Top 10: Aircraft that were overshadowed

The robust P-47 proved an outstanding fighter bomber and was eventually developed into the P-47N variant, which was faster and longer-ranged than the P-51D, and likely the finest piston-engined fighter of the Second World War. However, the perception had already stuck that the Mustang won the air war in Europe, relegating the Thunderbolt to ground attack.

It didn’t help the P-47’s reputation that the svelte P-51 proved more attractive postwar as a private aircraft, largely due to being much cheaper to run; a fact that made it popular with many other air forces and as a racing aircraft, leading to a high survival rate and countless public appearances.

8: Pfalz D.XII

As early as the Great War, seemingly promising aircraft were being sidelined and none more so than those produced by the Bavarian Pfalz company. Their early monoplane fighters proved inferior to the Fokker Eindecker, and the later D.III was never ordered in the numbers of contemporary Albatros fighters despite its sound design.

Developed from the D.III, the D.XII retained its great structural strength (in marked contrast to many of its rivals) whilst featuring a new high-speed thin wing, inspired by French SPAD designs. The Pfalz boasted excellent performance, and the future looked bright for D.XII.

8: Pfalz D.XII

Unfortunately for Pfalz, Fokker had concurrently developed its utterly superlative D.VII. Entered into the same fighter contest, the D.VII was favoured by all but two of the evaluating pilots, and there was suspicion that the dissenting pair had been bribed. Nonetheless, the D.XII received a production order.

On paper, the two aircraft’s performance was essentially the same, but the D.XII’s handling was inferior to the famously docile Fokker. Come the Armistice, all examples of the Fokker D.VII were ordered to be handed to the victorious Allies, but the approximately 800 production Pfalz D.XIIs were totally ignored.

7: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

Since 1919, Curtiss had been dominant in U.S. fighter design, but the P-40 would be its last production design, and it was utterly overshadowed by the P-51 Mustang. Its service with the Flying Tigers was famous, but even at its combat debut (with the RAF), the P-40 was inferior to many other fighters.

The P-51, meanwhile, was designed specifically to be a better aircraft than the P-40 whilst using the same engine, and it must have been particularly galling to Curtiss, therefore, that they had sold the wind tunnel test data and detailed drawings of the P-40 to North American.

7: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

Had the P-40 been a better aircraft, this would have been irrelevant, but the Curtiss, though strong, nice to fly, and reliable, was underwhelming in performance. Kept in production primarily because it was cheap, the P-40 established an important service record in spite of, rather than because of, any inherent excellence in the design.

Like a U.S. version of the Hurricane, the P-40 inspires a dogged group of enthusiasts to stick up for it despite its inferiority to both the P-51 and a whole swathe of other Allied fighters. To be scrupulously fair to the P-40, however, it does look sensational adorned with a shark’s mouth.

6: Grumman A-6 Intruder

Yes, their roles were originally very different (though there would eventually be an overlap), but it is still worth mentioning how the F-14 Tomcat (pictured left) utterly overshadowed the rather brilliant A-6 Intruder (pictured right). The Tomcat, of course, gained massive popularity from the Top Gun films; yes, the Intruder had a moment of cinematic fame, The Flight of the Intruder in 1991, but this was not even close in scale.

Operating from aircraft carriers or land, the Intruder gave the US Navy and US Marine Corps a truly formidable all-weather attack capability. Well equipped with excellent sensors, long-range and armed with up to 18,000 lbs (8165kg) of advanced weapons, the Intruder was exceptionally capable.

6: Grumman A-6 Intruder

The A-6 Intruder was first used in the Vietnam War. In the 1980s, it served during operations in Lebanon and Libya, proving extremely effective in strike missions. It was in the 1991 Gulf War that the A-6s really proved themselves, however, taking part in 4700 combat sorties. It also spawned the sinister four-seat EA-6B Prowler, which specialised in the dark arts of Electronic Warfare, and the KA-6D tanker.

The A-6 entered service in 1963 and was retired on 28 April 1993 with the USMC and 28 February 1997 with the US Navy. The Intruder’s 35 years in U.S. service exceed the 32 of the Tomcat, yet it is often overlooked by those captivated by its rather more glamorous peers (the presence of another great looking machine in the form of the F/A-18 did not help). 

5: SEPECAT Jaguar

The Tornado is the most well-known European ground attack aircraft of the late Cold War, and in many ways deserves its fame, but this should not detract from the rather brilliant Jaguar that very much lived in the shadow of the bigger and faster aircraft. The SEPECAT Jaguar was an Anglo-French ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1968.

The Jaguar was simpler and more reliable than the complex ‘swing-wing’ Tornado, and when conflict broke out, the Jaguar was better prepared and easier to deploy. It was far faster and longer ranged than the Harrier GR.3. It had a superior navigation and weapon aiming system to the Buccaneer.

