A fighter jet is one of humankind's greatest feats. Capable of flying faster, higher, and for longer than we ever have before. Construction-wise, it's made of materials we've adapted and honed over hundreds of years. It's also one of our greatest lethal weapons, primarily designed for air-to-air combat against other aircraft.
Fighter jets have not only been featured but played a starring role in Hollywood movies like Tomorrow Never Dies and Top Gun. When Top Gun originally came out in 1986, it reignited a passion people had with aviation and the art of aerial dogfights.
Fighter jet technology went public in a time when people were still marveled by flight, instead of scoffing at having to take their shoes off to board. That said, there have been fighter jets that did not go according to plan and were embarrassing for the public and their militaries alike. This post looks at the top 15.
15 Self Destructive - Grumman F-11 Tiger
In all of flying history, there is only one documented case of a jet fighter shooting itself down. During a Grumman F-11 Tiger flight, the pilot shot some burst fire with no issue, until he ended up crossing paths with the rounds.
The pilot is quoted as saying that the engine made a noise like "a Hoover vacuum cleaner picking up gravel from a rug." Although a funny comment, the incident lead to the jet crashing and causing the pilot three broken vertebrae and a shattered leg.
14 Flying Coffin - Century Series F-104
The Lockheed F-104 in the most skilled hands is a deadly weapon. In others, it is incredibly dangerous. Pilots complained the cockpit was snug, and it was impossible to land. As such, the F-104 was plagued with scandal and had a very high accident rate.
It has been heralded as the "flying coffin" and "missile with a man in it," which are not the most confidence-inspiring nicknames.
13 Too Dangerous To Fly - Yakovlev Yak-38
Made in the Soviet Union, the Yak-38 is one of the first generation fighter jets to have a vertical take-off and landing fighter. During its time, it was used on carriers. Despite the similarities to the Harrier, the Yak-38 was missing essential gear like radar and ended up using far more fuel, which severely limited its range.
If one jet thruster went down, it was known for spinning the aircraft on its side. Among others, the ejection button was in a strange place, which ended up being accidentally pressed more often than not, causing the end of the jet and likely the end of many pilots' careers.
12 Training Wheels - Ryan X-13 Vertijet
The Ryan X-13 Vertijet is an experimental vertical take-off jet aircraft made in the 1950s. The main objective of the jet was to test out the concept so it could be used in submarines. Rather than rely on an internal system, the jet required a space shuttle-like stand.
It was eventually canned partly due to the cost of further development and the inability to meet operational requirements. Although an amazing technological feat for the time, having to rely on a stand that acted like training wheels, making it entirely impractical and almost laughable in any military situation.
11 Gutless - Vought F7U Cutlass
The Vought F7U is a US-made fighter jet, from back in the 1950s. It was an unusual design for the times and had a hump that would make a Beluga whale jealous. It was synonymous with two unfortunate features, including being underpowered compared to other jets, and the landing gear door tended to fall off. Both made it a terrible navy jet for carrier flight decks. Terrifying!
10 Disaster Strikes - Dassault Balzac V
The Dassault Balzac V is a French military jet and the first to achieve free hover while tethered in 1962. This helped accelerate the transition from vertical take-off to horizontal flight. However, the jet crashed during the maneuver and was a complete and total loss, including killing its pilot. Disaster struck again after the aircraft was rebuilt and suffered yet another fatal crash doing a similar low altitude hover.
9 Last Place - Bell’s F-59 Airacomet
The Bell F-59 is America’s first attempt at a fighter jet. It was a time in the USA where jet propulsion was reasonably new, and the industry was exciting about the modern era and how it would change aviation.
At the time, Europe had its jet programs, which were already far superior, especially in terms of performance. So while the Bell F-59 looked cool and was an important starting point for the USA in aviation, compared to British and German counterparts, it wasn't competitive.
8 Guzzler - Bristol 188
There were high hopes by the Royal Aircraft Establishment in the United Kingdom for the Bristol 188 fighter jet. However, destiny had other plans. Among its most significant problems, the jet suffered serious fuel problems.
This limited the flight time and impacted its ability to fly at high speeds long enough to evaluate the model further. Despite the £20 million spent on the project, it never reached Mach 2 and was canned.
7 Stripped Down - Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 wasn't a bad jet. It just had a few bad iterations. Designed by the Soviet Union, the model was sold to third party countries all around the world. The third-generation was the world's most-produced variable-geometry aircraft.
Depending on which model your country paid for, some models were known for having a super basic weapon system, lousy handling, as well as lacking vital equipment - including radar warning receivers.
6 Bad Design - Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
It was speculated that the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger is designed after the body shape of Marilyn Monroe. Others said a coke bottle. Either way, the design was at the heart of why the F-102 failed. The unspectacular performer couldn’t break Mach 1.0, which for its time, was a non-starter.
5 False Start - Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow
The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow is one of a handful of aircraft designed and built in Canada. It held the promise of reaching Mach 2 speeds and altitudes of 50,000 feet. Before the project was brought to life, the Canadian government shut the project down due to political and financial reasons. The decision instantly put more than 15,000 people out of work.
4 Parasite - McDonnell XF-85 Goblin
The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin is a prototype fighter aircraft made in World War 2. It got the nickname parasite because it was designed to be deployed from the bomb bay doors of a Corvair B-36 bomber. Like a circus act, the Goblin would be suspended from the bottom of the bomber by a trapeze mechanism.
In a major trial, when the pilot attempted to reattach to the bomber, turbulence by the bomber caused him to crash into it instead. He barely made it out alive.
3 Made of Wood - Heinkel He 162
The Heinkel HE 162 is a German army made wood powered fighter jet. With metal in short supply, the government ran a design contest, to which the Heikel He 162 was the winner.
The only thing that would have made this jet more interesting is if it was piloted by Hansel and Gretel and made of chocolate. It's wood exterior being only a slightly more protective option than if it was made of chocolate.
2 Ageing Badly - Mirage 2000
The Mirage 2000 is one of the most expensive fighter jets ever made. Originating from France, it has been sold to many countries around the world in many variations. Early generations had significant operational and maintenance issues, which lead to considerable accident rates in India, Taiwan, and France.
On more than one occasion, Taiwan has grounded all its Mirage 2000 jets and reported that 10% of the total purchased had crashed. As one of the most used jets that are now aging, they'll either need to be upgraded or put out to pasture.
1 Financial Disaster - F-35
The F-35 is one of America’s most expensive and spectacular weapons. Definitely, the type of jet fighter that would appease the likes of Tony Stark from the Iron Man movie. There are different versions, spanning from $98 million to $116 million. Supposedly the helmet costs $400,000.
The founder and designer of the F-16, Pierre Sprey, has said that the F-35 is designed to be a swiss army knife, aka a jet that can supposedly do everything. He believes it's an impossible pipedream and "It'll just end up being a lemon." According to National Interest, it's a 1.4 trillion national disaster, being that it's so overbudget and way behind schedule.