Flying isn't for the faint of heart! It took a lot of trial and error before aviation experts were finally able to create safe aircraft.
Here are some of history's most dangerous crafts to enter the skies...
The Fisher P-75 Eagle
This plane was built to be the best of the best and it was a supposed symbol of victory. The "75" in the name was borrowed from a French 75-mm gun that turned the tides of World War I. Obviously, the "eagle" is meant to regard the United States.
A lot of the aspects of the P-75 were borrowed from other successful planes. The inventors believed that the successes of previous planes would make this the strongest, most powerful plane in the world. Sadly, that wasn't the case, and it was an absolute flop. Lots of money wasted!
The Douglas DC-10
The DC-10 wasn't just a disappointment in the aviation world, it was a nightmare. There were a lot of oversights in terms of the construction which made it extremely dangerous. The last thing anyone wants to be is thousands of miles up in the sky trapped in a faulty plane.
The doors of the DC-10 were made to swing outwards, which made it extremely difficult to shut them correctly. In 1972, the doors swung open while the plane was in the sky. This happened again in 1974. In 1979, the wing had fallen off during takeoff. After some much-needed corrections, this plane is finally safe to fly.
The Convair NB-36
At some point in time, someone had the bright idea of replacing a standard fuel engine with a nuclear reactor. In theory, sure, it could work. The fuel vs. nuclear energy debate was high in the sky, but fuel won this round.
The Convair only had around 50 or so flights before someone higher up decided to put an end to it. Even 50 flights is too many considering that it had to be supervised by another plane while in the sky. They're lucky nothing bad happened!
The Wright Flyer
This is the very first "plane" ever, designed by the famous Wright Brothers. According to the Smithsonian, it was "the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard." Obviously, it was not meant for passengers.
It could only be flown for less than a minute and the pilot had very little control over it. The Wright Flyer had about four flights before it was retired on December 17th, 1903. In comparison to how far flight has come, the achievement seems small but it was pivotal in aviation.
The Vought F7U Cutlass
The Cutlass was a pioneer in the fighter jet world. Its classic design made it stand out among the other jets. Unfortunately, the sleek design was the only redeeming quality for this plane.
Despite its seemingly aerodynamic features, the Cutlass could not stay in the air for very long. In fact, it could barely take off the runway! Around a quarter of every takeoff would land the Cutlass right into the dirt. It was quickly retired.
The PZL M-15 Belphegor
Oddly enough, "Belphegor" is the name of one of the Princes of Hell. As weird of a choice that was, that was not the end of the peculiar decision making when it came to this plane. It was initially a biplane when it was constructed in 1972 and was mainly used as a cropduster.
It didn't take long for people to realize that this thing sucked up jet fuel. In fact, it became so expensive for farmers to use that it completely went out of commission. The price of the jet fuel totally outweighed any agricultural profit.
The Harrier Jump Jet
The USSR was motivated by the British Navy to design their very own aircraft. They called it the Yakovlev Yak-38. They did their best but ultimately failed to have their very own version of the British aircraft.
In history, it's better known as the Harrier Jump Jet since it could really only ever "jump" off the tarmac. On a good day, it stayed 20 minutes up in the air. The landings were always shaky and simply not reliable enough to serve any purpose to the USSR. They had to go back to the drawing board after retiring the fleet.
The Lockheed Martin VH-71
Lockheed Martin and Augusta Westland joined forces to create this monster of a copter. It wasn't a total disaster, but it wasn't one of their best moments as a combined force for monetary reasons. The VH-71 was released in 2002 for the Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps was thrilled with this chopper, which was good news! They even decided that the President should be transported in this specific brand. Eventually, the $11.2 billion bill dropped and everyone involved decided it just wasn't worth it. That was probably a good idea!
The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin
This tiny little plane was better known as a "parasite fighter." This meant that it would latch onto a larger aircraft and deployed when said aircraft went under attack. In theory, this would work just fine. Sadly, in practice, it was totally useless.