5: SEPECAT Jaguar

During the 1991 Gulf War, the Jaguar enjoyed significantly higher readiness rates than the Tornado, and in combat, the Jaguar damaged or destroyed 15 Iraqi naval vessels. Jaguars performed over 600 sorties without loss. In 1994, RAF Jaguars carried out the first RAF bombing in Europe since the Second World War in Bosnia.

In its final RAF guise, as the Jaguar GR.3, it had some of the best equipment in the world, and the ‘Big Cat’ bowed out at the height of its potency. Today, now approaching sixty years from its first flight, it serves on with the Indian Air Force.

4: Handley Page Victor

The Avro Vulcan, a thunderous and charismatic Cold War bomber, is the most well-known British bomber after the wartime Lancaster. Its iconic delta wing tends to overshadow a more advanced design—perhaps the pinnacle of British post-war aerospace engineering—the phenomenal Handley Page Victor, a remarkable aircraft of the V-bomber class.

The Victor was the last of the V-class bombers, following the Valiant and the Vulcan. For the extremely demanding high-speed requirements, Handley Page designed a crescent wing with three different sweep angles—the inboard section having the sharpest sweep. This wing design was a brilliant aerodynamic solution.

4: Handley Page Victor

When carrying conventional (non-nuclear) weapons, the Victor could carry thirty-five 1000 lb (453 kg) bombs internally. This represented a 66% improvement over both the Vulcan (pictured on the left here) and Valiant. The bomb bay’s capacity even exceeded that of early B-52s, which could carry only twenty-seven 1000 lb (453 kg) bombs internally, highlighting the Victor’s exceptional design and weapons carriage capability.

The Victor bomber was impressively fast. Though officially cruising at Mach 0.92, one reportedly reached Mach 0.98 in the 1969 Transatlantic Air Race. Some accounts—even if unconfirmed—claim it occasionally broke the sound barrier, showcasing unexpected speed and performance for a Cold War-era aircraft designed primarily for strategic bombing missions.

3: Sukhoi Su-15 ‘Flagon’

Soviet interceptor pilots faced the daunting task of defending the world’s largest nation against the combined forces of the most technologically advanced nations. The responsibility of preventing nuclear annihilation from USAF B-52s, countering the nuisance of snooping Mach 3 SR-71s, and air combat with F-4s and F-15s were formidable tasks the skilled pilots of the Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) trained for in earnest.

For much of the Cold War, the backbone of their manned air defence was around 1300 Sukhoi Su-15s (NATO codename ‘Flagon’). A capable twin-engine design, today, if remembered at all, it is for its involvement in the tragic shooting down of Flight KAL 007 in 1983.

3: Sukhoi Su-15 ‘Flagon’

A navigational error caused a South Korean Boeing 747 en route to Seoul to stray into Soviet airspace. It was shot down by a Soviet Su-15. Soviet officials claimed it was mistaken for a US spy plane. The jet crashed near Moneron Island in the Sea of Japan, killing all 269 people on board, including 246 passengers and 23 crew members.

Other than this horrific incident, the Su-15 is far eclipsed in popular awareness by the MiG-23 ‘Flogger’, MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’ and MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum’. Despite this, it was an important aircraft and one worthy of greater exposure. The success of the Su-15 laid the groundwork for the Sukhoi design bureau to prosper with the later Fencer and Flanker series, and today, Sukhoi has utter dominance over MiG.

2: Tupolev Tu-144 ’Charger’

The race to create the world’s first supersonic transport was one of huge prestige. When the US dropped out, it left only the Anglo-French Concorde and the Soviet Tu-144. Accusations of espionage and other shadowy skullduggery dogged the Tu-144’s development; the stakes were high, and the USSR was desperate to win.

Flight at Mach 2 demanded an extremely exacting combination of shaping, materials and power, especially as these were not quick dashes as fighter aircraft do, but prolonged cruises. Both aircraft adopted the delta or triangular wing, but of different shapes. The sensuous compound lines of Concorde’s wing were very different from the aggressive double delta of the Tu-144.

2: Tupolev Tu-144’ Charger’

The Soviet equivalent of Concorde was bigger, faster and more powerful. Concorde had a maximum thrust of 677 kN, while the Tu-144 had 960 kN (some sources put the figure as 800kN). This did not make the Tu-144 better, as, in most ways, it was horribly loud for passengers – many people said the noise was almost unbearable in the back of the plane near the engines. Unlike Concorde, to sustain supersonic flight it had to use its afterburners continuously.

There was also faulty de-icing equipment for the air intakes, poor fireproof paint, substandard navigation equipment and a panoply of other failings. There was a high-profile crash at the Paris air show in 1973, which killed its crew of six along with eight people on the ground. This was followed by a short, disastrous service life, and the Tu-144 was withdrawn from passenger service (and later freight service). Surprisingly, it ended its life in the service of NASA, researching supersonic flight for three years until 1999.