The top 101 aircraft of all time, as chosen by "Flying" magazine.

The Hindenberg, Bell Jet Ranger and The Predator Drone scored but not the Fokker F.27????

F-15, F-14, A-10, F-18, B-757.....Really? or did I just miss them somewhere?

Seriously? View 101+ webpages to see 101 aircraft? I've heard of linkbait but that's just ridiculous.

F-14 which starred in Top Gun should have been included.

Bout the Comet?

Lot's of great airplanes over history but if I had to vote for a number one it would be the B-52. 40 years and still the war bird that strikes fear in every enemy.

How about the 707 and what about the F4 Phantom

what's their criteria..?. probably there somewhere but, I tuned out after seeing all the newbies..... when I think of the top 100 I think of all the planes that made some real impact on aviation history.... oh well, I'll go back to the list later ....

De Havilland Twin otter not in the list? WOW!
Dash 8 or ATR or the saab 340, Some of the major work horses!

hmmmm seems to be some bias here.

What about the DC-9? I suppose that this is an opinion thing but the DC-9 is one of my favorite crates. They should do this list over and include the DC-9 as one of the top ten.

Comments?

I did find it a bit ridiculous that I had to click 100 times.

What's up with the Wright Flyer?! Without that plane none of those planes wouldn't be there. The Flyer should be #1. Rate this please!

Lear 45, F-14, Mig-29, F-35, Sabreliner, L-1011, C-5,.....The list goes on!

Too much GA planes that are essential all the same, too much from US perspective...
Missing:
* Fokker D7: best fighter of WW1, so good it was even mentioned in the Treaty of Versailles
* B.A.T. F.K.26 'Commercial', the world's first aircraft specifically designed for commercial aviation
* Fokker F7/3m: the worlds first truely long-distance and even intercontinental passenger plane
* Fokker G-1: same as the P38 but earlier
* Fokker F27: worlds most succesful turboprop from late '50's till end of century
* Junckers F13: worlds first metal airliner
* Vickers Viscount: worlds first succesful turboprop airliner
* Messerschmitt Me-163: wordls first operational rocket-powered fighter
* Consolidated model 28 Catalina: what a flying boat !
* Dornier Do-24: what a flying boat !
* De Havilland DH-98 Mosquito
* Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovich: most-built military plane ever, best ground-attack plane of WW2
* MiG 15: US only could win over Korea as their pilots were better trained and more experienced
* Sikorsky VS-300: the first modern helicopter
* X-15, on the edge of space....
* Airbus A300: worlds first twin-engined widebody
* Aerospatiale Caravelle / Tupolev 104
* BAC 1-11 / HS125 trident
* Dassault Mirage III
* and many many more...

Great list, missed the Piper Comanche PA-24, still

I Can't believe they missed the Vickers VC10 and the DH Comet 1

No Beech 18, the "Learjet" of the 40's/50's, the plane that essentially ushered in the age of business aviation in the wake of WWII. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Must have been funded by Cessna. ALL Models listed at least once, and the Citation, (NEAR JET) listed three times. You do the math. Was interesting reading though.

Cant believe the 787 didn't even make top 25 let alone be 96 ????

They all do! Some not mentioned. Aviation is one of the "Wonders of the World". Appreciate how far we have come! One can include the "Space Shuttle or the Goodyear Blimp". Look at how far we have come in aviation! All aircraft are amazing to me and what they can do and how far they can fly and take you to places you never thought you would imagine. Each and every aircraft has their place and purpose.

Sukhoi/HAL FGFA AND PAK FA - DOMINATE OUR FIGHTERS SPEED ROC ALLUDE LANDING DIST. RANGE ARMAMENT CONT...
THEN
F-104 F-15 MD-80 MD-90 C172 C150 SR-71 X-15 B-52 ERJ-145 787 A380 F-35 757 747 F-14 F-22 G5000 AN-225 HH-60J HH-60 P-3 C-130 ALL VAR. U-2 LIST NEVER ENDS SOON!!!

