You might be surprised to find out that we have been navigating the airspace for commercial purposes for well over a century now. Yup, that’s correct – the first commercial flight was conducted by Tony Jannus on 1 January 1914 for the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, and we’ve come a long way in the past 100 years. Today, a plane lands somewhere in the world every 3 seconds, but the airplanes used through history are not always what you imagine them to be. Some of them, in fact, are so strange that you’d probably be scared to fly on. Or not? Check out the list we’ve compiled and decide for yourselves!

1. The Airbus Beluga

This is a transporter aircraft used primarily to help them transport various components of an aircraft during the design process. It was initially named the Super Transporter but because of it’s whale like appearance, the Beluga name caught on. There’s only 5 of these built and they’ve been in operation ever since 1994 and they’re expected to be replaced by 2020.

2. EL/M-2075 Phalcon

This aircraft has a strange nose for a reason. The nose was designed by Israel Aerospace Industries and Elta Electronics Industries of Israel as a radar that would provide early airborne warning of enemy aircrafts, ships, and vehicles. This system was designed primarily for the Boeing 707 and the complete assembly with the system and aircraft is referred to as the Phalcon.

3. ATL-98 Carvair

Named in full as the Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair, it was a large cargo aircraft that was powered by four propeller engines. As the name suggests, this aircraft was primarily designed to carry cars (cars-via-air) and it had the capacity to carry up to 5 cars and 25 passengers.

4. Scaled Composites Proteus

The Scaled Composites Model 281 Proteus designed by Burt Rutan, a currently retired aerospace engineer, and was flown for the first time in 1998. It is an astonishing tandem-wing High-Altitude Long Endurance aircraft which was built to investigate the use of aircraft as high altitude telecommunications relays. This multi-mission vehicle can orbit a point at over 60,000 ft for more than 18 hours.

5. B377PG

Also known as the Aero Spacelines Super Guppy, this aircraft was the the successor to the Pregnant Guppy. The main purpose of this aircraft was for pulling oversize cargo components. This aircraft made its first flight in 1965 and is still active and operated by NASA today.

6. Boeing X-32

Back in 1996, the US Government awarded Boeing and Lockheed Martin contracts to design concept demonstrator aircrafts in a project to replace many of their existing fighter planes. This was Boeing’s strange looking demonstration aircraft. Although this aircraft might not look that great, it was equipped with a cool short-takeoff and vertical landing system. However, that wasn’t enough for them to win more contracts and in end, the US Government went with Lockheed Martin’s demonstration aircraft instead of Boeing’s.

7. Dornier Do 31

This project was developed as a result of the German Air Force’s concerns that its airfields were vulnerable to suffering air attacks from the Eastern Bloc forces. Unfortunately, the project was cancelled 3 years after its first flight due to technical problems, changing requirements and high costs.

8. Handley Page Victor

This strange looking aircraft is a retired strategic bomber developed by the British Handley Page Aircraft Company. It was produced last and third in a series of V-bomber aircraft’s including the Avro Vulcan and Vickers Valiant. The Victor had also been equipped with radars, cameras and other sensors to allow it to serve better in the role of gathering intelligence.

9. NASA Hyper III

The NASA Hyper III was an unpowered full-scale “lifting body remotely piloted vehicle” that was desigend by NASA in a lifting body program, a program to design aircrafts in which the entire body produced lift in contrast to fixed-wing airplanes where only the wings product lift. Its first flight lasted three minutes after it was launched from a helicopter at 10,000 feet. Following the test flight, this aircraft was never flown again and NASA cancelled the program.

10. Bartini Beriev VVA-14

The Bartini was a Soviet Union vertical take-off, amphibious aircraft developed during the 1970s. Its main purpose was a design that would enable it to take off from water and fly long distances at very high speed. Apart from flying at high altitude, this aircraft aimed to use the aerodynamic ground effect to have the capability of flying just above the sea surface. The project was developed by the Italian designer Robert Bartini and was slowly abandoned after his death.

11. Ames-Dryden (AD)

This aircraft developed in the late 1970s was part of a flight test program conducted by NASA from 1979 until 1982. The small subsonic jet-powered research aircraft managed to successfully demonstrate an aircraft wing which could be pivoted obliquely from 0 to 60 degrees during the flight. Due to its success it was flown 79 times during the program and provided invaluable information about handling qualities and aerodynamics at different pivot speeds and degrees.

12. X-36

This now retired American experimental subscale prototype jet made its first flight back in 1997. The McDonell Douglas (later Boeing) tailless plane was controlled by a pilot in a virtual and ground-based cockpit and its design did not feature the traditional tail assembly like most other airplanes.

More pictures

more pictures

.

Really strange

ma guy once it flys i can enter it

Nice info but u should have numbered them or post aircraft's name along with its picture to make them easier to understand.

There is no harm in trying.

This one reason they are very more advance than Africa. No abuse.