phantoms. Terrific!

[edit on 30-12-2008 by waynos]

Hmm.
I managed to quote myself before id even said anything.
What a tool.

I love the 60's/Early 70's in U.S. Military Aircraft. Planes such as the SR-71 were developed and entered service, which was decades ahead of it's time. I also love the XB-70 Valkeryie, A mach 3 bomber. I think the F-15 was an amazing aircraft as well, with it's perfect combat record. And finally, the stealth generation. I love the styling of the now aging B-2, and of course I love the Raptor.Im also a huge fan of the MiG-29 Fulcrum,and the MiG-31 Foxbat.

For me its the period of the 50's and the 70's. We saw a tremendous leap in aviation technology and performance.

As Mr. Anon points out we saw the advent of planes like the XB-70 which remains my favorite airframe ever. We also say the A-12 / YF-12 / SR-71 / D-21 and a host of other innovative craft. The end of this frame saw the rise of stealth aircraft.

For me, it has to be WWII and the big piston engines. When I go to airshows these days, the sights are still great, but the sounds are what complete the experience.

With a few exceptions (the Vulcan, for instance), jet engines just sound soulless. A loud roar, the thunder of afterburners, sound and fury, but no character.

Compare that with a big piston engine from Rolls Royce, Bristol, Napier, Pratt & Whitney, Allison, or Wright. Then compare how different the same engine sounds in a different airframe. And then, if you go to Reno, just listen to those engines when they've been tuned so far past their design ratings it's not funny.

If I had to pick one, my favourite would have to be a Spitfire Mk.IX, with the Merlin 61. The stopgap Spit, which turned out to be the most produced of all. Hearing one apply full power for take off just gives me goosebumps.

KW

My favorite period has to be post WWII to about 1970ish. That was the era in which the designers and engineers were backed by eager powerful military types and essentially unlimited funding/resources. They pushed the technology to discover where the boundaries actually were, or if there were any at all.

But what I like about this period is the style in which this was all done. Everything from defining a need, to building an airframe to address it, was all done very quickly, no 20 years to get an aircraft in service. Another aspect of this time period is the testing, a little more cowboy. And of course no lawyers and bureaucracy in selecting a winning contract. It brings a smirk to my face to imagine the reaction of LeMay if one of his bomber projects was stalled due to litigation or politicians.

Oh and who can forget buying in bulk.

That attitude coupled with unlimited resource and a fast simple design/build/procurement process in the midst of an understood global standoff is likely never to be resurrected again. Much to the dismay of us military buffs.

[edit on 1-1-2009 by WestPoint23]

Personally I'm rather fond of the inter-war period. The aviation world was still new enough for people to put forward truely bizzare ideas. The Bel Geddes airliner for instance.



9 Decks high and with room for tennis courts and lounge bars, a far cry from modern day sleazy jet.

At the same time the level of luxury was incomparible in genuine planes like the Dornier Do-x and the Latécoère 521, the first steps towards regular trans-atlantic aviation.

Jensy

my favourite period is the whole cold war

I love the post-WW2 engineering era, which produced the (first) jet aircraft, supersonic jet fighters. My favourite aircraft of that era are mig-21, english electric lightning, f-8 crusader, u-s dragon lady and finaly sr-71 blackbird. Some aircraft of that era are one of the most glorious and best achievements in history.

The aircraft of the 60s are interesting as well, they use perfected technology of previous era and new computer technology. Examples of such aircraft are f-111, a-7 corsair2, ...

1970s brought more advanced and inovative aerodynamics. aircraft are the f-15, f-14, mig-25, ...

And the final decade of cold war, the 80s. The advanced computer technology enabled the development of aircraft like f-18, f-16, mig-29, su-27, b-1, b-2, f-117, ... these are the most advanced aircraft still today

greets

Something to note that some people might find interesting is this - there were only 11 years between the first flights of two great British aviation icons, the Lancaster and the Vulcan.

11 years separates two worlds. Think about that.

The "golden age", or inter-war period. Fascinating stuff - the transition to monoplanes, the experiments in R&D, the romanticism of flying in period culture, the mid 30's airframes that became frontline fighters for the next 10 years... etc.

Love the mid to late 30's with the big Pan Am flying boats. They made it possible to travel from New York to Rio for the weekend and to the Orient in less than a week. Pan Am went across the Pacific to China while the only thing crossing the Atlantic was the Hindenburg and its sister.