36 replies to this topic

[piercey]

Who is the best aircraft maker of all time?

Is it Airbus and the Super Jumbo?
Is it Antonov, the freight expert?
Is it ATR and the 42/72 turboprops?
Is it British Aerospace, who not just have the RJ's, but also, with Aerospatiale, made aviation history with the Concorde?
Is it Boeing, which not just has the 747, but the most succesful commercial aircraft of all time, the 737?
Is it Bombardier with the surprisingly popular CRJ?
Is it Embraer, who took the aviation world by storm by launching the 170/190?
Is it Fairchild Dornier with the 328 and the Metro?
Is it Fokker with the F70 and F100?
Is it Ilyushin, Tupolev, or Yakovlev, which get no respect almost all the time?
Is it Lockheed Martin, which caught everyone's heart with the Connie, and broke them with the Tristar?
Is it McDonnell Douglas, which is gone, but not forgotten?
Is it Raytheon with the Beech?
And last, but not least, is it SAAB and their 2000 and 340 turboprops?

All I have to say is this: It's not always B vs. A, It's sometimes B vs. E, MD vs. LM, SAAB vs. ATR, A vs. T, I vs. Y, or F vs. FD vs. R.

[airline55]

this could get very ugly if this is anything like A.net. However my vote goes to Boeing. Both because I am from the U.S., I like their planes, and they don't give a bad name to double-decker jets. (whalejet)

[piercey]

lol, as for my vote, when it's B vs. A, E always wins-Embraer.

[Salomon]

this could get very ugly if this is anything like A.net

NO!! B.net!!!

[Trogdor2000]

There's no question in my mind - McDonnell Douglas. More the Douglas part of it, though. After all the question was "Who is the best of all time?" And MD (Or just D) practicly owned the aircraft industry up til the Jet Revolution especialy with their ground-breaking DC-3, and still made some noise with the DC-8. 9, 10 and the MD 11, 80 Series and the 90. MD played a more than crucial part in the Airline industry, especialy in its infancy.

[flyhegs]

i would wish someone would have the guts and post this on a.net . Sadly , many would respond with (i can smell A vs B here ) other with airbus/boeing is the best , the adminstrators would close the thread and ban the guy who posted it !

Instead of that ,why wouldn't u just enjoy it and say who u chose why ?
I took Airbus , simply because i flew most of them Aircraft , Their aim was form the beginning Passenger comfort and commonality and they build nice planes .
second would propebly be Douglas , it is kinda sympathic . And their MD90 are just great ! British aerospace is also high . The monster BAE 146 with real elegant hairdryers and the concorde and cinda the comet (cinda ! ) :cool:

[Jonair]

Originally posted by Trogdor2000
There's no question in my mind - McDonnell Douglas. More the Douglas part of it, though. After all the question was "Who is the best of all time?" And MD (Or just D) practicly owned the aircraft industry up til the Jet Revolution especialy with their ground-breaking DC-3, and still made some noise with the DC-8. 9, 10 and the MD 11, 80 Series and the 90. MD played a more than crucial part in the Airline industry, especialy in its infancy.

Second that.

The DC-9 and DC-10 is enough to kick the asses of whatever boeing and airbus can make.

[airline55]

well, as I said, I like Boeing, but the L-1011 was a cool airplane.

[piercey]

Originally posted by Jonair

Originally posted by Trogdor2000
There's no question in my mind - McDonnell Douglas. More the Douglas part of it, though. After all the question was "Who is the best of all time?" And MD (Or just D) practicly owned the aircraft industry up til the Jet Revolution especialy with their ground-breaking DC-3, and still made some noise with the DC-8. 9, 10 and the MD 11, 80 Series and the 90. MD played a more than crucial part in the Airline industry, especialy in its infancy.

Second that.

The DC-9 and DC-10 is enough to kick the asses of whatever boeing and airbus can make.

Third that, but I still think Embraer edges out all of them, but it was seriously tough to choose. That, and UA232 still somewhat rings in my head.

[Edited on 7/16/2005 by piercey]

[Ariane]

Airbus, Boeing, British Aerospace, and all the other "run-of-the-mill-nothing-original-or-technologically-advanced" aircraft manufacturers? You kidding me?

Tupolev, obviously, is the best. They built the Tu-144 which had even better performance than the Concorde. And no one can beat that.

