Hey guys, welcome back to my channel a place where I break down different topics in the complex world of aviation
Now I know there's a lot of airplanes out there and even more books and articles and material
About every single one of them and so in this video i'm going to give you a sneak peek
Into 50 of these amazing machines and what makes each of them
So cool and so unique
so we'll be talking about every type of airplane from historical warplanes from world war ii
To aviation icons that we all know and love
From fighter jets and stealth bombers to commercial airplanes that probably many of us have flown on before
to even some pretty bizarre looking planes that you wouldn't expect to even get off the ground
So all this coming up in 50 facts about 50 badass
The wright flyer was the first official aircraft in the world
the wright brothers created this plane using one thousand dollars the equivalent of thirty thousand in
2020 despite the fact that neither of the brothers completed high school. In the first flight in
1903 the wright flyer flew for 12 seconds over a distance of
36 meters just 3 meters longer than the entire length of the
SR-71 blackbird a fan favorite reconnaissance or spy aircraft that was used to gather Soviet
Intelligence during the cold war to this day
The Blackbird still holds one of the top speed and altitude records with a cruising speed of over
3.3 times the speed of sound or Mach 3.3
Blackbird pilots have said that they would simply outfly missiles by speeding up and changing direction
Blackbird flies six times faster than the V-22 osprey which is both a helicopter
And a plane with rotors that can take off vertically then rotate forward 90 degrees during flights to become
propellers like on a regular fixed wing airplane
Like the bd5 micro the smallest jet aircraft in the world with a wingspan of 6 meters and weighing only
360 pounds on the other side of the scale is ukrainian antonov AN-225
the largest plane in the world by payload capacity
its famous cargo
Passengers have included the soviet space shuttle and four armored tanks and countless tons of medical supplies during the pandemic
But there has only been one single plane of this model ever made by weight. It can even carry around 2.5
boeing
767s which sucks in enough air through its two engines to fill a blimp in seven seconds
It's definitely come a long way since the de Havilland comet
Which was the very first jet airliner in the world that led to the designs of boeing and airbus planes today
however
The decline of the comet was actually due to its square windows which concentrated stresses on the metal frame at its corners
And sped up metal fatigue
So we have the comets to thank for rounded airliner windows today
Another aircraft known for its unique shape is the b2 spirits
An innovative spy plane created after the widespread adoption of radar and designed to be invisible in enemy airspace
Not only was this plane itself designed to deflect radar waves in different directions
But it was actually covered in iron fury paints that absorbs radar waves as well
because of its composition b2s actually have to stay 40 miles away from
Thunderstorms and a crew of two can even conduct missions spanning over 70 hours on the b2 before touching down on the ground
on the civilian side
We have the ruton model 47 voyager the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling
This journey took nine days
What you probably don't want to spend nine days on is the u2 dragon lady a spy plane
That was so hard to land
It required a chase car driving just under the plane that would talk the pilot through the landing
These planes also flew so high so quickly that some pilots suffered permanent brain damage from decompression sickness
Another unintended casualty was the f-11 tiger a fighter jet
So badass it once shot itself down since it was traveling faster than its own bullet
another plane famous for maybe not the right reason is the
xf-84h
Thunderscreech that was possibly the loudest aircraft in the world
That would actually create visible sonic booms on the ground. Its shock waves were powerful enough to knock a person to the
ground
But a powerful aircraft in a good way was the space shuttle which took astronauts into space as a rocket
And returned them to earth flown as a plane or rather a loosely controllable meteor
the systems aboard the space shuttle actually couldn't handle year changes in orbit and hence missions never took place between december and
January another unique plane owned by nasa is the super guppy a transport aircraft used for rocket assembly
It's a frankenstein of a plane with components from various aircrafts
And is also the only airplane large enough to carry a complete third stage of the saturn v rockets
Another space-related aircraft is the f-15 eagle a fighter jet so badass that none have ever been shot down by enemy fire
But an f-15 once even shot down a satellite
The bell x-1 was the experimental aircraft flown by chuck yeager. Who was the first man to break the sound barrier in 1947
The c-121 constellation was the first airplane to be adapted into air force one to transport the president of the united states
Today this role is filled by two boeing 747s
the queen of the skies
This is not only one of two double-decker passenger planes to have ever been developed
But was actually the model of both aircraft involved in the most deadly air accident in history
That actually took place on the ground a 747 attempted to take off while another
747 was still on the runway of tenerife island this resulted in a total of
583 fatalities
On the other hand the airbus a350 is one of the safest airplanes in the world with zero passenger fatalities
The a350 also services the longest flight in the world from newark to singapore
With a flight time of 18 hours and 30 minutes a plane. You don't want to spend 18 hours on would be the cirrus
sr-22 a very popular private aviation aircraft that is even equipped with a parachute for the plane to land during
Emergencies or on some airplanes you could also just eject like on the mig-25
A soviet fighter aircraft that holds a staggering 29 world records including the altitude record
That is still unbeaten today reaching a hundred and twenty three thousand feet
Which is over three times the service ceiling of most commercial planes today?