Hawker 125 AND Beech Hawker - same plane?
Diamond DA40? Cessna Corvallis? Vari Eze" Eclipse 500? I mean.... What the Hell??

They missed the DC9 and 727???? enuf of this!

I want to know how many Mr. Wayne has flown from this list. I'm guessing around 30ish......

P51 Mustangs could be had for $1 after the war? What I wouldn't give to turn back the hands of time and take a few dollars with me.

Many have commented about this or that aircraft not being on the list. Understandable. But it did by heart good to see so many fine flying machines and a nice little tidbit about each. Wonderful article. Thanks for posting it.

Ludicrous - the Piper Comanche and Twin Comanche are not mentioned - the Twin Comanche is by far the best aircraft in that make and class ever built.

What do you expect from an American magazine. I'm not against most of the picks it's just the ones they left off seem to be NON-American aircraft.

the spitfire, mosquito, lancaster bomber, avro vulcan, harrier jump jet and concorde for me

Their "Weekend flyer" biases are showing with this list.

My candidates for elimination.....Eclipse? The crack/dope must have been good that day. Lancair, Luscombe, Diamond, Premier, Aztec, T-craft, Phenom, C-195, Cardinal, Aeronca Champ, Kitfox, Cherokee 6, Malibu, and (get ready to flame) Boeing 314, B-52 and Vought Corsair (a badly flawed airplane that got lucky)

My list for inclusion:

Lockheed Vega Martin B-10 Northrop Alfa/Beta/Gamma. The Beech 18. Republic P-47 (arguably the ONLY successful application of turbocharging in a fighter aircraft....the P-38's system was found to have significant flaws at altitude in Europe).

The Martin B-26....the first "hot" ship, and one that forced the AAF to get serious about it's multi-engine training. The Focke Wulf FW190A-D-G ...DH98 Mosquito, the prototype for the future in bombing/strike aircraft. The Kawanishi "Emily" ...The Boeing B-47. The North American X-15. The Ilyushin IL-2. The Junkers JU-88. The F-111. The BAE Hawk. The Hawker Hunter. The Sukhoi SU-27. The Fokker F.27

before I look at the list here are my top three.
The P-51 Mustang....The Boeing 727....Cessna 150.

Most airplanes are too well thought out in their place in time to list . . . . Perhaps the top 101 WORST airplanes of all time would be more appropriate and interesting!!

B 47 systems on this aircraft were used on all Boeing Aircraft for 30 + years
50 Mile Radar, Non skid brakes, solid state electronics, etc

What about the X-15?

I have come to a conclusion after reading the comments on this article: some people will find ANYTHING to
b---h about.

I'm not sure if we could ever agree- as an old Pan Am guy it was good to see the 314,but maybe the Martin Boat was more historically significant. The no brainers should have been the Comet, the world's first jetliner, and the 707, the world's first successful jetliner. I also think the F-80/T-33 deserve a slot. Granted, Flying Magazine's target market is the Weekend GenAv Pilot, but to include virtually everything Cessna and Piper ever built.... My personal additions would be the 727 and L-1011, but that's just me.

Shouldn't a list like this preclude anything built to military standards where costs and competition is hardly or no issue at all? To build good Airplanes for the open market, on the other hand, where the construction poeple are made to feel the competitive price squeeze, thats where talents are challenged.

what about the Javelin,Hawker hunter, the swift, fairy delta 2, vampire, venham,
Sea vixen, HD 110,Meteor, NF11,NF14 to name a few that is missing from the list the list is endless.

Maybe it would be more valid to group aircraft by use- i.e., Military, GenAv, Business, Airline, etc., and even by category.... most produced, most influential, most historically significant. Hard to judge the historical significance of a 787 that has yet to carry a revenue pasenger, but it might deserve mention for being influential in aircraft design. IMHO just the "top 101 aircraft" is so broad as to be meaningless.

I think everyone that commented on this either disagrees or just hates the list. I disagree as well. Anyone else!?