Are the Harrier and Jaguar "beautiful"?

[MarkOttawa]

British art gallery exhibit:

The terrible beauty of machines built to kill
Charles Moore reviews Harrier and Jaguar at the Tate Britain and is not at all surprised to find beauty in the corpses of two jet fighters.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/7871762/The-terrible-beauty-of-machines-built-to-kill.html

The Sepecat Jaguar lying belly up in the Tate Britain  Photo: David Rose...

 

Harrier:

If you think about, the looks of the Harrier and Jaguar actually have quite a bit in common (role, speed...).  Really beautiful military aircraft from that era (60s)?  Can`t think of many:

Maybe:

Mark
Ottawa

 

[wannabe SF member]

While there is no doubting the Harrier's illustrious history and effectiveness,  I just can't bring myself to find it pretty.
It looks like the Phantom's uglier cousin.

 

[DexOlesa]

Maybe not so much the Harrier, but I've always been a fan of the Jaguar.

 

[Danjanou]

I always thought the F-106 Delta Dart was nice looking very crisp lines

 

[Journeyman]

I always thought the F-106 Delta Dart was nice looking very crisp lines

Much nicer than the completely different F-102 Delta Dagger.   

 

[MarkOttawa]

But the Convairs are 1950s, earlier era than Harrier et al.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Journeyman]

But the Convairs are 1950s, earlier era than Harrier et al.

No argument. I was merely furthering Danjanou's lawn-dart theory of aviation  ;D

If you're talking beautiful aircraft design......

 

[SeanNewman]

I don't think the Harrier is supposed to be beautiful any more than the A10 is (?)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think planes being beautiful really took a long lunchbreak between WW2 and stealth designs like the SR71 and B2.

Due to the graceful shape I think the Spitfire will likely be seen as the most beautiful combat aircraft ever made, and for the next few decades after that it was just a collection of air-intake-pig-faces or missiles like the pics above.

 

[dangerboy]

Any aircraft that shows up to provide air support is a beautiful sight.

 

[aesop081]

best looking airplane in the sky....hands down

 

[observor 69]

Another nice one:

 

[TheHead]

Hands down the most beautiful thing to see circling over-top you.  Well if it's on yourside

 

[PuckChaser]

Hands down the most beautiful thing to see circling over-top you.  Well if it's on yourside

If its not on your side, you don't see it or hear it until its too late.  >

 

[cameron]

I've always considered the Harrier and Jaguar to be two of the most beautiful aircraft ever made. [mountie]

 

[HItorMiss]

I know a few guys who cringe when they hear or see them. I might owe my life to them but I still look skyward and have a hard time trusting the guys who fly them....

 

[Loachman]

Thptptpt.....

The wings don't turn on a single one of them. It's just not natural.

 

[HItorMiss]

Loach

Yeah I have to admit nothing better then the sound of air and gravity being beaten into submission. That sounds hearlds the end of a long job....

 

[larry Strong]

The plane I find the "easiest on the eyes" from that period would be the "Hawker Hunter".

"The total number of Hunters produced was just less than 2000 between 1951 and the early 1960's. It was an aircraft
which enjoyed long service in 21 nations, from the Omani deserts, to the jungles of Malaya, to the high Andean
plateaus of the Atacama in Chile and the icy Swedish winters of Northern Europe. Wars in Pakistan and India have truly
bloodied her history, as have her flights over Somalia and Zimbabwe and surrounding African Nations."

 

[SupersonicMax]

This has to be the sexiest bitch on Earth. 

 

[vonGarvin]

I like the classic look: