UGLIEST Aircraft Built and Flown

[Hood]

It seems that good looking aircraft were the exception rather than the rule.
No wonder they say "if it looks right it flies right", it must have been a revelation when something that looked flyable came out of the hangar.

 

[Archibald]

French aircraft industry was on top of the world by 1918. Then it was savagely gutted to near oblivion, by 1922 (from 200 000 to barely 4000 workers !) Took 30 years to recover: 1952.

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/french-airforce-from-1935-to-1940-41.38253/#post-496182

Le Fana de l'aviation magazine has analysed that dark era many times, and noted that French aircraft maker like Bleriot were sclerotic. Despite having a magnificent wind tunnel in Chalais Meudon near Paris, they were far behind, say, USA (NACA cowl aerodynamic wonder). This is the reason why there are so many interbellum aerodynamic monstrosities. Bleriot had been a world leader before 1914, but after WWI his star had paled. This is also one the reason why the countless aircraft companies (I counted 20 of them once) were nationalised and glued together in 1936.

 

[Charlesferdinand]

The French hadn't quite lost their flair for the bizarre after the war: the SO 1310 Farfadet (I can't help but thinking they wanted to call it farfelu)

 

[FighterJock]

Now that is weird, looks like they have tried to do an aerodynamic gyrocopter but with the propeller at the front. I am surprised that it did not work out, too advanced for it's time?

 

[snne]

Tadaa!
View attachment 730389


Blériot 125.

I actually like this design, seems pretty unique and might be fun on some occasions.

 

[Jason Dykstra (Wyvern)]

A flying pram!
View attachment 730415

Blériot 73.

I love how with the French it's a roll of the dice. Either it's the ugliest thing ever invented, or the most beautiful thing one has ever laid their eyes on.

Case in point:
On one end of the spectrum, we have the Breguet 460:



On the other, the M2K:

Tadaa!
View attachment 730389


Blériot 125.

Reminds me of those clickbait images you find on YouTube thumbnails

It seems that good looking aircraft were the exception rather than the rule.
No wonder they say "if it looks right it flies right", it must have been a revelation when something that looked flyable came out of the hangar.

Must be a lesson which hadn't been learnt yet in the 20's!

 

[snne]

I love how with the French it's a roll of the dice. Either it's the ugliest thing ever invented, or the most beautiful thing one has ever laid their eyes on.

Case in point:
On one end of the spectrum, we have the Breguet 460:
View attachment 730626


On the other, the M2K:
View attachment 730627


Reminds me of those clickbait images you find on YouTube thumbnails
View attachment 730628

Must be a lesson which hadn't been learnt yet in the 20's!

M2K only looks nice in the French camo livery

 

[Archibald]

They are polar opposites... one stemmed from a deadly sick, moribund industry. The other is the pinnacle of Dassault Mirage family. Funnily enough, Dassault merged with Breguet in 1967...

The Bleriot 125 certainly has Porco Rosso vibes. Something the Mama Aiutos could fly.

 

[Charlesferdinand]

However, only a few years after the Bréguet 460, they produced the Bréguet 693, which is quite elegant. I think the problem lies more with the specifications than with the designers. After all, the Armée de l'Air turned the Potez 630, another elegant plane, into the 63-11.

 

[Archibald]

Silly me ! I've just realized that the Bleriot 125 wasn't a floatplane... no kidding, I thought the giant "spats" were floats with people inside. And that the wheels retracted into the "floats" and thus the damn thing was an amphibious.
But no.
It is just a land plane. A very absurd one.

@Charlesferdinand This is the box art of Heller 1/72 scale Breguet 693. An antiquity for sure, and not very refined.

 

[publiusr]

View attachment 730628

In the final novel of David Brin’s Uplift universe, sea lamprey learn to design aircraft.

 

[Charlesferdinand]

.

@Charlesferdinand This is the box art of Heller 1/72 scale Breguet 693. An antiquity for sure, and not very refined.

I did a quick image search, and couldn't immediately find a good photo, so I settled for box art. IIRC this is indeed a reissue of the Heller kit under some other label, the original being of course

 

[Stargazer]

Oh my... this one is going to be hard to beat.
Here is the "Gorizont B-2" (Horizon B-2), a jet biplane introduced at SLA-91 by V.D. Bulgakov from Yakutia.
At least we can give him credit for trying... jet biplanes are pretty hard to come by...

