Is the P-51 Mustang the best looking aircraft of all time?

Sr71

Cousin of mine used to fly them.

Love the P-51


But I've always had a thing for F-86's

It's close with another American design from that same war - the F4U Corsair -



I think the Corsair looks a little more elegant, but I also prefer the Mustang's overall aesthetics as you obviously do.

There were A LOT of good looking fighter planes in that war. The Germans had the Me-109 and the FW-190. The Brits had the beautiful Spitfire. Even the Japanese Zero had a certain charm to it.

American fighters, with few exceptions (*cough* P-47 *cough*) were fairly good looking aircraft.

Yep not sure what year. He went from that to the space shuttle.

ETA I think second cousin, never even met the guy that I know of.

No love for the Stipa Caproni?

I don’t know about “best looking” but my dad told me a P-51 saved his life during the Battle of the Bulge.

He and his squad were pinned down by a German machine gun and a P-51 came out of nowhere and made a strafing pass. The machine gun didn’t fire again.

Several of the soldiers in Dad’s squad didn’t survive that encounter and Dad told me it was the only time during his time on the frontlines in WW II that he thought he was about to die.

The Greatest Generation.

No.

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It's close with another American design from that same war - the F4U Corsair -

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I've asked my 97 year old father about it before. He was an aviation metalsmith on the USS Enterprise CV6 during WWII. He worked on all the planes aboard the Enterprise during 1943 to 1945. The plane he liked the most was the F4U Corsair. He said they were the most reliable and best built. He liked the styling as well. Just his humble opinion.