Official Fulqrum Publishing forum - A question of aesthetics

I think it's down to what each one considers good looking. As far as i'm concerned, "beautiful" in terms of warbids means brutish, business-like, functional looking, menacing, or any combination of the above.

As such, i prefer the Se.5's looks over the Spit, just like i prefer the looks of German aircraft in general for the same reason. I also rank the P-47 higher than the Mustang and the Hawker line of fighters (hurricane, typhoon, tempest) above the Spit series.

VVS fighters are another story, because even though some late war designs might share similar traits to the Spit, they do exude the necessary feeling of "crude" to make me like them in other departments :-P

I think it's because Spits and Mustangs look somewhat elegant and it gives me a mental image of girly frailty, like they were made for a race-course and not war. I'm not debating performance here mind you, just how their shape and outline influences the first word that pops in my mind when i see them.

I might know i'm in trouble when i see a P-51 diving in on me, or a Spit doing its trademark climbing turn, but i can't help but smirk when thinking that a couple of well-placed hits can turn it into an expensive glider. I think i just despite elegant in general, the only somewhat "pretty" aircraft i'm fond of is the Mosquito. :-P