another record setter is the f-35 lightning ii
Whose development is estimated to have cost seven times more than the development of the entire international space station?
But it could also take off vertically. So maybe it was worth it on the other side of the price scale is the cesna 172
A very popular and affordable single engine trainer aircraft that is also the most produced airplane in history
Another aircraft for the history books was the f4u corsair the first fighter aircraft to be made with
self-sealing fuel tanks that worked by being surrounded by layers of rubber material that once in contact with fuel
They would swell up and essentially heal their own wound
This is extremely common today in all types of fighter aircrafts like the f-22 raptor
Which is one of the most maneuverable jets since its engine exhaust is actually expelled through nozzles that can rotate to produce thrust
in different directions
Slightly less maneuverable is the airbus
a330 a wide body jet
So popular that it is the fourth most sold commercial aircraft in history its wingtips which are the folded tips to reduce drag
Are as tall as the world's tallest man at 2.4 meters in the aviation record books
We also have the straddle launch which holds the record for the widest airplane ever flown with a dual
Fuselage design intended to serve as a carrier and launch aircraft for rockets into space
It only recently took its first flight in 2019
under its wings
It can actually fit 10 super marine spitfires an infamous warplane from world war ii with incredible designs
It was one of the first aircrafts to have a retractable landing wheel and even an elliptical wing which greatly reduced
Drag and was strong enough to support plenty of firepower
And maybe more importantly beer kegs for d-day troops
Also pivotal in world war ii was the b-29 super fortress the plane that dropped both atomic bombs
But the development of the planes themselves actually cost more than the entire manhattan project to develop the atomic bombs
the eurofighter typhoon is a modern fighter jet developed by germany spain, italy and the uk
it's actually so unstable at subsonic speeds that it's
Impossible for a human to fly it without computer aid to make constant and immediate adjustments
But this is also an indicator of just how advanced this plane is, especially in comparison to the bell p59
the very first american jet fighter its development was so secretive that during testing pilots would dress up in
Costumes so that if people on the ground saw this propellerless plane, they are more likely to believe that they are hallucinating
If they were flown by a pilot in gorilla costume smoking a cigar
probably equally as bizarre would have been the aerodyne a vertical takeoff and landing or
vitol aircraft designed by a famous aerospace designer
Alexander lippage to demonstrate that wings actually aren't essential to flights
And yes this actually flew in the skies
Another aviation wonder was the h4 hercules the second largest aircraft in the world by size
it was actually a flying boat made entirely of wood to save weight during cross-atlantic travel in world war ii
Unfortunately, it was never finished in time for the war
And it only took one single flight for 26 seconds over 1.5 kilometers
A distance covered in 5 seconds by the airbus. A380
the largest and only fully double-decked passenger aircraft in the world with a capacity of up to
853 passengers the a380s are so big that in order to fit within existing airport
Runways the a380s wings actually had to be shortened from its optimal length
Which greatly reduced fuel efficiency fuel was also a lethal weakness of the mitsubishi a6m0
The main fighter for the japanese forces during world war ii the zero had two main weaknesses
It was unable to dive as its engines would flood with fuel in zero g's and was actually extremely vulnerable once hit
As its fuel tanks could not self-heal and the frame was also extremely combustible so due to these disadvantages in dogfighting
many zeroes eventually served as kamikaze planes on the other hand the a10 thunderbolt 2
Or the warthog was designed to take an incredible amount of damage in its operator manual
The plane is actually designed to fly with one engine one half of the tail one elevator and half of a wing missing
It was also designed around a badass cannon that can disable tanks from six kilometers away
The f-16 fighting falcon or viper is the most common fighter jet in the world used by 15
