The 11 Ugliest Aircraft Ever Built

Revelation · Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:07 pm

EDIT: Link: http://www.boldmethod.com/blog/lists...03/11-ugliest-aircraft-ever-built/

Hard to argue with their #1 choice, the ATL-98 Carvair:

It had a capacity of 25 pax and 5 automobiles, yep, someone thought an airborne car ferry was a good idea.

It almost makes an A380 look acceptable in comparison!

And the Boeing X-32 surely deserves to be closer to #1, IMHO.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Traders_Carvair

[Edited 2016-03-28 11:37:31]

bananaboy · Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:19 pm

Quoting Revelation (Thread starter):
Hard to argue with their #1 choice

Who is "their?"

Is there a link to an article?

Mark

simairlinenet · Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:26 pm

Likely this article: http://www.boldmethod.com/blog/lists...03/11-ugliest-aircraft-ever-built/

[Edited 2016-03-28 12:15:10]

hOMSaR · Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:29 pm

I don't think the 747 propliner is that ugly.

B757Forever · Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:30 pm

Shorts 330. The Winnebago with wings.

https://www.airliners.net/photo/Time-...d=796880c460a2fa69b832ebb767fe5f9d

Spacepope · Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:32 pm

Quoting simairlinenet (Reply 2):

Likely this article: https://www.boldmethod.com/blog/lists/2016/03/11-ugliest-aircraft-ever-built/

When you post links, please remember to take the "s" out of the URL so they are clickable, since the geriatric a.net forum software simply can't handle it.

http://www.boldmethod.com/blog/lists...03/11-ugliest-aircraft-ever-built/

hOMSaR · Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:35 pm

Also, how could they not put the Guppy on that list? That was probably the ugliest airplane ever constructed.

For that matter, many helicopters are far uglier than any fixed-wing airplane.

BoeingGuy · Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:36 pm

I'd put the Bae146 and A310 on that list too.

Revelation · Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:40 pm

Quoting bananaboy (Reply 1):
Is there a link to an article?

Quoting simairlinenet (Reply 2):
Likely this article: https://www.boldmethod.com/blog/lists/2016/03/11-ugliest-aircraft-ever-built/

Quoting Spacepope (Reply 5):
please remember to take the "s" out of the URL

Sorry 'bout that, editted in a proper link...

Quoting HOmSAR (Reply 6):
Also, how could they not put the Guppy on that list?

Agree, Guppy is uglier than the Beluga which they did include.

citationjet · Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:53 pm

Quoting B757Forever (Reply 4):
Shorts 330. The Winnebago with wings.

Shorts 330 also known as the Irish Concorde.

Bongodog1964 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:07 pm

I'd add the Blackburn Beverley to the list, how the UK could design it, at the same time as the USA built the Hercules for the same job is amazing.

boeingrulz · Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:14 pm

A380 must be up there...

simairlinenet · Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:15 pm

Quoting Spacepope (Reply 5):
When you post links, please remember to take the "s" out of the URL so they are clickable, since the geriatric a.net forum software simply can't handle it.

Cheers.

vatveng · Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:21 pm

Quoting B757Forever (Reply 4):
Shorts 330. The Winnebago with wings.

It really is, isn't it? Especially with that paint.

Viscount724 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:23 pm

Quoting Bongodog1964 (Reply 10):
I'd add the Blackburn Beverley to the list, how the UK could design it, at the same time as the USA built the Hercules for the same job is amazing.

Not quite at the same time. The Beverley made its first flight in 1950, a year before the C-130 program was launched, with the prototype making its first flight in 1954.

Considering the rapid changes in aircraft design in those years, 4 or 5 years could make a big difference compared to the same period today.

PM · Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:27 pm

Who was that ANet clown who wrote three years ago that "by common consent" the A350 was the ugliest widebody in history?

He was promptly shot down and scuttled back under his rock.

Anyone remember him?

jetblastdubai · Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:30 pm

Quoting B757Forever (Reply 4):
Shorts 330. The Winnebago with wings.

Is that the actual plane or the box that it came in?

a380787 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:36 pm

The A350 is somewhat polarizing. I like the rest of the fuselage and the sleek wing-tips, but that droop nose is a bit of an acquired taste. The 330/340 nose was far from soothing on the eye. But it's nothing close to the Top 10 list of either beauty or ugly.

tsnamm · Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:47 pm

I totally disagree with the Handley Page Victor....I think it's a great looking plane....

Revelation · Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:06 pm

Quoting tsnamm (Reply 18):
I totally disagree with the Handley Page Victor....

