Criterions

On this site, I am trying try to establish an inventory of aircraft which played a significant or iconic role in the history of aviation.
These aircraft revolutionized the air transportation industry, or proved crucial to implementing war tactics and strategy. Many set notable records, raged wars, but above all: increased our mobility. All of these airplanes, in one way or another, changed our world.

In the proces of this study, I've been trying to establish four criterions.

Historical Value

Certain types played a pivotal role in the development of aviation.
An individual aircraft can be judged to “Historical Object” when it was involved in significant historical events or activities : records, historical flights, missions, combats, the mount of a famous aviatior.

Age & Era
The main menu of this site contains tabs on the era's of aviation.

Before 1903 - Balloons, airships, gliders and attempts of motorised flight - with a list of survivors.
1903 - 1913 - the Wright brothers and European aircraft manufacturers - in the years before World War One there already was serial production of aircraft. With an attempt to list all the survivors.
1914-1918 - the First World War, when aircraft were mass produced (and so many lost). A list of all known survivors is included.
1919-1939 - the Golden Age of Aviation, with a list of surviving aircraft which achieved the records and historical flights.
1940-1945 - aviation played a pivotal role in the Second World War. German started its Blitzkrieg by bombing airfields, the United States were only able to defeat Japan by dropping two nuclear bombs. The list contains the most historical and iconic airplanes.
Post 1945 - the jet age, the sound barrier being crushed, mass production by the military complex, but also airliners making transcontinental travelling possible. With a limited list of historic aircraft, including the Space Shuttle.

Rarity
The production number of a type - especially those from the period before 1920, compared with the number of survivors.

Authenticity & Integrity
Replicas are not taken into account, but many so called "survivors" are more or less rebuilds around an ID-plate - especially within the World War 2 warbird-scene. Wrecks found in the Russian taiga or rainforest of Papua New Guinea - sometimes no more than a cross section - are often completely reconstructed and have to be considered as "original"- be it to fly them again in the air show circuit or for display in a museum. Trying to establish the authenticity and integrity is not an easy task. The following criterions can be taken into account:

Fuselage - many aircraft lost their wings during storage in barns and museum depots.
Fuselage & Wings
Fuselage, Wings & Engine
Fuselage, Wings & Engine in correct paint scheme
Fuselage, Wings & Engine in original paint scheme - these are very hard to find ! Even the canvas of the Wright brother's Flyer was changed in 1985...

The original fabric of Blériot's Traversée de la Manche (1909), Musée des Arts et Métiers, 2015

Messerschmitt Me 163 in its original paint scheme, Udvar Hazy Collection, VA, 2015

Wartime original markings on the Yak 3 in the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace, Le Bourget, 2015