Such a tiny plane was absolutely no match for any opposing force. It was quickly outgunned and outmatched by literally any standard fighter jet. The Goblin line was quickly scrapped and they went back to the drawing board.
The Britsol 188
This tiny little plane was better known as a "parasite fighter." This meant that it would latch onto a larger aircraft and deployed when said aircraft went under attack. In theory, this would work just fine. Sadly, in practice, it was totally useless.
Such a tiny plane was absolutely no match for any opposing force. It was quickly outgunned and outmatched by literally any standard fighter jet. The Goblin line was quickly scrapped and they went back to the drawing board.
Bell YFM-1 Airacuda
The Airacuda was unveiled in the late 1930s. People in the aviation world, which was still developing at the time, were excited to unveil this monster to the public due to its "revolutionary" qualities. It was equipped with a wide array of guns and engines that could easily qualify it as a fighter jet.
The flaws of the jet outweighed the positives. It would overheat quickly which put the gunner in a very precarious and dangerous position. Whenever the weapons were used, the exhaust and smoke would quickly fill up the cabin. Needless to say, it was a bust.
The Aerodrome
At the turn of the 20th century, Samuel Pierpont tried his hand in the developing aviation world. The Aerodrome was born, and it's birth shook the entire aviation community. Getting into the air was a hot commodity, and, at first glance, it had seemed that Pierpont had done it.
The Aerodrome successfully achieved a 53 hp radial alongside an impressive power-to-weight ratio. It was as light as a feather but sturdy as ever... for a few short moments. Unfortunately, the plane crashed into the Potomac River on two separate flight tests. This was enough to push it off the playing grounds.
The Lockheed XFV-1 Salmon
The American army began getting super creative with their aviation concepts in the mid 20th century. Of course, it was a huge help that they were given such an enormous budget to try and test these new modes of transportation and dogfighting. Because of this, the Salmon was born.
The most innovative aspect of the Salmon was that it could take off vertically and land vertically. This would reduce the time in and out of the air, which the military could use to their advantage. Unfortunately, landing vertically would sometimes result in a collapsed engine and a broken plane. They nixed this idea and moved onto the next.
The Grumman X-29
The American Airforce acquired the rights to the Grumman X-29 in the 80s. Its forward-facing wings were supposed to make it much more aerodynamic than any leading fighter jets. It was also designed to be extremely sleek, once again for the sake of aerodynamics. Ironically, all of these facets are why the Grumman never flew too well. It did not perform at all in the way that they wanted it to, so they scrapped the line.
The Baade 152
The Baade 152 is a bomber plane by folks in East Germany fitted with airline features while taking on a bomber plane look. The first-ever test-run of the 152 was tragic. It crashed and everyone on board died. It was quickly scrapped in 1961. It was the first, and only, plane to be produced from East Germany.
The Rockwell XFV-12
There was a race among the world's superpowers to create the best aircraft. The Rockwell had some promise for Americans that they would be the first to create a monster aircraft, but they were mistaken. The design of it looks clunky and bizarre. Luckily, it never went into test flights...
The Tupolev Tu-144
This plane was supposed to be a "supersonic" airliner. This plane was presented in the 70s as the next best thing in aviation. Sadly, its first-ever test-flight ended in horror during the Paris Air Show. It had crashed and burned violently. It was given 50 more test flights before it was finally deemed irreparable and unsafe.
The Dassault Balzac V
The Dassault Balzac V was an easily accepted concept. It was also another "vertical takeoff" plane that eventually became a fad in aviation. There's a reason why this was a fad, and it was because it was quickly understood as very dangerous. A young pair of pilots died in the initial flight test. The second test was met with the same response and it nearly killed the pilot. Thankfully, he managed to eject himself.
De Havilland Comet
The De Havilland Comet had some redeeming qualities, but it was ultimately a fail. It was sleek and had a futuristic design, but was a dud. In fact, it became the benchmark for aircraft failures. The mechanics just weren't right.
