Most Important Aircraft of ALL TIME

Published Nov 11, 2024 By Marc

YouTube / AmazingViz

Throughout history, aircraft design has made monumental strides, resulting in some of the most outstanding and innovative flying machines ever created. Here’s a look at these groundbreaking aircraft, decade by decade:

1900-1930

Orville Wright with a later Model A Flyer at Tempelhof Field in Berlin

Wright Flyer: The first airplane to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot.
Blériot XI: The first aircraft to cross the English Channel.
Sikorsky Ilya Muromets: The world’s first true airliner.
Fokker E.III: The first to form specialized fighter units.
Junkers F 13: The first all-metal transport aircraft.
Spirit of St. Louis: Completed the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris.
Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Vega 5B: The first aircraft flown solo by a woman across the Atlantic.

The Lockheed 5B Vega that Amelia Earhart flew across the Atlantic in

1930-1940

K9795, the 9th Spitfire production Mk I, with 19 Squadron in 1938

Supermarine Spitfire: The only fighter produced continuously throughout WWII.
Douglas DC-3: The first airliner to carry passengers across America in one day.
Messerschmitt Bf 109: The most famous German fighter of WWII.
Piper J-3 Cub: Trained 80% of U.S. WWII pilots.
Boeing 314 Clipper: The first aircraft to transport a U.S. president, serving as the first “Air Force One.”

1940-1950

Me 262A at the National Museum of the USAF

Messerschmitt Me 262: The world’s first jet-powered fighter aircraft.
Lockheed Constellation: A prominent pressurized airliner.
Boeing B-29 Superfortress: The first nuclear-capable aircraft.
Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star: America’s first jet-powered combat aircraft.
Bell X-1: The first to break the sound barrier.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15: The Soviet Union’s first jet-powered fighter.

The Bell X-1 photographed during a test flight.

1950-1960

A C-130E Hercules flies over the Atlantic Ocean.

de Havilland Comet I: The first commercial jet airliner.
C-130 Hercules: The longest-running military aircraft production.
Cessna 172: The highest-selling aircraft of all time.
Grumman Gulfstream I: Introduced the concept of business-class aircraft.

1960-1970

The SR-71 is unofficially known as the “Blackbird.”

Learjet 23: The first mass-produced business jet.
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: The fastest manned, air-breathing aircraft.
Boeing 737: The best-selling jetliner for over 50 years.
Tupolev Tu-144: The first commercial supersonic transport (SST).
Concorde: The only SST to have a 27-year operational career.

1970-1980

Air Force One, a Militarized Boeing 747, over Mount Rushmore

Boeing 747: Transported more than 3.5 billion passengers.
RV-3: The most successful kit-built aircraft.
Rutan VariEze: Inspired the development of SpaceShipOne.
Gossamer Albatross: The first human-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel.
F-16 Fighting Falcon: Designed to be aerodynamically unstable for greater maneuverability.

1980-1990

The Voyager before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, to complete its record-breaking, non-stop unrefueled flight around the world.

Rutan Model 76 Voyager: The first aircraft to fly nonstop around the world without refueling.
Airbus A320: Introduced a digital fly-by-wire flight control system.

Airbus A320-200 takes off from London Heathrow Airport

1990-2010

Cirrus SR22: The first aircraft equipped with its own parachute.
SpaceShipOne: The first privately funded human spaceflight.
Dassault Falcon 7X: The first plane designed entirely on a virtual platform.
F-22 Raptor: With a kill ratio of 108:0, it revolutionized air combat.
MQ-1 Predator: Pioneered modern drone warfare.
V-22 Osprey: The first successful tilt-rotor military aircraft.

2010-2020

F-35A of the 33rd FW, F-35B of VMFAT-501 and F-35C of VFA-101 near Eglin AFB, 2014

Boeing 787 Dreamliner: The first airliner primarily built from composite materials.
Gulfstream G500: The first private jet with active side-stick technology.
F-35 Lightning II: The future of American aerial warfare.
Lockheed Martin SR-72: A hypersonic plane capable of firing hypersonic missiles.

Honorable Mentions

H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose”: The largest wooden plane and flying boat ever built.
LZ 129 Hindenburg: The world’s largest airship.
Antonov An-225 Mriya: The largest and heaviest cargo plane ever.

Antonov AN-225 landing on the runway after a demonstration flight

B-2 Spirit: America’s first strategic stealth bomber.
Mitsubishi A5M: The first carrier-based monoplane fighter.
Scaled Composites Model 351 Stratolaunch: The aircraft with the longest wingspan (385 ft).
Hawker Siddeley Harrier: The first operational V/STOL jet fighter.