Worst Plane Ever - Two crossed lines forming an "X". It shows a way to block communication or reject notifications.

Chevron Home Icon It shows a section or expandable menu or sometimes previous/next navigation options. Military and defense contributors

Worst Plane Ever

Worst Plane Ever

Twitter icon Stylized bird with mouth open, tweeting. Twitter icon LinkedIn The word "in". LinkedIn Flipboard Icon Elegant Letter F. Flipboard Facebook Letter Icon F. Facebook Email Icon Envelope. It shows the ability to send email. Email Link Image Chain Link Image. It represents the URL of the website link. Copy link

American Airlines Flight Diverted After Passenger Tries To Open Plane Door

F-22 Raptor, F-86 Sabre, F-16 Fighting Falcon and P-51D Mustang during the 2016 Heritage Flight. US Air Force photo by J.M. Eddins Jr.

The United States Air Force has been successful in aircraft design. Because of the structure of the US defense industrial base, many companies have proposed competitive aircraft designs that allow poor users to be weeded out at a relatively early stage.

This is a list of some of the less famous fighters designed and produced by the United States during the past century. The list includes only airplanes that saw effective production (included in brackets); no "Thunderscreeches", Goblins, or similar prototype fighters.

US Navy Brewster F2A-3 on a training flight from Naval Air Station Miami, August 2, 1942. US Navy

The Worst Military Airplane Ever

Brewster Buffalo found itself at the wrong point in the technological age. A relatively capable fighter in the late 1930s, it could not match the advanced aircraft encountered at the start of the Pacific War.

Originally designed as a carrier fighter, the Buffalo suffered greatly at the hands of the Japanese navy and army in the early days of World War II. Underpowered, underarmored, with relatively low speed and poor altitude performance, the Buffalo was no match for the best Japanese pilots.

After the first few months of the war, the surviving Buffaloes were sent for training. Buffalo did better in Finnish service; 36 Finnish pilots flew in the ongoing war against the Soviet Air Force and became aces.

Worst Plane Ever

The first production Vought F7U-1 Cutlass was launched from the aircraft carrier USS Midway on July 25, 1951. US Navy

Commercial Passenger Airplane Crashes Fast Facts

The Vought F7U Cutlass was an incredibly innovative carrier fighter that failed largely because it tried too fast.

First flown in 1948, the Cutlass was part of a series of short-range jets flown by the US Navy. The design of such fighters was complex and difficult, because it required managing the rapid technological changes at the beginning of the jet age and at the same time on platforms (Essex class aircraft carriers) that were not designed to carry aircraft.

A spacious but unpowered aircraft with a distinctive tail design, the Knife was widely admired by its operators. A quarter of the Cutlass production order was destroyed in the crash, which resulted in the death of dozens of pilots and crew.

US Navy F3H-2N Demon takes off near the McDonnell factory in St. Louis, Missouri on June 4, 1956.

Jetblue Passenger Pees On Board

Another carrier fighter from the early jet age, the McDonnell F3H Demon had a more traditional design than the Gutless Cutlass.

A single engine boat needs a reliable, powerful engine, and this Demon didn't have it; none of the engines on the plane were working properly.

The problem with the month-old plane was an unreliable, reclining seat that often didn't work. The Demon worked well in its role as a subsonic interceptor, but was retired before the Vietnam War.

Worst Plane Ever

The development of the Soviet long-range bomber forces in the 50s contributed to the development of several high-flying jet aircraft. The F-102 Delta Dagger (also known as the Deuce) initially failed to achieve top speed, prompting a major design effort.

World War Ii's Worst Airplane

The Deis also struggled at high altitude, which was a problem for a fighter designed to hunt down high-flying Soviet bombers. Another design effort resulted in the F-106 Delta Dart, a much more powerful aircraft.

During Vietnam, the Air Force tried to force the F-102 into a low-performance bomber role, with very limited success. The Deuce was quickly transferred to Air National Guard service, and much of the fleet was eventually spent as target drones.

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was an intelligent interceptor that served with a number of different air forces since 1958.

