The Ugliest Airplane: An Appreciation

We call it 'crop dusting' in Australia too

When I first glanced at this plane it had the look of a crop duster. Maybe because I grew up in the agricultural capital of the world in the 50s... San Joaquin Valley, California, USA.

Insert "so ugly that the ground repels it" joke here.

Mad Max!

This was my uncle - Mr. Roy Williams of Douglas Park "Wior Comden" Demonstration and test pilot for Transavia ***** of the transfield gravy of companies flew out to day on a 12, 000 mile flight to South Africa. The Plane a Transavia air truck PL12 is to be a central exhibit

It is certainly a very unique a/c...

Ugly?

I think it might be one of the cutest airplanes ever. It looks like it came from the pages of a children's book

Crop dusting usually results in a Pilot crashing several times during their careers If I not mistaken this plane was extremely crash worth while performing that job. was out west, Texas, NM, AZ NV, CO. And saw several Crop dusters doing the skill. Great mini Airshow of sorts.

Ugly perhaps, but does the job, form follows function. Another strange craft: the Edgley EA-7 Optica, designed for observation and camera work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgley_Optica

I love the idea of the pilot being over the fuselage, engine, and prop. A unique view indeed!

After reading the article, the design, though unconventional and rather bizarre, makes perfect sense. It was designed to do a certain task and it did it well even if it didn't succeed like it was hoped. It is a rather interesting looking airplane and I'd love to be able to see one fly. I think it would be an even better treat to be able to fly in one.

ugly don't mean uncool! Thank you BW for the exposure to an effective flying contraption that an old contraption flyer never knew existed! And hats off to Air and Space mag., a valuable resource.

Another good read from the same source and thread,

https://www.airspacemag.com/airspacemag/farewell-giant-180978705/