FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Best and most recognizable planes ever built
Old Apr 15, 2013, 4:05 am
  #15  
chornedsnorkack
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,452
If a plane was unsuccessful and stayed rare, it is not "recognizable", because few have seen it. If it was successful, it made a contribution - but if it inspired close copies then it is not "recognizable" either.

Boeing 747 is a plane which is obviously both recognizable and has made a contribution. No one copied the hump - itself copied from Carvair, but that is a propeller plane.

Now, looking at other planes with appreciable contribution, either themselves or via copies:

Boeing 707 - copied by DC-8 and Convair 880/990. Is DC-8 immediately recognizable?

Boeing 737 - copied by A320 and others, as pointed out.

Boeing 727 - a copy of Hawker-Siddeley Trident. As is Tu-154.

Douglas DC-9/MD-80/-90/B717/ARJ21 - copies of BAC 1-11. As are Fokker 28/100/70, and Tu-134, and CRJ.

Airbus 300/310 - copied by Boeing 767

DC-10/MD-11 - should be fairly "recognizable". No copies, and Tristar is different enough.

Concorde - little contribution, with just 14 frames in service. And how readily is it distinguished from Tu-144? Yes, stand different on ground, Concorde´s smooth ogive wing, Tu-144´s canards... but considering how few airports see Concorde regularly, how many people would immediately recognize Tu-144 as something different from Concorde?
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