15 Iconic 1930s Airplanes, Ranked by How Many People Still Look Them Up

The most iconic airplane of the 1930s is the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Its English Wikipedia article drew 674,966 human readers in the 12 months to September 2026, more than any of the 48 aircraft from the decade that we measured.

Close behind come the Supermarine Spitfire, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Douglas DC-3. The rest of this list is the decade’s other stories: the first modern airliners, the great flying boats, a record-breaking racer, the trainer that taught a generation to fly and the first jet.

All 15 first flew between 1930 and 1939. They are ordered by readership, a measure of how famous each one still is, and the table gives the first flight and how many were built.

Rank	Aircraft	First flight	Number built	Readers, 12 months
1	Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress	July 28, 1935	12,731	674,966
2	Supermarine Spitfire	March 5, 1936	20,351	553,938
3	Messerschmitt Bf 109	May 29, 1935	34,248	501,377
4	Douglas DC-3	Dec. 17, 1935	607 airline, 16,079 all versions	492,866
5	Consolidated PBY Catalina	March 1935	More than 3,000	335,164
6	Hawker Hurricane	Nov. 6, 1935	About 14,500	281,094
7	Junkers Ju 52/3m	March 7, 1932	4,845	172,135
8	Boeing 314 Clipper	June 7, 1938	12	141,213
9	Piper J-3 Cub	1938	19,888	140,799
10	Lockheed Model 10 Electra	Feb. 23, 1934	149	136,674
11	Hughes H-1 Racer	Aug. 17, 1935	1	112,787
12	Polikarpov I-16	Dec. 1933	10,292	106,676
13	Douglas DC-2	May 11, 1934	192	103,468
14	Heinkel He 178	Aug. 27, 1939	2	87,561
15	Boeing 247	Feb. 8, 1933	75	79,297

1. Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

The Boeing B-17 started as the Model 299, which first flew on July 28, 1935, with Boeing chief test pilot Leslie Tower at the controls. It entered Army Air Corps service in 1938, and Boeing, Douglas and Vega went on to build 12,731 of them.

Its name came before its war record. Richard Williams, a reporter for The Seattle Times, coined “Flying Fortress” for the new four-engine bomber.

The B-17’s biggest legacy may be a piece of paper. On October 30, 1935, the prototype crashed at Wright Field after taking off with its elevator control lock still engaged, killing Tower and Maj. Ployer P. Hill.

Today 45 B-17s survive in complete form, and only a handful of B-17s still fly.

2. Supermarine Spitfire

R. J. Mitchell’s Spitfire prototype, K5054, first flew from Eastleigh near Southampton on March 5, 1936. It reached No. 19 Squadron at RAF Duxford on August 4, 1938, and a Mk I could reach 362 mph (583 km/h) at 18,500 feet.

Mitchell never saw it in squadron service. He died of cancer on June 11, 1937, at 42.

His design outlived him. In all 20,351 Spitfires were built, plus 2,646 Seafires for the Royal Navy, and the Smithsonian notes it was the only airplane in continuous production throughout the war. Around 60 still fly.

3. Messerschmitt Bf 109

The Bf 109 first flew on May 29, 1935, and entered Luftwaffe service in 1937. It proved itself in combat trials in the Spanish Civil War before the Spitfire had even entered service.

It is the most-produced fighter aircraft in history, with 34,248 built between 1936 and April 1945. The RAF Museum describes the 1940 Bf 109E as being as fast as the Spitfire, faster than the Hurricane, and able to out-climb both.

It was the Luftwaffe’s main fighter of the early war years, and it leads our German fighter planes of WW2 guide.

4. Douglas DC-3

The DC-3 first flew on December 17, 1935, as the Douglas Sleeper Transport, a version with berths for 14 overnight passengers. American Airlines put it into service in June 1936, and the day version seated 21.

It changed the business more than any airplane before it. The Smithsonian calls it the first airliner to fly profitably without a government subsidy, and American Airlines’ C. R. Smith called it “the first airplane in the world that could make money just by hauling passengers.”

Boeing’s history archive says that by 1939 more than 90% of US airline passengers were flying on DC-2s and DC-3s. About 607 airline DC-3s were built, and 16,079 counting the military C-47 family and licence-built versions.