[dragon877]

i've always been partial to Boeing.....not hard to figure out as im completely obsessed with the 747 classics

btw there's a manufacturer that's not listed: Convair

im very attracted to the CV240/340/540/580s

[piercey]

and what happened to the TU-144?

[airline55]

yes, the 144 was the first SST, but It was even less sucessful than the Concorde.

[piercey]

Originally posted by dragon877
i've always been partial to Boeing.....not hard to figure out as im completely obsessed with the 747 classics

btw there's a manufacturer that's not listed: Convair

im very attracted to the CV240/340/540/580s

Oh sh!t, I did forget Convair. At the same time, there is no major airline still operating Convairs.

[cufcskim]

Originally posted by ArianeThey built the Tu-144 which had even better performance than the Concorde. And no one can beat that.

It also dropped out the sky on a regular basis due to arse engines and pish poor flight controls but only when you could get it airbourne without the usual batch of frequent technical problems which plagued it.

Yes it was slightly faster than concorde and yes it flew a little higher, but it was "designed" for a slightly different flight profile.

The 16 built made a grand total of 102 scheduled flights (55 pax, 47 frieght).


The Tu-144 design owed much to industrial espionage, with the Aerospatiale's French factory proving particularly open to infiltration. When Sergei Pavlov,officially head of Aeroflot's Paris office was finally arrested in 1965, he was in possession of details of Concorde's brakes, landing gear and airframe. Another agent, Sergei Fabiew, whose successes included obtaining the complete prototype blueprints, was not arrested until 1977.


So yeah Tupoluv are obviously the best on that basis.....................................................................NOT!

with Aerospatiale, made aviation history with the Concorde?

Aerospatiale/BAC-British Aircraft Corporation (now BAe Systems)

[Trogdor2000]

Originally posted by piercey

Originally posted by Jonair

Originally posted by Trogdor2000
There's no question in my mind - McDonnell Douglas. More the Douglas part of it, though. After all the question was "Who is the best of all time?" And MD (Or just D) practicly owned the aircraft industry up til the Jet Revolution especialy with their ground-breaking DC-3, and still made some noise with the DC-8. 9, 10 and the MD 11, 80 Series and the 90. MD played a more than crucial part in the Airline industry, especialy in its infancy.

Second that.

The DC-9 and DC-10 is enough to kick the asses of whatever boeing and airbus can make.

Third that, but I still think Embraer edges out all of them, but it was seriously tough to choose. That, and UA232 still somewhat rings in my head.

[Edited on 7/16/2005 by piercey]

If the question was "Who is going to be the best manufacturer in the future?", I'd say Embrayer. They've done alot so far, but not enough to rank them as the best of all time by any stretch.

[PalmAir]

If i were to put money in the stock market on any aircraft manufactuer out there it would definitely ben Embraer. They have a really bright future. Once the sales of their EMB-170/175/190/195's take off their stock is going to be so desireable.

[Coeurlion]

The TU-144 was copy of the Concorde and in there rush to release it, it blew up in its first public airshow which made all loose confidence in the airplane. My grandmother has a picture of her next to it at the Paris Airshow i think the day it blew up.

And in regards of the best Airline (jet) manufacturer, from before for the 90s I would say Boeing, but just like American car manufactuers in the 80s they didnt pay attention and adapt to consumer demands which allowed Airbus(France, England, etc...) in plane and Japanese(Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc...) in cars to sneek in and start to or completly take over their market.

In terms of prop, I dont know I edge over McDonnel-Douglas (ex.DC-3)slightly over Lockheed(ex.Constalation)

[flyhegs]

I think the TU144 is a great plane . Also tuploev have some plans for a future hydrogen airliner or so , so u shouldn't exactly bash it .

[dhc_chipmunk]

Originally posted by Ariane

Tupolev, obviously, is the best. They built the Tu-144 which had even better performance than the Concorde. And no one can beat that.

The Tu-144 only had purportedly greater speed. It was designed to reach Mach 3. It still beat the Concorde in actual speed, but it never came close to realizing Mach 3.

Performance is more than just speed though. It is not as aerodynamic, engines not as efficient, it's noisy, it's rackety and uncomfortable, from what I read of the test flights.

~~~~~
As for the best manufacturer, (the pollster never specified "civilian" aircraft), I vote SAAB for Gripen

And of course de Havilland Canada (now Bombardier) for its DHC-1 Chipmunk

[Edited on 18/7/2005 by dhc_chipmunk]