Five Favorite Aircraft

Ahab's idea. I can't have just one list! My first list: airframes I was closest to personally and professionally.

5. Boeing B52 "Stratofortress" was Dad's airplane, the noisy hulking beast whose fuel systems kept him employed, but cranky.

4. Boeing 707 was the basis for AWACS, RC-135, KC-135, JSTARS.

Joe Patroni: Who do ya think you're talking to, some kid that fixes bicycles? I know every inch of the 707! Take the wings off this and you could use it as a TANK! This plane is built to withstand anything... except a bad pilot.

3. Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" not only killed 'em with Kodak, it's classified AOTFP Orbit keep the rest of us intel guys occupied with a bountiful take after it agitated the bad guys' air defenses. There'll never be anything like it again... until we decide otherwise.

2. Lockheed U-2/TR-1 "Dragon Lady" The U-2 was the finger hovering over the enemy's eyeball as we chanted a sing-song "I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you!...."

1. Lockheed C-130 "Hercules" can do gunship, airdrop, ass-and-trash-hauling, electronic combat, tanker duty, intelligence collection, special ops support... the veritable 12 Labors of Hercules!