Around 150 were still flying in 2023, almost 90 years after the first one. It is the airliner most closely tied to the golden age of aviation.

5. Consolidated PBY Catalina

The Catalina prototype, the XP3Y-1, first flew in March 1935, and production aircraft reached the US Navy in October 1936. More than 3,000 were built in the United States, Canada and the Soviet Union, making it the most-produced flying boat in the world.

It made its name as a spotter. An RAF Coastal Command Catalina found the battleship Bismarck on May 26, 1941, and a Catalina on routine patrol spotted the Japanese fleet approaching Midway in June 1942.

6. Hawker Hurricane

The Hurricane first flew on November 6, 1935, and joined No. 111 Squadron in December 1937. It was the first RAF production aircraft to fly faster than 300 mph (480 km/h), about 100 mph (160 km/h) faster than the fighters then in service.

The Spitfire took the glory, but the Hurricane did more of the work in 1940. By September, the Imperial War Museum counts 33 Hurricane squadrons against 18 of Spitfires, and Fighter Command credited Hurricanes with 55% of German losses in the Battle of Britain against 42% for Spitfires.

About 14,500 Hurricanes and Sea Hurricanes were built, and around 16 are airworthy today.

7. Junkers Ju 52/3m

The three-engine Ju 52/3m first flew on March 7, 1932, and Deutsche Luft Hansa took its first one that May. Its corrugated metal skin made it instantly recognizable, and Germans called it “Tante Ju,” or Auntie Ju.

It flew as an airliner in the 1930s and as a military transport in the war that followed, and 4,845 were built. Its top speed was only 165 mph (265 km/h).

A few still fly on heritage flights. Lufthansa’s own Ju 52, D-AQUI, carried sightseeing passengers until 2018.

8. Boeing 314 Clipper

The Boeing 314 was a flying boat built for Pan Am’s ocean routes, and in 1939 no airliner in service had more seats. It first flew on June 7, 1938, and only 12 were built.

On June 28, 1939, the Dixie Clipper left Port Washington, New York, on the first scheduled passenger service from the United States to Europe. Inside were sleeping berths, a spiral staircase and a honeymoon suite.

None of the 12 survive. The last was destroyed in 1951, and a full-size replica now stands at the Foynes Flying Boat Museum in Ireland.

9. Piper J-3 Cub

The Cub is a high-wing monoplane, not the biplane it is sometimes called. Taylor Aircraft’s J-2 of the mid-1930s led to the J-3, which Piper introduced in 1938 (the Smithsonian dates it to late 1937).

The J3C-65 version topped out at 87 mph (140 km/h), and that gentleness was the point. The J-3 became the primary trainer of the Civilian Pilot Training Program, and the Smithsonian says about 75% of that program’s pilots learned on Cubs.

Piper had built 19,888 Cubs by the time production ended in 1947. Many are still flying, often in the shade known as “Cub Yellow.”

10. Lockheed Model 10 Electra

The Electra first flew on February 23, 1934, as Lockheed’s first all-metal, twin-engine design. Lockheed built 149, with a top speed of 190 mph (306 km/h) at sea level, fully loaded.

Its fame comes from one airframe. Amelia Earhart’s Electra 10E Special, NR16020, left Lae, New Guinea, on July 2, 1937, bound for Howland Island, and she and navigator Fred Noonan were never seen again.

Earhart is one of the most-read aviators on Wikipedia, as our ranking of famous pilots shows. A few Electras still fly, including examples in Prague, Winnipeg and New Zealand.

11. Hughes H-1 Racer

Howard Hughes flew his H-1 for the first time on August 17, 1935. Less than a month later, on September 13, 1935, he set a world landplane speed record of 352.39 mph (567 km/h) near Santa Ana, California.

On January 19, 1937, he flew it from Burbank to Newark in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds, an average of 332 mph (534 km/h). Flush rivets, retractable landing gear and a tight engine cowling made it a preview of the radial-engine fighters of World War II.

Only one was built, and it is on display today at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

12. Polikarpov I-16

The I-16 first flew at the end of December 1933 and entered Soviet service in March 1935. It was the first low-wing monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to reach operational squadrons, ahead of the Hurricane and the Bf 109.

