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FUGGLY and so is the plane they compare it to!
 
And before WW2 there was the Dornier X:

Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-12963%2C_Flugboot_%22Do_X%22.jpg


and the Tupolev ANT-20 (1935 version):

Aeroflot_ANT-20bis.jpg


Yikes!
 
When looking at old airplanes, you have to take into consideration when these aircraft were designed. In those years, they were high tech! They are only ugly by today's standards in aerodynamics, even then, I don't consider them ugly. I love old airplanes and impressed by the pioneers in aviation who had the perseverance and knowledge of the times to build them. Many "Flying Machines" were designed on a note pad with a pencil and built in the back yard garage by folks who had a dream and the guts to climb in or on them for the first time and see what would happen. Many didn't survive, but man learned so much from their mistakes. We wouldn't have what we have today if it wasn't for those pioneers. Thank goodness we have men and women who are involved in preserving these old aircraft for the future generations to enjoy and placing them in protected environments! PJ
 
Paul- You can't sugar coat it.
It was ugly:highly_amused:
 
I think the Dornier X was a really cool flying boat, but I feel it ultimately failed because it was too much boat and not enough plane.
The Tupolev ANT-20 I think was one of those wacky between wars attempts at pushing the envelope as far as size was concerned.
 
DNK said:
Paul- You can't sugar coat it.
It was ugly:highly_amused:
Click to expand...

Well, There are exceptions to every rule!

This is a Curtiss,



This is a fighter, believe it or not, possibly German with a mounted gun!

 
It was not an uncommon thing to try to adapt a bomber design to a passenger plane...some were successful, others, not so.

Boeing B-17 ---> Boeing 307 Stratoliner -- it probably would have been a more successful plane had World War II not broken out
Boeing B-29 ---> Boeing 377 Stratocruiser
Boeing B-47 ---> KC-135 Tanker ---> Boeing 707
Lockheed P-3 Orion ---> Lockheed Electra

Of course, sometimes it goes the other way, too.

Douglas DC-3 ---> B-18 Bolo -- this plane was an utter failure in combat
DeHavilland Comet ---> Nimrod
McDonnell DC-10 ---> KC-10 Extender
Boeing 737 ---> P-8 Poseidon
 
And of course, the Lockheed "Constellation" L-049:

Pan_Am_L-049_Constellation_at_London.jpg


I think, the coolest commercial aircraft design of the late 1930s - early 1940s.

In later life, the EC-121:

Lockheed_EC-121D_Thailand_1972.jpg
 
I think the Constellation is one of the coolest large airframes built.

Paul, That Curtis is just plain awesome. Are you sure about the second one being German? It is flying the Union Jack on the rudder.
 
I'm sorry Don but this is a Jimmy Buffett free zone.
 
waltesefalcon said:
I think the Constellation is one of the coolest large airframes built.

Paul, That Curtis is just plain awesome. Are you sure about the second one being German? It is flying the Union Jack on the rudder.
Click to expand...

Your right Walter! Have no idea why I said German. I should have realized it was British, there's a bit of oil on the ground under it!:highly_amused: PJ
 
waltesefalcon said:
Paul, That Curtis is just plain awesome. Are you sure about the second one being German? It is flying the Union Jack on the rudder.
Click to expand...

Two of them, maybe they are victory marks -- eight more and he's an Experten.:cower:
 
Aeronca? did someone say Aeronca?

Here's the one at our New England Air Museum, the original 1938 prototype for the Chief:

aeronca-1.gif
 
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