The Devil's Hoverbike
Inventors of the 50s really didn't care about how ridiculous their inventions looked. If it worked, it was a success! This aircraft (if you could even call it that) is an early hovercraft. Luckily, nothing bad happened with this invention, but if the pilot would have one misstep, he'd easily get chopped up by the blades!
The Christmas Bullet
Dr. William Whitney Christmas designed this aircraft with the intention of killing the pilot. It was well-known that if this plane got up into the atmosphere, it would become lethal. Test flight pilot Cuthbert Mills perished as the wings of the aircraft caved in on itself. Super weird all around.
The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet
This aircraft was equipped with a rocket booster that was meant to intercept and destroy any enemy aircraft. It could reach up to 100 mph, which was much faster than any other plane at the time. Of course, it was all too good to be true, and the leaky fuel tank became a huge problem. There isn't much competition when your plane can't stay up in the air for more than 3 minutes!
The Noviplano
At first glance, this looks like a building. It's a plane! It was designed by Italian engineer Caproni during the 20s. The Noviplano, fitted with ten wings and engines, was designed to fly nearly a hundred passengers from Italy to America. It never made it out of Italy.
The Blackburn Roc
The objective of the Blackburn Roc was to act as a shield for more vital planes up in the sky. Four machineguns were fitted underneath the pilot, which made it an optimal death machine. Eventually, the engineers got greedy and kept outfitting the plane with more guns. It became sluggish and inoperable.
The Blackburn Botha
Nevertheless, Blackburn marched onward with even more aviation designs. The Blackburn Botha was a complete waste of time. It had a dual-engine system with torpedos, which made the aircraft extremely high maintenance. It even needed four pilots to operate!
The Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia
The Brasilia had a shaky and unreliable turboprop engine. One day, it broke into pieces mid-flight. Fourteen people perished in the accident. The Brasilia's track record is scary at best and is considered one of the biggest mistakes of passenger airlines. Somehow, it still operates as a freight plane!
The B.E. 9
The B.E. 9 came to fruition in the midst of World War I. It was under the strict supervision of the British Royal Flying Corps. It had machinegun capabilities that were dangerous for enemies and the passengers of the plane. Too many times, the machine guns completely tore apart the plane's own propellors. It wasn't in service for very long.
The Fairey Albacore
British World War II pilots were so afraid to ride in the Albacore that they would take bets and whoever lost had to man the aircraft. It was shaky, unstable, and not very reliable in any sense of the word. Eventually, the British army decided to scrap the plane since it became such a problem.
The MiG-23
The Mikoyan-Gurevich-23 (better known as the MiG-23) was a Soviet jet that actually pioneered the "look-down/shoot-down" radar system. Russian pilots were not big fans of the plane and preferred the previous generation of the fighter jet. The cockpit was small and offered minimal visibility, which isn't very helpful for a fighter jet! The line met the graveyard after the Cold War.
The Yak-42
The Yak-42 is a common joke among pilots who had the displeasure of flying this thing. The cockpit was tiny, the chairs were broken, and the back stairway never seemed to stop rattling during the flight which made everything feel scary. It was in operation until 2013.
The Ilyushin II-62
An anonymous pilot submitted his feelings about the plane and it reads as follows: "It still uses flight manual controls, no power assist to move those flight control surfaces. If some ice gets in a hinge, it's just your muscles that will break it loose. It also has a history of failed thrust reversers and exploding engines that damage neighboring engines." There you have it! It's a death trap!
The Brewster Buffalo
The Brewster Buffalo was an internationally used monoplane. In fact, it was the first of its kind. The aircraft was frequently used in World War II. By the end, it was outdated and, in comparison to newer models, totally inoperable. Some people nicknamed it the Flying Coffin.
The Tupolev TU-144
This aircraft was originally intended for commercial usage. It had a space-age sleek design and already got the crowd talking. It could go from 0 to 1,200 in less time than most commercial planes of its era. Unfortunately, it was highly prone to turbulence and made for a very bumpy and scary ride. It was also extremely loud, especially on board. On its last voyage, the tank valve failed. They knew it was time.