Although it lacked the range and payload to capture superiority, it could accomplish the mission reasonably well, and it was an air superiority aircraft in an era that did not value the air superiority mission.

Of The Worst Airplane Crashes

In Vietnam, the F-104 saw limited success in the air-to-ground role. What really set Starfighter apart was its crash rate. In USAF service, the Starfighter had a higher accident rate than other Century series fighters, but the problem was much worse for Canada and Germany.

Accidents had many causes, but generally single-engine fighters with short wingspans would suffer a disproportionate number of incidents.

It remains to be seen how history will treat the F-35 joint strike fighter. Some critics are already suggesting it should be added to this list, but the plane hasn't even finished production, let alone its service life.

Worst Plane Ever

It is a consolation that even the worst aircraft managed to make a useful contribution, even as technology changed around them.

We Flew Some Of The Worst Airline Seats In America So You Don't Have To

Robert Farley is the author of The War Book. He serves as a senior lecturer at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Business at the University of Kentucky.

NOW WATCH: Here's a look at the world's first stealth fighter jet, the F-117A Nighthawk, which was retired in 2008 and is considered by many to be the worst plane ever. Most of them stopped flying for good reasons, but some still fly high. So what are the worst airplanes still in operation? Read…

People tend to believe that it is the airline that operates the aircraft as much as the aircraft itself. While airline service certainly plays a role in how a flight is received, you can't blame them for everything.

The plane itself makes a big difference. If we're trying to concentrate and the cabin is so loud we can't read or work or the seats hurt in the back, we think the plane is the worst.

Passenger Planes That Disappeared Forever

Some planes are considered evil because they are located in airports. This often relates to things like getting passengers and cargo in and out efficiently. Others are just dangerous, too old-fashioned, or both!

Please don't be offended if you see your favorite airline on this list. Some have made this list just because it's old, and that doesn't mean it wasn't great art at some point in history.

Before the 737 MAX was dangerous, there was another 737 that was dangerous. That plane was a 737-200, one of only three planes ever to land!

Worst Plane Ever

First, the 737-200 is very dangerous. In fact, it is often considered to be one of the most dangerous aircraft ever built - of the 1,095 aircraft built, 96 crashed!

Elon Musk And The Dangers Of Censoring Real Time Flight Trackers

That alone could make it one of the worst planes ever. However, the 737-200 is also one of the noisiest aircraft, even by 1960s standards!

For many passengers, there is a noticeable slowness in the A340. It's almost as if the A340 doesn't have enough powerful engines to get it going.

Passengers often notice that the A340 takes longer to take off and reach cruising altitude. This means that passengers often have their ears covered for longer than on similar aircraft.

This slowness is also seen in the cruising speed of the A340. The A340 has a cruising speed of Mach 0.86, significantly slower than the Mach 0.89 of the Boeing 777 (which often flies similar routes!).

Why Airplanes Are The Worst

Bombardier is known for building amazing aircraft like the A220 and Challenger 350. However, the worst among them is the CRJ200.

The CRJ is a regional jet, as were many other Bombardier jets (the rest are business jets).

However, unlike other regional jets, the CRJ200 is extremely narrow. Courses are notorious for being almost too small to do anything there. For anyone around six feet tall, your head will touch the ceiling!

Worst Plane Ever

The windows are also incredibly small, meaning that anyone suffering from motion sickness or a fear of flying won't be able to look out the window to comfort themselves!

Veteran Hurricane Hunter Says Flight Into Ian Was 'worst I've Ever Been On'

The Tu-204 should be Russia's answer to the 757. But just like with the 757 (more on that later!) the Tu-204 suffers for various reasons.

Tu-204 is called one of the worst aircraft for a number of reasons. First of all, the Tu-204 was so poorly built that from an engineering perspective the FAA refused to certify the Tu-204 to fly there!

Tu-204 is also known for unloading problems. The Tu-204 plane is so high above the ground that people struggle to get out of the plane.

Worst plane, worst president ever, worst plane ride ever, worst plane crash ever caught on tape, worst president ever book, worst alphabet book ever, worst cold sore ever, worst ever plane crash, worst plane turbulence ever, worst state ever shirt, worst cars ever made, worst ever