No one favorite, but I do like the Hun, Super Sabre, and Phantom. I also think the F-86 and F-111 were really cool too. For the non-US aircraft, I like the Tornado and it's hard to leave out the ME-262.
That F-104 was one bad-ass plane.. IIRC, that was the plane that Yeager nearly died in - got into a flat spin and had to eject..burned the chit outta his face...
My cousin flew the F-100 during the mid-'60s in 'Nam.. He never spoke much about it though..
Ex- USN (SS) '66-'69 Pro-Constitution. LET'S GO BRANDON!!!
X'ceptin' the F-4 was an Interceptor (now that ought to piss of the F-4 drivers! ). The F-100 is very cool, but I have to go with the MiG Master, aka the F-8.
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
In that era, the YF-12a Interceptor, in this era the YF-23 Black Widow---Yup, I know that one never went into production, but the cool factor is over the top.
I have to go with the "sports car" of fighters: the F-86.
I nearly got to fly them. For the Fighter Ground Attack School I attended, they strongly considered using de-mothballed F-86s for the course, but went with hybrid F-80/T-33s instead, mostly because the hybrid AT-33 was a two-seater. Still, I did get 40 hours in a Korean War fighter of sorts. It was a revelation, I assure you.
I was never an air-to-air fighter pilot kind of guy. Ground attack was my thing. The two planes I wanted to fly - but never did - were the A-7 and the A-10. My years fell right in the slot when neither one was active, the A-7 in the process of being phased out and the A-10 phased in. Damn.
My Dad flew the F-86 and others. He was a career Air Force pilot. Also flew bombers for SAC. It would be interesting to hear his perspective on the planes he flew, but he has been gone now for over 10 years.
"Successful is leaving something in better shape than you inherited it in. Keep that in mind, son." Dad
So many great fighters! I am a big fan of F-86s, and F-4s. When I was going to the USAF I wanted to fly F-16s or the A-10. Ended up going to the Navy and riding around in these. I can tell you it would accelerate when going near vertical. Getting turned and pointed back down when doing 1.5M approaching 50k' is interesting though. Awesome jet!