Top Five Most Significant US Aircraft Types

[Mark_Pilkington]

Its the holiday season to relax and rest,

so I thought a nice intellectual and stimulating "debating thread" like this might be of interest?

What are the top 5 most significant US aircraft types in terms of impact on the course of history, ie military impact, technological impact, commercial impact etc,

"BUT" in order 1 to 5, from "most" significant down?

- and of course - "WHY!"

Aircraft Type........................................... .......Reason
1 ?
2 ??
3 ???
4 ????
5 ?????


regards

Mark Pilkington

[Nathan]

P-51
C-47
B-17
P-40
B-25

[RyanShort1]

1. Wright Flyer - ushered in the age of flight and precursor to ALL aircraft
2. DC-2/DC-3 - effect on military and commercial travel
3. Ryan NYP - bridged the Atlantic gap proving the
4. Boeing 707 - revolutionized commercial jet travel, basis of military aircraft as well
5. Piper Cub - significant wartime service as well as bringing aviation to the common man

I could think of more aircraft and refine it a bit, but for now that's a start.

Ryan

[Jerry O'Neill]

1: DC-3/C-47, Opened up the world to Aviation Travel

2: 707, Hugh jump in technology and speed of air travel

3: VS-300, Start of true, controllable, vertical flight

4: B-29, Quantum leaps in aviation technology all rolled into one aircraft

5: Saturn V Rocket, Most powerful machine ever built, not one failure and it put us on the Moon!

Jerry

[Dan K]

1. Whitehead No. 21 -- first at practical flight; precursor to ALL aircraft

2. DC-3/C-47 -- impact on commercial and military aviation

3. 707 -- quantum technology leap in commercial air travel

4. SR-71 -- quantum technology leap in military aviation

5. B-29 -- quantum technology leap in military aviation

[BattleRabbit]

1. P-51
2. B-17/B-24
3. B-29
4. SR-71
5. F-15 or F-22

[Edward Sheetmetalhands]

1. B-29
2. F6F
3. C-47/DC-3
4. F-14
5. B-52

[Nathan]

ohh....you did not mean just from WWII. Sorry.

Lets see:

C-47/DC-3(still being used!)
AT-6/SNJ/Harvard(without this no one would have made a combat pilot)
F-4(many countries used them)
707(opened up air travel as we know it)
B-17(its a legend, and could survive great damage and still come home)

[N3Njeff]

1. Wright Flyer - ushered in the age of flight and precursor to ALL aircraft
2. DC-2/DC-3 - effect on military and commercial travel
3. Ryan NYP - bridged the Atlantic gap proving the
4. Boeing 707 - revolutionized commercial jet travel, basis of military aircraft as well
5. Piper Cub - significant wartime service as well as bringing aviation to the common man

I could think of more aircraft and refine it a bit, but for now that's a start.

Ryan

I like ryans list but I am going to change #3 to the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N.

Reasons. Military and Commercial service.
For the 1935 to be a All aluminum (7075 T6) extruded structure that was rated at a G loading of 9+ and 6-. Built by the same MFG who built the airframe and the Engine. Serve with the US military from 1935 to 1959!!!

After the war, surplus N3N's were used to spray crops, kill insects,tow aerial ads and even try to make rain clouds. The Grumman AG cat clearly shows features learned by N3N's. Many AG pilots are still alive today because of the ruggedness of the N3N. From 1945 to as late as 1992 have had working N3N's in the AG business.

Tho being overshadowed by Stearmans and its sheer numbers, the N3N has been a true work horse and deserves a spot somewhere so its on MY list!!!

[RyanShort1]

The more I think about it the harder it is to really pick a top five list. There are a lot of good aircraft mentioned here.

Others that I would consider as alternate contenders include (some already mentioned):

F-117
SR-71
P-80
Cessna 172
Beechcraft Bonanza
Boeing Mailwing
Boeing YB-9
B-52

And the list could really go on.

Ryan

[AviaS199]

Good calls. Here are two of mine:

Martin B-10: When it first flew, it was faster than any pursuit ship. The first bomber to "put it all together" - all-metal, multi-engine, fully retractable gear, NACA cowlings, controllable-pitch props, the works. All the bombers that followed, both the mediums and the heavies, had some of the B-10 in their DNA.

Curtiss P-36: After playing it conservative with the P-26, the Army brass finally saw the need for an all-out modern fighter. The P-36 had it all - cantilever wings, fully retractable gear, enclosed cockpit, etc. Like the B-10, the P-36 was a real turning point. It's chief competitor, the P-35, was one of those almost-but-not-quite aircraft.

Something else I've always thought has been overlooked by aviation historians: The development of the controllable-pitch propeller. It brought about a huge leap forward in aircraft performance. It was every bit at significant as, say, instrument flying techniques or all-metal construction. Yet it rarely rates so much as a mention.

[hurk130]

1. C-130A
2. C-130B
3. C-130E
4. C-130H
5. AC-130H

I might be bias. Maybe.....

Brad, you want to chime in here?

Kel

[Hvd2Pilot]

1. The Wright's 'Flyer' --> first successful, powered, piloted flight
2. AT-6 Texan --> no airplane could have done a better job to prepare pilots for fighters (and I am biased)
3. B-17 --> the effort that the B-17's put in Europe
4. P-51 --> range to support B-17's, which equated to saving men and bombers
5. C172 --> simple, stable, inexpensive...equating to volumes of aircraft sold.

[John Dupre]

I'll put my two cents in.

1) Wright Flyer. The Wrights were geniuses not tinkerers. They understood almost all the problems of sustainable powered flight before they ever tried to fly. Whitehead et al may have hopped, they may even have turned 180 degrees or so but they couldn't do it consistently and they didn't understand why.

2) Spirit of St. Louis. Not a breakthrough design but shows what can be done by completely understanding the limits of technology thus using well understood concepts to take aviation to new heights. A triumph of minimalist design.

3) Boeing 247. It pioneered the way that Douglas followed. If Boeing had had more capacity and was not wedded to United Airlines Douglas might have been an also ran.

4) Grumman FF-1. The Fifi was the first successful product of Grumman aircraft and led the way for everything that followed and except for the second wing showed the way forward in aircraft design. Retractable gear, all metal, enclosed cockpit.

5) Curtiss BF2C. Another pioneer this time in dive bombing. At first a type of design more than a delivery style Curtiss led the world especially the Germans into precision placement of bombs.

I second the notion that propeller development is poorly understood and appreciated and next comes the development of long range fuel control. Another thing that Lindbergh, Post, Hughes etc. doesn't get credit for, how to squeeze the most miles out of a gallon of gas.

[Canso42]

I'm going to throw out my shovelfull here just because I can....
PBY Catalina. Back me up Pilkington, we met over one of these. lol

Any other big flying boat
Any small flying boat
Any cool oldie with a round motor and floats.

Doug Ratchford