When I saw the Victor in the list I knew it'd draw some remarks.

I think the looks are polarizing, you like them or you don't.

Reminds me of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_DS which is another creation of the 1950s.

sassiciai · Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:08 pm

Quoting HOmSAR (Reply 3):
I don't think the 747 propliner is that ugly.

LOL! Just goes to show, it's not just the Chinese who copy and then sell cheap!

Quoting BoeingGuy (Reply 7):

I'd put the Bae146 and A310 on that list too.

Another typical All-American comment! Les gouts et les couleurs!

N14AZ · Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:18 pm

Quoting BoeingGuy (Reply 7):
I'd put the Bae146 and A310 on that list too

I could understand the A310 (hehe... particuarly in conjunction with your a.net-name...

but the Bae146? I really like tne mini-Galazy.

bgm · Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:20 pm

Quoting boeingrulz (Reply 11):
A380 must be up there...

Quoting BoeingGuy (Reply 7):
I'd put the Bae146 and A310 on that list too.

Quoting sassiciai (Reply 20):
Another typical All-American comment! Les gouts et les couleurs!

Would you expect any less from people with those usernames?

Quoting B757Forever (Reply 4):
Shorts 330. The Winnebago with wings.

pvjin · Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:21 pm

I don't get what DHC-4 Caribou is doing there, it's a nice looking bird to me.

tp1040 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:24 pm

I like the BAE146 and the 310.

Don't like the DC-10 or 1011.

Ha!

Ekranoplan and K-7 in a tie for the win!

Devilfish · Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:40 pm

I think they got the numbering backwards...the Hunchback of Toulouse deserves first place!

.

Quoting tp1040 (Reply 24):
Ekranoplan and K-7 in a tie for the win!

Compared to #11, the Ekranoplan is positively better looking!

.

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Photo © Szabo Gabor

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Photo © Richard Vandervord

Well, maybe except for these.....

http://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/...0ba83e0e49d7c3e6f1ced5fd4cfab5.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/0b/4c/5e/0b4c5eaf278a1979ef455b626180b130.jpg

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/...q_80,w_800/1342161577344111684.jpg

[Edited 2016-03-28 13:54:44]

stxbohn · Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:44 pm

Quoting B757Forever (Reply 4):

Shorts 330. The Winnebago with wings.

Hahahaha, Eagle-5:

AirbusA6 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:58 pm

Surely the Dreamlifter has to appear as well!

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Photo © Bill Shemley

OzarkD9S · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:00 pm

So many of the "choices" are modifications of existing aircraft, changed for specific missions. They got the job done.

AirlineCritic · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:00 pm

I love the 747 prop liner!

But I would have put the 777 on this list. While OK as such, is in my eyes the root of the "plain tube with wings, two engines" generation of wide bodies. It didn't just look boring, it caused the entire class of airliners to become boring as well.

flylku · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:04 pm

Quoting tsnamm (Reply 18):
I totally disagree with the Handley Page Victor....I think it's a great looking plane....

I agree. It looks like the kind of fictitious airplane I would draw back in the 70's in grade school using paper and pencil.

jns13 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:08 pm

Quoting AirlineCritic (Reply 29):
But I would have put the 777 on this list. While OK as such, is in my eyes the root of the "plain tube with wings, two engines" generation of wide bodies. It didn't just look boring, it caused the entire class of airliners to become boring as well.

C'mon, with the GE90s? It's fantastic! Though the 200s with PWs and whatnot aren't exactly the height of airliner excitement. I'd say the 767 is a more fitting candidate for the "generic tube" phenomenon, though I do really like 76s.

And while I'm at it, I've just never felt the 737 is great looking. Not bad, but not great. Too low to the ground.

mwhcvt · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:21 pm

Quoting tsnamm (Reply 18):

Me too, she's a stunning craft...I also disagree on the Beluga, that is an aircraft designed to do a specific job and it does it exceptionally well

tsnamm · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:22 pm

Quoting a380787 (Reply 17):
The 330/340 nose was far from soothing on the eye. But it's nothing close to the Top 10 list of either beauty or ugly.

The A340 is one of the best looking airplanes out there; especially the -600 IMO...along with the 707...perfect esthetics for both.

AirPacific747 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:24 pm

Quoting jns13 (Reply 31):

One of my friends flying the 737 used to say that it's the only airliner with a lowered suspension :p

DavidByrne · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:31 pm

Surely one of the ugliest also has to be the Breguet Deux-Ponts double-deck passenger aircraft, from the immediate post-war years. Air Franmce operated 12 of them, fitted out in a 107-pax configuration (though they were able to be fitted out for 135 in a high-density configuration.

