What is your all time favorite military fighter jet?

[mojave30cal]

Mine is the McDonald Douglas F4C Phantom II. This baby
is loaded for bear.

 

[Hillbilly77]

The coolest plane ever:

 

[Fat Frank]

Gulp, gulp...

 

[RobertJ.]

The F-14 Tomcat!

I was on a destroyer, (USS Somers, DDG 34) we were following the USS Constellation (aircraft carrier) around the Indian Ocean, and I never got tired of watching them. Thankfully, we often had the job of "plane guard", which was following fairly close in case of a plane going in the water. Coincidentally, it also was the only time I ever stood watch with an M-14. They always had a gunners mate on the rescue team in case of sharks.

A close second would be the A-4 Skyhawk. We had one of those do a close fly-by, it was pretty impressive!

 

[venomballistics]

SR 71 hands down.
It does qualify as it's prototype designation was YF 12

 

[rdcl]

I'm a phan of the phabulous phantom as well. Here are some of my models I've built.

 

[zzzippper]

Hmm, he did say FIGHTER jet. I would say the F4 but I did the government QA of F15 center fuselage and final assembly at McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) so that is my favorite fighter.

 

[Shorty 45 MK2]

The coolest plane ever:

Don't know if it's a "fighter jet" under the strictest sense of the word, but I agree with you all the way! Just on the sound on a strafing run.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M60Ks1V59hA

 

[rdcl]

.......a few more....

 

[Bat Guano]

Mine is the McDonald Douglass F4C Phantom II. This baby
is loaded for bear.

There are two aircraft at the USAF museum at Wright-Pat that I got to know firsthand, pulling security on. That F-4 was Robin Olds', Ubon RTAFB, 1967, and the other is the SR-71 from Beale AFB, 1966. Both places were "interesting".

I have offered to donate my body (when I'm done with it) to the Museum, stuffed and mounted in a Security Police uniform, and put next to either plane for old times' sake.

So far no response.

No personal SR-71 photos...If I had tried at the time I'd still be in solitary at Fort Leavenworth yet.

 

[M3Stuart]

The most heavily armed, longest range, fastest, most colossal jet fighter EVER built!

The second pic shows the massive scale of this BEAST.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Simple and elegant win the day.
I give you (to my eye) the sexiest jet fighter.
The second pic is for Hillbilly.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

I am torn between the F4 and the A10, but my favorite is the A10.

 

[Texas Star]

Overall, I guess the F-15.

But I admire the F-86 and the Hawker Hunter, and a friend's husband flew Sea Harriers, and they did good work.

The F-100 never quite grabbed my heartstrings. The Mirage III did, especially in South African service. It evolved into the Cheetah, used also by Israel as the Kfir.

 

[JayFramer]

The F-86 Sabre, just so hot! Like the above poster said, it's the sexiest plane ever.

 

[CaptRon956]

I think without doubt we owe a little bit to the Germans, They were the innovators of jet flight.

I think the Horton HO229 is just an incredible design and years ahead of its time.... Although it was still in its prototype stages, just imagine if they were in full production?

 

[A10]

The coolest plane ever:

I kinda have to agree................

 

[Onomea]

Re Bat Guano's post, an impressive man, Robin Olds: Robin Olds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Iggy]

Another vote for the F-86 Saber.

 

[Beemerguy53]

There are two aircraft at the USAF museum at Wright-Pat that I got to know firsthand, pulling security on. That F-4 was Robin Olds', Ubon RTAFB, 1967....

I couldn't take my eyes off Scat XXVII when I last visited Wright-Patterson...thanks very much for your service!

 

[Absalom]

Another vote for the F4 Phantom.

I know the Iranians aren't exactly on our "friend list" these days, but I was pretty impressed a little while ago when I saw during their air strikes against ISIS that they had managed to keep some of the Phantoms we sold the Shah before the revolution not only flying, but actually operational for over 35 years without manufacturer support and original spare parts. Those F4s are tough old birds.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Another vote for the F4 Phantom.

I know the Iranians aren't exactly on our "friend list" these days, but I was pretty impressed a little while ago when I saw during their air strikes against ISIS that they had managed to keep some of the Phantoms we sold the Shah before the revolution not only flying, but actually operational for over 35 years without manufacturer support and original spare parts. Those F4s are tough old birds.

It's certainly not a front-line fighter anymore, but it will still haul bombs and put them on target. And the lack of modern computerization probably allows the Iranians to keep their fleet flying.

For my fellow Phantom Phans on here, I strongly recommend the book "Once a Fighter Pilot..." by Jerry Cook. It's one of the best military aviation works I've ever read.

General Cook flew a brand-new Phantom to Vietnam in 1965 and flew 200+ missions, most of them close air support. His book is all about flying and fighting, and doesn't get sidetracked with fighter jock stories about drinking and carousing. Most of the chapters are short and it's easy to understand for a non-pilot (like me). It's a great read!

Once A Fighter Pilot: Jerry Cook: 0639785336921: Amazon.com: Books

 

[CCantu357]

While before my time, I still have to agree with many here about the F-4 Phantom II being my favorite fighter jet of all time. Sure the F-14,15s, and 18s are better performers, but the F-4 just has a look to her. Like a big old Pontiac muscle car. I love reading how some allied air forces still use the F-4 for various duties. Truly a timeless design.

 

[williamlayton]

The WWII Corsair (the old bent winged bird)---screw the jets---they don't have those 5 gallon sized pistons that sound SOOOOOOO good.

Blessings

 

[Bob R]

The USAF still has F4s, the are used as drones for air to air combat training. They have also taken a few of them and painted them in SEA era colors and take them around to airshows to participate in heritage flights. They brought one of them up the Fairchild AFB in 2010.

A nice read about the drone program:

The Final Mission: The USAF's QF-4 Target Drones | Photography | Fence Check

They also brought up this guy to wow the (small) crowd with:

And the Heritage Flight for that airshow.

bob

 

[don5]

The USAF still has F4s, the are used as drones for air to air combat training. They have also taken a few of them and painted them in SEA era colors and take them around to airshows to participate in heritage flights. They brought one of them up the Fairchild AFB in 2010.

A nice read about the drone program:

The Final Mission: The USAF's QF-4 Target Drones | Photography | Fence Check

They also brought up this guy to wow the (small) crowd with:

And the Heritage Flight for that airshow.

bob

Thanks for the pics bob. These planes are, in my humble opinion, THE BEST planes that the US has ever put in the air. All three are my favorites from each era. Sorry guys it just doesn't get any better than this as far as I am concerned. Each plane has that certain look that says " pet me and I will take your arm off ". Just simply bad***. Just sayin..

 

[jculloden]

I loved seeing F4s overhead in the morning

 

[BigBoy99]

My two favorite aircraft are the Me-262 and the Sr-71.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...-Me_262_flight_show_at_ILA_2006_(cropped).jpg

 

[luigi1031]

ive always loved the F-14 Tomcat & F-18 Super hornet, newer and cool factor F-35 Lightning II

 

[billlenk]

F-86
God Bless TEXAS