It takes only a fine line to separate genius innovation and outright disaster when it comes to fighter jets. For each legendary airplane that finds its way into history books, there is generally a counterpart that fails miserably, either due to design defects, poor timing, or plain bad luck. Here’s a look back at ten of the worst fighter planes ever to fly, and why they made it onto this not-so-famous list.
10. Seversky P-35
America’s first all-metal single-wing plane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable wheels seems great on paper. But by the onset of World War II, the P-35 was already outdated. Only 76 were placed in U.S. service when production ceased. Most found their way to the Philippines, where pilots confronted the horror of flying aircraft with Swedish-language manuals, metric gauges, and no spare parts. They were soon outgunned by Japanese warplanes and destroyed. Nevertheless, the P-35 did set the stage for the iconic P-47 Thunderbolt, showing even disasters can give rise to something greater.
9. Messerschmitt Me-210
The Me-210 was designed to take the place of the Me-110 and be a mighty multi-role fighter. On paper, it was the part—streamlined shape, thick armament, and even a bomb bay. In practice, it was unstable, apt to hazardous stalls and spins, and didn’t even match the older Me-110 that it was intended to replace. The Luftwaffe ordered a thousand before the prototype took to the air, which was an expensive error. Once only a few hundred had been completed, the program was canceled, and the Me-410 was hurried in to clean up the mess.
8. Focke-Wulf Ta-154 Moskito
As Germany’s response to the British Mosquito, the Ta-154 was a wooden night fighter designed to outrun Allied bombers. The prototype performed well, but only because it had been stripped of military equipment. When Allied bombers destroyed the factory that produced the special glue for its wooden framework, replacements led to the planes’ wooden structure weakening and failing miserably. There were only about 50 constructed, and none ever actually saw combat. The Luftwaffe even considered converting them into flying bombs, but the concept never gained traction.
7. Blackburn B-25 Roc
The British turret fighter craze bottomed out with the Blackburn Roc. Essentially a dive-bomber with a turret mounted on top, it was slow, underpowered, and aerodynamically challenged. It never functioned as a frontline fighter and existed primarily as a target tug or as a static anti-aircraft gun platform. It’s a perfect example of too many cooks in the design of a plane.
6. Curtiss-Wright CW-21 Demon
Based on a trainer aircraft, the CW-21 was hailed as the world’s fastest-climbing interceptor. The U.S. Army Air Corps was unimpressed, but it sold to China and the Netherlands. In action, it was soon outclassed by Japanese aircraft. Undergunned and unarmed, they were all lost within months. A reminder that speed and good intentions don’t always equal a winner.
5. Caudron C.714
This French fighter began as a raceplane, adapted into a cheap-and-quick fighter with a small engine and only four machine guns. It was capable of reaching a reasonable top speed, but had awful range and climbed at a glacial pace. The French removed it from use after only a week, and even the Finns, who were desperately short of aircraft, rejected it. Several Polish airmen flew it courageously during the final days of the Battle of France, but the C.714’s history is largely one of mechanical disillusionment.
4. Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3
Constructed out of resin-soaked plywood to cut costs on metal, the LaGG-3 was cumbersome, slow, and clumsy in flight. Soviet pilots darkly joked that “LaGG” actually meant “varnished guaranteed coffin,” for it was so lethal to fly. Designer Lavochkin later corrected the design by substituting a stronger engine and improved aerodynamics to produce the vastly better La-5. But for thousands of pilots, the LaGG-3 was nothing more than a flying coffin.
3. Fiat CR.42 Falco
Biplanes were already obsolete by the late 1930s, yet Italy continued to produce the Fiat CR.42, an open-cockpit, fabric-covered relic with fixed landing gear. It was responsive but utterly outclassed by the faster monoplanes such as the Spitfire. Italy had an available, modern monoplane (the G.50), but produced more than twice as many CR.42s instead. Falco’s greatest accomplishment was demonstrating that holding on to the past never succeeds in winning wars.
2. Brewster F2A Buffalo
The Brewster Buffalo is notorious for its dismal performance against Japanese fighters at the start of the Pacific War. It was overweight, underpowered, and littered with faulty manufacture. It was surpassed immediately. U.S. Marines at Midway nicknamed it the “Flying Coffin.” Only Finnish pilots were able to coax some success out of it, due to sheer skill and tactics, not the aircraft. The manufacturer’s disorganized production line didn’t help, and the firm went out of business after the war.
1. Heinkel He-162 Salamander
The He-162 was a desperate attempt by Germany to create an inexpensive, jet-powered “people’s fighter” late in the war. It was constructed primarily of plywood and put into production hurriedly, and it had structural flaws, instability, and an engine that would fail if the aircraft was flipped upside down for longer than a few seconds. More than 300 were produced, but most were destroyed by crashes instead of enemy fire. Even seasoned pilots referred to it as a death trap—and it was far from a plane for the largely teenage pilots it was intended to serve.
These planes serve as grim reminders that in the military world of flight, ambition unbacked by good design or testing can lead to fatal results. Occasionally, the sky is a tough critic.