If your bike were an airplane, what kind would it be?

When I was at the local HD shop this past weekend, I saw a sportster with an intersting paint job on it. The bike had a custom paint job done on a P-40 Warhawk (flying tigers) theme, complete with the sharks teeth on the tank.
I did not get a chance to ask the owner why he chose the paint scheme, but it got me thinking about some of the parallels that exist between flying and motorcycling (freedom, adventure, risk, etc.), and how one could think of one's ride as kind of an "airplane on the ground".

That said, I would probably liken my GS to an A-10 Warthog, due to its manueverability and utility. My Softail is kinda like an F4U-1 Corsair, with its more antiquated powerplant and weight (although some on the forum might find a "Sopwith Camel" analogy more fitting).

If your bike were an airplane, what kind would it be?

Myasishchev M 4 Bison, because it too looks completely stupid with a gigantic load strapped to the back of it.

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Since both my bikes are Airheads, I'll have to go with something like an old school piston-driven Messerschmitt.

Boeing 737
K75/3 Good for long haul or short hops and good on fuel. All around performer.

Twin Commander Rockwell Turbo 690A. Great for phorograhy and installation of gimbals. Also fit for parachuters. Easy to fly and maintanance.

F 14 Tomcat

My 2000 RT would be a Tomcat. Great all around aircraft in it's day but now outdated by technology.

And still faster than I am.

An Airhead RS is obviously a P51D (although, in fairness, every boxer has that Sopwith Camel torque reaction ). Old and relatively slow now, but with that sleek new bodywork over a relatively common drivetrain, well ahead of its time when new.

Oh, wait ... maybe it's really a Focke-Wulf 190G.

Keeping with the tech levels I'd suggest that the older airheads (pre/5) would be the older biplanes and triplanes like the Albetros and Focke Wolfe.

Newer airheads (/5 and /6) would be closer to the Messerscmidt 109 or FW 190). Dressed out it would be a Junkers 88 or an HE 111.

K bikes would be the Luftwaffe version of the 104 star fighter.

Oilheads, the F-4 Phantom

New K bikes, the Tomcat.

airplane

My all time favourite:



The flying BMW.

I used to have one of these, in the good old days.

Rinty

A-10 Warthog... it's a horizontally-opposed twin and badASS



ian

Mooney Bravo

Used to be available with a Porsche boxer air-cooled engine. Can't get much closer to an R-bike than that!

Low and slow but reliable..

rinty said:

My all time favourite:

The flying BMW.

I used to have one of these, in the good old days.

Rinty

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I think Mooney's are really cool. Very efficient with those baby smooth wings. When I was a kid, my dad had an A-36 Bonanza. It was a 1972 model year, and he told me later that he bought it for $58,000. For fun I typed the tail numbers into google a few months back, and the exact airplane is for sale in OK somewhere for $115,000. Guess it held its value.

what kind...

those baby smooth wings...Screwtop

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Al Mooney was really obsessed with aerodynamic efficiency, and particularly parasitic drag, so all the rivets between the wing leading edge and its mid-chord were flush to the skin. Up to about the early '60's Mooney wings were, of course, made of wood, for smoothness.

The drag co-efficient of the 201 was an amazing 0.1795. Mine would cruise at 180 mph (65% power) burning only 8 gallons per hour.

Your dad's A-36 was another fine airplane.

Rinty

Here's one for people with FD issues; it also appears to have a damaged final drive...

My Beemers as GA aircraft

Guess I always thought of my 2007 GSA as a DeHavilland Beaver sort of machine. Yup, big, barrel chested type of machine, very capable, do anything, go anywhere, carry almost anything you could get in the doorway or strap on, kinda machine, with plenty of range, good handling, and very versatile. Yup, definitily a Beaver. In 2005 had a short (~1 hour) ride as a tourista in a totally refurbished DHC-2 from Ketchican AK to Misty Fiords and return. Sweet ride! Yup, it was noisey and special, and I was smiling all the time!

My old 1973 R75/5, humm, maybe a C180 or C182 or even a V35 Bonanza? Good performance, fun to drive, long legs (long range fuel tanks) and just an all around good machine.

My new 08 RT, haven't even ridden it yet but did do a brief demo on one about a year ago. Think I will agree with Rinty on this one and say it will most likely be a MooneyM20J. Having owned a 1969 M20C for 6 years and 600 flight hours I can say it has many attributes that are like our Beemers. Compact, well engineered, good systems, sweet handling, pretty good fuel economy, fair load capacity, fast and efficient. Oh yes did I mention "quiet"? That's Key!

This is the GA aircraft version. Now if we get into military aircraft it's a whole different thing entirely, reserved for another post!

My bikes would all be old Fokkers.

The personality of my bike and that of my favourite airplane are polar opposites. I ride a CL and my favourite airplane is a Supermarine Spitfire Mk IV. No, I think the CL's personality is more like a C-47 Dakota (RCAF name - Skytrain to you Yanks).

jdmetzger said:

Here's one for people with FD issues; it also appears to have a damaged final drive...

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i'd say the poor tail gunner on that fortress had more than a "fd issue"

Harley is a B-52.
Ducati is experimental with all the trappings, good, and bad.
the BMW's are BMW's baby...