The ATR 72
Aviation expert Alex Murel consistently warned pilots of the ATR 82. He claimed that it was "ancient" in its design and that the entire fleet was crumbling before their eyes. The reason the plane was still in service was because of its feasible turboprops, but he claimed that it just wasn't worth it. 11 of the 508 models had crashed killing 200 people before it was retired.
The Heinkel He-162
The Hainkel He-162 was only available for public viewing for about 90 days. It was created with wood and glue. Naturally, any sort of poor weather condition made this plane completely fall apart. It was retired in May of 1945.
The Fairey Battle
The British Royal Air Force banked a lot on the engine of this plane. They put down a lot of money just for it to become a flying piece of garbage. It was sluggish, heavy, and easily destroyed during battle.
The Douglas TBD Devastator
The Douglas TBD Devastator was supposed to be the end-all in fighter planes. Sadly, it was more of a sitting duck. The only time it could fire torpedos is if the plane was flying perfectly straight and at exactly 115 mph.
The LWS-6 Zubr
This plane looked as bad as it operated. This aircraft was only reserved for training drills (as it should have been) so they never saw the light of battle. Eventually, Russian soldiers stole a bunch of them after they invaded Poland. Luckily, they weren't really stealing much of anything...
The Saab 340
This passenger aircraft was an absolute nightmare for customer satisfaction. Any former passenger can probably still hear the horribly loud hum of the plane being pushed around by the air. Not only that, but the engine was so loud that people couldn't talk to each other onboard!
The MD-80
The MD-80 has caused a good amount of violent crashes and passenger deaths. For some reason, it's still in operation. Delta and American Airlines have both admitted to using this model of the plane in recent years. No, thanks!
The Bombardier Dash 8
The propellers on this plane always sound like there's something wrong with them. Crosswinds can easily cause this plane to fall off course and horrify the passengers on board. There's also a super light weight capacity, meaning that another plane would have to fly out with luggage most of the time.
The ME-162 Komet
The German Komet was "innovative" in its time. It was small and compact with the intention of whizzing by enemies. That wasn't the case. Its fuel tank was normally trained before five minutes could pass, which made it an easy target in the sky.
The Hindenburg
The infamous Hindenberg crash was one of aviation's biggest tragedies. As it approached a landing strip in New Jersey, it collided with the ground and exploded. Due to the faulty craftsmanship, the fire was quickly ignited.
The British B.E-2
Anyone piloting this plane knew that it wasn't going to last. Its engine was a disaster and the gunner seat was in front of the pilot, so navigation was difficult. They were easy targets during World War I.
The Starship
This little jet was supposed to be absolutely mind-blowing. In reality, it was forgetful. The turboprop engines and carbon-composite design made it look and feel great... at first. As the flight went on, pilots would start to notice that it was sluggish and uncontrollable.
The Hiller VZ-1
This is another bizarre "hover" design that was as ridiculous as it looks. The pilot navigated this thing using their body weight. They could only get up to about 16 mph, which isn't very fast. It was notoriously unimpressive.
The Flying Dorito
The Pentagon really thought it was going somewhere with this design. They threw a lot of money into this design in the 80s, but it was quickly nixed. There was an estimated $165 million in production for just one aircraft!
The XB 15
This was an Airforce titan. This plane was so big that they could barely find engines big enough for it to fly faster than 200 mph. It was never developed any further than this, but it did make a decent cargo plane!
CASA C-212
This hulking aircraft was used by nearly 50 military bases all over the world and over a dozen passenger airlines. Many, if not most, were American based. It has had 11 fatal crashes.
LET L-410
With 20 fatal crashes in its history, this aircraft takes the cake for being one of the deadliest out there. The L-410 is a Czechoslovakian plane from the 1970s. Several hundred remain in service today. It's also a popular aircraft with the skydiving community.