of the world's air forces
the
F-117 was a u.s. Stealth bomber that was so secretive that it was actually named using a fighter designation
To allegedly attract top air force pilots and also hide the new development from soviet union
but what was definitely not a secret was the gossamer albatross the very first
Human-powered plane that traveled across the english channel at a top speed of 15 miles per hour by its pilot and creator
brian
allen
Peddling his heart out
A little faster than that was the focker dr-1 dre decker the propeller triplane flown by the red baron
The most deadly fighter ace from germany during world war one with 80 confirmed victories
A little less intimidating is the c-130 hercules a transport aircraft used by 50 air forces around the world
despite it being around the same size as a boeing 737
The hercules can actually take off and land on extremely short runways and hence
It is the largest aircraft to have ever landed on an aircraft carrier and is often used for disaster relief in remote areas
Possibly also useful in remote areas is the taylor aerocar a dual functioning airplane and car
The aerocart can actually make the switch from plane to car by folding back its wings and storing away its propellers
And this can be done in just a few minutes so you can zoom right off the airfield into the streets
but what you don't want to see on the streets is the airbus beluga xl
A transport aircraft made by airbus to carry its plane components to assembly derived from the company's a330 commercial aircraft
Plus this might just be the cutest airplane ever
The bae harrier 2 better known as the hurrier jump jet is a jet that can not only take off and land vertically
But it can also fly sideways and backwards
This is made possible by multiple streams of fast-moving air that is shot out through nozzles that rotate controlling the direction of the thrust
A little less maneuverable is the eleution
Il-76 a russian transport plane that has completed over 300 landings on the icy runways of antarctica
And even has a bubble below the flight deck for the navigator. Another famous. Russian plane is the sukhoi su-35
A russian fighter that has been compared to a ufo due to its physics-defying maneuvers such as the pancake where it rotates
360 degrees in place in the air another
Ufo-related plane was the p-51 mustang
The main u.s fighter plane during world war ii pilots actually had so much trust in the plane that they used it to track two
high-profile unidentified flying objects in the air during the 40s and during world war ii
mustangs were responsible for over half of all enemy kills around that time also came the
dc-3 one of the first successful airliners
But in much greater comfort than today with cocktails and stakes on silverware and even 14 curtained beds
And probably a little less comfortable to fly on was the b1 lancer the largest payload carrying bomber of the us fleet
Despite being a bomber the b1 actually has similar flight characteristics to fighter aircrafts and even have a top speed over mach 2
And last but not least at number 50 is the concorde the first and only supersonic passenger jet in the world
Capable of taking 100 passengers from london to new york in just three hours
The concorde had a cruising speed of over mach 2 and could easily outfly almost every single fighter jet
Due to its speed the fuselage would actually expand up to 10 inches during flight and heat up to the touch
This heat was actually the limit to how fast it could fly and not its engines
Since its aluminum material that the concorde was made from would begin to soften if the plane sped up any further
So there you have it 50 facts about 50 airplanes now
I hope that by watching this video you've learned something new or even discovered a new airplane
You haven't heard about before and if I didn't get to mention your favorite plane, I am so sorry
But please let me know in the comments down below now typically on my channel. I do a series called airplane anatomy
Where I do a deep dive into one specific plane and talk about its history, its engineering and how it flies
So far i've done episodes on the sr-71 blackbird the supermarine spitfire the a380 and many more
So feel free to go check those out if you haven't already now as always if you enjoyed this video
Feel free to give it a thumbs up
And also remember to subscribe to my channel for new aviation content and i'll see you guys next time
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