Though the Blackburn Beverley, a British military freighter design from the 1950s, also has to be a strong contender!

mjgbtv · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:40 pm

Quoting B757Forever (Reply 4):
Shorts 330. The Winnebago with wings.

Better or worse than the SC-7?

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Burkhard · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:41 pm

I must say I fail to find any of the aircraft ugly, OK some special noses are disturbing but in the end they fly....

The DFS230 for me is a candidate.

flylku · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:47 pm

Quoting Burkhard (Reply 37):
I must say I fail to find any of the aircraft ugly, OK some special noses are disturbing but in the end they fly....

True. In fact, the "uglier" and more unusual the more I would like to fly it.

trnswrld · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:56 pm

Pretty much anything Russian. Even the ones that are replicas of its Boeing or Airbus versions don't look anywhere near as good.

AirPacific747 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:57 pm

I didn't see the Super Guppy mentioned yet.

https://www.airliners.net/photo/NASA/Aero-Spacelines-377SGT/1287096/L/

In my opinion, it's uglier than the Beluga.

Edit: Oops someone did already mention it.

[Edited 2016-03-28 14:58:49]

jeb94 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 10:17 pm

Quoting AirlineCritic (Reply 29):
But I would have put the 777 on this list. While OK as such, is in my eyes the root of the "plain tube with wings, two engines" generation of wide bodies. It didn't just look boring, it caused the entire class of airliners to become boring as well.

I'd say that plain tube with wings and two engines thing started with the A300. The 777 came around much later and brings a certain elegance and power to the look with her long, graceful wings and gigantic engines.

flyingturtle · Mon Mar 28, 2016 10:19 pm

Surprised nobody mentioned the Belphegor:
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Click here for bigger photo!

ATA L1011 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 10:35 pm

I don't know how the A-300 Beluga made that list and the just as ugly or maybe even a tad uglier 747 Dreamlifter did not.....

lostsound · Mon Mar 28, 2016 10:37 pm

Quoting BoeingGuy (Reply 7):

I'd put the Bae146 and A310 on that list too.

Oops, I think you have your lists mixed up.

Mortyman · Mon Mar 28, 2016 10:45 pm

Quoting BoeingGuy (Reply 7):
A310

?

BoeingGuy · Mon Mar 28, 2016 10:57 pm

Quoting AirlineCritic (Reply 29):

But I would have put the 777 on this list. While OK as such, is in my eyes the root of the "plain tube with wings, two engines" generation of wide bodies. It didn't just look boring, it caused the entire class of airliners to become boring as well.

I was wondering how long that would take. I personally think the 777 is a beautiful airplane, especially the 777-300ER. I wouldn't call the 787 boring either.

smokeybandit · Mon Mar 28, 2016 10:58 pm

Quoting tsnamm (Reply 18):
I totally disagree with the Handley Page Victor....I think it's a great looking plane....

Agreed. I think it's a fantastic looking craft.

It's not like the A-10 Thunderbolt which is ugly in a respectable kind of way. The Victor is slick.

mham001 · Mon Mar 28, 2016 10:59 pm

Quoting Devilfish (Reply 25):

I think they got the numbering backwards...the Hunchback of Toulouse deserves first place! .

I agree with that.

Quoting AirbusA6 (Reply 27):
Surely the Dreamlifter has to appear as well!

That could be but there is something about the way the nose droops on the Beluga that makes me have to turn my eyes away.

AirlineCritic · Mon Mar 28, 2016 11:31 pm

Quoting jns13 (Reply 31):
C'mon, with the GE90s? It's fantastic! Though the 200s with PWs and whatnot aren't exactly the height of airliner excitement. I'd say the 767 is a more fitting candidate for the "generic tube" phenomenon, though I do really like 76s.

Quoting jeb94 (Reply 41):
I'd say that plain tube with wings and two engines thing started with the A300. The 777 came around much later and brings a certain elegance and power to the look with her long, graceful wings and gigantic engines.

Fair enough. I do agree GE90s look very nice. And yes, tube with wings did indeed start earlier.

Quoting jns13 (Reply 31):
And while I'm at it, I've just never felt the 737 is great looking. Not bad, but not great. Too low to the ground.

I like the 737, it has character! It kinda looks like it has been smacked too hard to the runway, making the engines dent. Character!

I love it.

They should have designed the MAX with variable geometry turbine blades for a pronounced effect

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