They pretty much are ALL hard not to love...but we each still have our favorites... I love the lines of an F 100, along with the F 86 and just like the P 51, North American sure knew how to build a good looking fighter....
I grew up around F4s.... Love them, they looked badasssed from day one, but never thought they were as good looking as an F100.
And as brought up, the F 106 was also another wonderful and good looking plane....
Good reason it was called the Golden Age of Military Aviation, kind of like Aviations "Muscle Car" era....defintely a wonderful time to be in the Air Force....
and no intention of leaving out the great birds the US Navy employed either....
side note for Pete E.... might be the time I lived in England, but the Lightning was THE fighter plane for the RAF during those times... and a good looking bird on its own. I always considered it another favorite...definitely the "Spitfire" of the 1960s Cold War period.
I tell ya, growing up on Air Force bases in the 50s and 60s wasn't a dull or boring childhood, that's for darn sure... I know Digital Dan can attest to that...he was an AF Brat also...
Being a late 40s and 50s Air Force Brat, I saw a lot of airplanes. I guess the only military plane that I rode in was a C119 and it was a noisy betch. Got to see the T6, F80, T33, F86, F84, F89C7D, F100, F101, F102, and many more. It was a boyhood dream. My youngest son retired after 22yrs as a U2 crewchief. I'm wearing my Dragon Lady ball cap as I type. I have in my possession one of the forward side windscreens and an American flag that was in his plane that set an altitude, payload record. I know the English Electric Lightening is a nice plane, but in reality it would run out of gas trying to attain the altitude of the U2.
