Interesting Airplane Archives

For about a month that follows EAA AirVenture, the most popular question posed by friends and acquaintances is What is the most interesting airplane you saw? This has always been the question since I attended my first Oshkosh convocation in 1978, and I’m sure it will continue until I can no longer perambulate the flight line.

Answering the question is an exercise in subjectivity, so every individual’s answer is based on their aviation interests. Over the years I’ve developed a system, 3 Rs & U. To determine the most interesting airplanes, it has to be Rare, like the world’s only flying Douglas A-20 Havoc.

Or it has to be Renowned, like the B-52, which made its second trip to Oshkosh this year. And it can be Resurrected, which put the renowned D-Day leading C-47 That’s All Brother, which Basler Turbo Conversions is now restoring for the CAF, ahead of two homebuilt designs from the 1970s.

But surpassing all of these is any older aircraft that was previously Unknown to me after a lifetime consumption of everything aviation. That makes the Boeing YL-15G Scout the most interesting airplane of AirVenture 2017.