Military aviation has never been short on daring experimentation. In the battle for air superiority, designers have stretched the limits of the imagination, producing aircraft so unconventional they seemed almost more special effects gadgetry from a film production than weapons of war. From pancake planes to a jet intended to ram bombers into them, here are five of the oddest fighters ever built—and why France’s Nord 1500 Griffon is the winner for sheer guts.
5. Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender – The Reverse Fighter
In World War II, the United States experimented with a design that defied convention. The Curtiss-Wright XP-55 had a tiny canard wing at the front and a pusher propeller at the back. The benefit was improved handling and visibility, but the disadvantage was instability. It never matched the agility or speed of more traditional fighters, and only three prototypes were built before the project was cancelled. However, its unusual shape still draws attention from aviation buffs today.
4. Vought V-173 Flying Pancake – UFO Meets Warplane
Few planes appeared odder than the Vought V-173, a pancake-shaped plane built for the Navy during the 1940s. Its flat, broad wing led to it being called the “Flying Pancake,” and it could take off in extremely short distances because of the lift it produced. The downside was speed—it was slower than other fighters. Even though its replacement, the XF5U, also never entered service, the V-173’s strange flying-saucer appearance has prevented it from being forgotten.
Despite its shortcomings, the V-173 showed pioneering concepts in aerodynamics that found their way into later test aircraft, and its unusual design continues to intrigue aviation buffs and modelers today.
3. Northrop XP-79 – The Flying Battering Ram
Whereas most pilots relied on guns, the XP-79 was intended to annihilate enemy bombers by ramming them. Made of magnesium alloy and flown reclined so that it could endure high g-forces, this aircraft was more battering ram than fighter. But the idea was too hazardous. On its maiden test flight, the prototype crashed and killed its pilot, ending the program in an instant. It never had a future, but as an experiment it’s the boldest idea ever in aviation history.
2. Convair F2Y Sea Dart – The Aircraft That Skimmed the Sea
In the 1950s, engineers tried to free fighter jets from the need for runways. Convair’s Sea Dart was a jet capable of taking off and landing on water with retractable hydro-skis. It was the sole seaplane to achieve the remarkable feat of breaking the sound barrier. But the flight was bumpy, its handling was bad, and a fatal crash during tests condemned the idea. All this notwithstanding, it demonstrated what came of letting designers think outside the box of conventional airfields.
Although the Sea Dart program was short-lived, it pushed the boundaries of seaplane and jet technology, leaving behind lessons in high-speed hydrodynamics that influenced later aircraft design.
1. Nord 1500 Griffon – France’s Supersonic Sci-Fi Aircraft
Leading the pack is the Nord 1500 Griffon, a French interceptor that appeared to have taken to the skies directly from a science fiction movie. Made in the 1950s, it combined a turbojet for takeoff and a ramjet that boosted it past Mach 2. The Griffon shattered speed records at over 2,300 km/h (Mach 2.19), the fastest French plane at that time. But the concept was flawed—the ramjet didn’t work at slow velocities, the airframe incinerated itself, and more practical fighter planes soon took its place. Only two Griffons were ever built, but their daring achievements earned them a niche in aviation history.
Why These Weird Aircrafts Remain Relevant
None of these aircraft made it to production, but that wasn’t the intention. They were flight tests, each of them test-flying new ideas in propulsion, aerodynamics, and performance. Flops on paper, perhaps—but stepping stones in life.
The Nord Griffon, in particular, proved the feasibility of ramjets, paving the way for their future application to missiles and the development of supersonic technology. Its aerodynamic canard-delta body looks futuristic even today.
So the next time you see the sleek fighter or cutting-edge drone whizz by, remember: smooth lines of modern airpower were forged by some very strange machines that once bucked flight.