 

[Desertfox]

After going thru this thread... We need one of the most beautiful planes ever built.

 

[publiusr]

I think that Horizon B-2 is lovely myself

 

[4decaa]

I just got my eyesight back. Was paging through a copy of Air & Space magazine and was reminded of the Baade 152.

looks like the engines were designed to not only provide thrust but to also vacuum the runway and taxiways of all FOD, and perhaps unsuspecting ground crew...

 

[Michel Van]

Ne Stuka is really a ugly…

 

[1635yankee]

The World's First jet-powered agricultural biplane, PZL M-15

 

[publiusr]

Sanctuary, sanctuary....

 

[The K2]

Chinese CYG-11 seaplane

 

[4decaa]

Perhaps considered low hanging fruit, I present the supremely funky (and pointy) f22, f35, and j20 'testbed' aircraft

Moral of the story: don't let aero engineers do nose jobs!

 

[Stargazer]

Moral of the story: don't let aero engineers do nose jobs!

Or blow jobs...



Curtiss-Wright Model 2500 "Air Car" GEM

 

[1635yankee]

How about the french Grognard II.
View attachment 731120
View attachment 731123
View attachment 731126
Bit of a "unique" design combination,a top mounted intake plus 2 nene jet engines stacked vertically
Amazingly the Grognard II looks worse than the Grognard I.

It does look like the inspiration for the F-107.

 

[Stargazer]

'I'm feelin' sooo Lun-some..."

 

[yasotay]

 

[F-14ATomcat]

PZL M-15?

i like it

 

[Charlesferdinand]

Not truly hideous, but still a honourable mention: Kamov Ka-22.

 

[1635yankee]

Not truly hideous, but still a honourable mention: Kamov Ka-22.

This is what happens when you let VTOL designers near a helicopter design

 

[Stargazer]

PZL M-15?

i like it

Well, at least they didn't give it the name of a majestic bird... Belphegor is a demon-like pagan divinity of antiquity!

 

[FighterJock]

I always thought that the Kamov Ka-22 was strange but not ugly as well Charlesferdinand.

 

[The K2]

Nakajima B4N

 

[The K2]

XAZ-1

 

[Archibald]

I'm surprised there are not more VSTOL here. Such as the Bell X-22 or the Nord Aviation N500 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Aviation_N_500_Cadet

VSTOL in the glorious 1960's produced a whole bunch of abominations (and killed way too many pilots).

 

[Charlesferdinand]

Nakajima B4N

The true X-wing!

 

[F-14ATomcat]

'I'm feelin' sooo Lun-some..."

View attachment 731246

aircraft to be beautiful we need to understand the reasons they were made like that, personaly I like the F-14, MiG-29, Lavi, Rafale, Mirage 4000, B-787, A-220 and so on the ugly aircraft are the ones that look less organic, I mean they look farther from our human concept of proportion.

when I look at the caspian monster i think If i wanted to make a ship that flies a few meters above the water with powerful armament I think I would have made it like it was made and probably i would had like it.

I think beauty is in knowing reasons, there are many wierd aircraft I like and others I do not like but everything depends if we understand the logic of the design and the time it was made, of course simplier the design more beautiful P-51 is my favorite WWII aircraft followed by Ar-234 and Me-262 but they are easy to understand streamlined aircraft but this monster is difficult to understand at first glance looks ugly it looks as it was an ugly bird with big nose and mouth and the jet engines were its ears something like a hammer head that lifts its tail on the beach.

 

[Stargazer]

the ugly aircraft are the ones that look less organic, I mean they look farther from our human concept of proportion.

You are right of course, and many so-called "ugly" designs have their own redeeming qualities...
but you do understand that this is a humorous thread, right?! ;-)

 

[Rhinocrates]

Transavia PL-12 Airtruk wasn't much better

The Airtruk has its admirers.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=airtruk

If it works, it's beautiful... you just have to figure out why.

 

[snne]

Nakajima B4N

I actually like this! It gives me Studio Ghibli vibes, it feels right out of one of their movies.

 

[The K2]

Yes, I agree. The Nakajima is a weirdly fascinating design.

 

[publiusr]

I actually like this! It gives me Studio Ghibli vibes, it feels right out of one of their movies.

Wasn't their a children's book in the late 60s-early 70's with whimsical designs? Long before the movie Radio Flyer--it had a kid dreaming of his red wagon being a flying machine.

One of my first memories of being in a doctors office.