New aviation “weird variants” series I’ve been working on

[We.lovejets]

Hey guys, I run a couple aviation pages on social media and I’ve recently started a new series that digs into the weird and niche variants of well known jets. SecretProjects has been a huge help for research (you guys really do have some gems buried in these threads), so I thought I’d share what I’ve been up to.

So far I’ve done:

• F-16 – CCV, AFTI, XL, all the oddballs
• F-5 – Tigershark, Super Tiger, and other spin-offs
• F/A-18 – early mockups, P-530, Hornet 2000, canceled ideas
• F-15 – SMTD, ACTIVE, MANX, Silent Eagle, even some of the FX losers
• Su-27 – T-10-1, SU-27LL PS, SU-33UB, SU-47, etc

I’m currently working on the Flanker line of aircraft for my next post.

This project is part education, part fun and a way to bring attention to prototypes and experiments that most people outside of the aviation world have never even heard of. I try to strike a balance between being informative and keeping it visually engaging, so a lot of these end up as carousel style posts where people swipe through the lineup.

Let me know what other flanker variants I should add to my list.

- @we.love.jets on IG

 

[TomcatViP]

Sympathetic project indeed.
You could do F-8, from the Crusader to the Super XF8U-3 (include the Corsair A-7). Plenty of 1950´s vibes with various configuration and a massive story to tell.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Hopefully you are acknowledging the sources of your posts, and not just taking our work and appropriating it.

Links to your groups/posts?

 

[TsrJoe]

I'm not sure if 'weird' is a word I would use in context of development airframes ?

Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages ...

adjective
adjective: weird; comparative adjective: weirder; superlative adjective: weirdest

1. 1.
   suggesting something supernatural; unearthly.
   "weird, inhuman sounds"
   
   Similar:
   uncanny
   eerie
   unnatural
   preternatural
   supernatural
   unearthly
   other-worldly
   unreal
   ghostly
   mysterious
   mystifying
   strange
   abnormal
   unusual
   eldritch
   creepy
   spooky
   freaky
   rum
   
   bizarre
   offbeat
   quirky
   outlandish
   eccentric
   unconventional
   unorthodox
   idiosyncratic
   surreal
   crazy
   absurd
   grotesque
   peculiar
   odd
   curious
   strange
   cranky
   freakish
   insane
   zany
   madcap
   off-centre
   far out
   alternative
   outré
   wacky
   freaky
   way-out
   rum
   wacko
   off the wall
   in left field
   bizarro
   

Origin
Old English wyrd ‘destiny’, of Germanic origin. The adjective (late Middle English) originally meant ‘having the power to control destiny’, and was used especially in the Weird Sisters, originally referring to the Fates, later the witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth ; the latter use gave rise to the sense ‘unearthly’ (early 19th century).