Everyone has an opinion, and below is mine.
Planes are funny things. If one were to go to his cardiologist, he would not be encouraged to hear the latter offer him their treatment from 1952. He wants whatever just jumped out of the pages of The New England Journal of Medicine last week. With planes, it would seem that some of the best models ever built are old—some of them older than this author and his readers.
My experience with planes was late in coming. When growing up, we drove everywhere because air travel was too expensive. Even trying to see the interior of a 747 that was housed in a Chicago museum failed, as every time I visited, that exhibit was closed. Finally, at age 18, I boarded my first flight, a People Express flight from Boston to Chicago. I was excited beyond words, and it was still the day when one’s loved ones stood with open arms on the other side of the jet bridge. When we landed, the plane skidded from side to side due to some ice apparently still on the O'Hare runway. I figured that was a normal feature of air travel, while those around me started making vows and writing their wills. Whereas I started to fly late, our kids flew at a very young age because flying has undergone a revolution in access and prices.
I don’t pretend that this list is absolute or right. In the spirit of David Letterman, I am listing 10 planes that I believe are unique and special. There are many fine planes of all sizes, makes, and models. That said, let’s begin.
1. The SR-71
The main designer of the Lockheed plane was Clarence "Kelly" Johnson. He said that every plane needs a miracle to succeed, and that the SR-71 was all miracles. The titanium used to make most of the airframe was purchased from the Soviet Union via a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) front company. Lockheed engineers needed to invent tooling to make the various parts, and Pratt & Whitney created the J58 engine and said that any flight over Mach 3 invalidated its warranty. There was not, and there still is not, any organic material to seal the plane’s fuel tanks at temperatures where organic chemicals turn to goo. The plane could fly at the edge of space and photograph 100,000 square miles of land during a mission. Its older sister, the U-2, discovered the Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. The long-retired plane still holds several world records, including Los Angeles to New York in just over one hour and four minutes.
2. 747
Boeing, at the encouragement of the U.S. government, made a wooden model of a 200-seat “American Concorde.” When the company went to Wall Street, investors had no interest in a supersonic plane. But when the company came back with the Queen of the Skies, Boeing received funding greater than its market capitalization. The 747 lowered the price of air travel and was the door opener to making flight available to everyone. The airline industry carried over 5 billion people last year, and while the 747 is mostly retired, it played a major role in air travel becoming common for much of humanity.
3. A-10
The United States Air Force (USAF) would love to get rid of the A-10, and Congress consistently puts funding back in for the venerable tank killer. The USAF has chosen to retire various units flying the plane and thus force Congress’s hand by saying that there is nobody left trained to fly the Gatling Gun with wings. The plane is an amazing piece of engineering, and while it is slow and would not win the Miss America pageant, it is terrifying to America’s enemies. The A-10 has a nominal maximum bomb load twice that of a B-17. Its gun is famous for its lethality and the BRRRRRT noise it makes during short bursts of hot, depleted uranium rounds.
4. F-16
The F-16 is a beautiful fighter. When I saw during the most recent war conformal fuel tanks added to its side, I understood the need but hated the loss of the beauty of one of the sleekest fighters ever built. General Dynamics won a fly-off against the F-17, which was strengthened and modified to become the Navy’s star F-18 Hornet. The F-16 uses the same engine as the bigger and heavier F-15 and can successfully serve in air combat and attack modes. Israel used its first F-16s to bomb the Iraqi nuclear reactor. Modified F-16s successfully flew from Israel to Iran without need for aerial refueling, thus reducing the requirement for tanker support during the around-the-clock bombing.
5. B-52
The B-52 is scheduled to be in service until its 90th birthday. It is today flown by pilots whose fathers and grandfathers were pilots of the same planes. There are faster bombers, but none provided the punch in Vietnam and Desert Storm that the B-52 did. Its massive internal bomb bays brought hell and destruction on America’s enemies, and it continued to bomb in Iran with its much younger B-1 and B-2 cousins. The Boeing group put together its proposal for the bomber in a Dayton, Ohio, hotel room in 1948. Boeing's guy even made a Balsa wood model of the eight-engine bomber. Throughout its life, it has received upgrades, and the latest will include new Rolls-Royce engines of the same original size but with much more efficient performance.
6. C-130
The C-130 is still in production after 60 years of USAF service. Its propeller engines were never upgraded to jets, as the props allow for using some really lousy strips of ground as a runway. Israel famously used the planes when it flew to Entebbe to rescue the hostages from the hijacked Air France plane. The U.S. just blew up two of them when it saved a downed F-15 pilot so as not to leave any trophies for the Iranians. Though much smaller than C-17 and C-5 alternatives, it is the workhouse where runways are made of sand or uneven surfaces. C-130s flying into and out of (and one being lost) Khe Sanh were critical to the U.S. winning that battle against the North Vietnamese.
7. F-22
A friend of mine worked at Pratt & Whitney around the time it was developing the square nozzles for thrust-vectoring of this fifth-generation fighter. Due to its unique engine outlet, the plane can do some crazy and amazing moves. The F-22 moved beyond the strange shapes of the F-117 and returned the beauty of fighters, specifically a stealth fighter. It hasn’t seen much action, but its super-cruise ability (to fly over Mach 1 without recourse to afterburners) makes it a winner over any battlefield.
8. F-4/F-14/F18
The Navy has always had great planes, and until the F-35, they have had to have two engines. All of the Navy’s planes have performed their force protection and attack roles with success. Will the Navy/Marines versions of the F-35 and new drones do the job as well as their venerable predecessors?
9. 787
The carbon-based plane lowered the cost per seat-mile by 30 percent due to reduced weight of the plane. Airbus followed with its A-350. After some teething issues, it has become a major force in long-distance travel.
10. Concorde
Fly-by-wire and Mach 2 flight in the 1960s. The plane offered comfort while cruising faster than a bullet. It was a technical wonder whose sonic booms doomed its widespread acceptance. It was an amazing plane retired too early.
No doubt awesome planes like the SR-71 follow-on and F-47 are still to come. That said, most of the planes listed above came to life in the 1960s and 1970s. They evolved but kept to their core missions, whether it be bombing bad guys or flying customers safely from place to place.