The pilot raised that landing gear by turning a hand crank. In Spain it fought on the Republican side, which called it “Mosca” (fly), while the Nationalists called it “Rata” (rat).

The Soviet Union built 10,292 single-seat I-16s between 1935 and 1942. Six were later restored to flying condition for New Zealand’s Alpine Fighter Collection.

13. Douglas DC-2

The DC-2 first flew on May 11, 1934, and TWA started flying it a week later. It carried 14 passengers at up to 210 mph (338 km/h), and the 1935 Collier Trophy went to Donald Douglas and his team for it.

In 1934, KLM’s DC-2 “Uiver” finished second of 20 entrants in the MacRobertson air race from England to Australia, an airliner beaten only by the purpose-built DH.88 racer. Douglas built 192 DC-2s before the DC-3 replaced it.

The airliners that came before it are covered in our list of iconic 1920s airplanes.

14. Heinkel He 178

On August 27, 1939, Erich Warsitz took off from Heinkel’s factory airfield at Rostock-Marienehe in the world’s first aircraft to fly on turbojet power. Its HeS 3 engine was designed by Hans von Ohain.

The first jet flight came just days before Germany invaded Poland. Warsitz could not retract the landing gear, and it stayed down for the whole test program.

Two airframes were built, but only the first flew under power; the second flew only as a glider. That first He 178 was put on display in Berlin’s aviation museum and destroyed in an air raid in 1943.

15. Boeing 247

The Smithsonian calls the Boeing 247 the world’s first modern airliner. It first flew on February 8, 1933: all metal, low wing, retractable landing gear, 10 passengers, and about 50% faster than its competitors.

Its success started the DC series. United ordered 60 of them, the whole first production run, so TWA went to Douglas for a rival, and that request produced the DC-1, the DC-2 and the DC-3.

Only 75 were built. Its main wing spar ran straight through the cabin, and passengers had to step over it.

Also worth knowing: the Grumman FF-1

Grumman’s first complete aircraft design, the FF-1, first flew on December 29, 1931, and was the first carrier aircraft with retractable landing gear. Only 27 were built, Navy pilots called it the “Fifi,” and its fabric-covered wings sat on an all-metal fuselage.

Grumman’s J2F Duck amphibian of 1936 served every major branch of the US armed forces, and 584 were built. The FF-1 and the Duck each drew under 35,000 readers in the past year, well short of the 15 above.

The 1930s in order of first flight

Read by date rather than fame, the list shows how fast the decade moved: from a corrugated trimotor in 1932 to a jet in 1939.

Nine of the 15 first flew in just over two years, from February 1934 to March 1936. That burst produced the DC-3, the B-17, the Spitfire, the Hurricane and the Bf 109.

FAQ

What was the most famous plane of the 1930s?

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is the most-read 1930s airplane on English Wikipedia, with 674,966 human readers from October 2025 to September 2026. Its prototype first flew on July 28, 1935. The Supermarine Spitfire, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Douglas DC-3 follow it.

Did airplanes exist in the 1930s?

Yes. The 1930s were the decade airplanes became modern, with all-metal airliners such as the Boeing 247 of 1933 and the Douglas DC-3 of 1935, and the decade ended with the first jet flight, by the Heinkel He 178 on August 27, 1939.

What passenger planes flew in the 1930s?

The main 1930s airliners were the Boeing 247, the Douglas DC-2 and DC-3, the Lockheed Electra and the Junkers Ju 52/3m, plus flying boats such as the Boeing 314 Clipper. The DC-3 dominated: Boeing says that by 1939 more than 90% of US airline passengers flew on DC-2s and DC-3s.

What was the first modern airliner?

The Smithsonian calls the Boeing 247 the world’s first modern airliner. It first flew on February 8, 1933, with an all-metal structure, a low wing and retractable landing gear, and it carried 10 passengers.

How many DC-3s are still flying?

About 150 DC-3s were still flying in 2023, almost 90 years after the type first flew on December 17, 1935. About 607 airline DC-3s were built, and 16,079 counting military and licence-built versions.

What was the first jet plane?

The Heinkel He 178 was the first aircraft to fly on turbojet power. Erich Warsitz flew it from Rostock-Marienehe in Germany on August 27, 1939, with an engine designed by Hans von Ohain.

What plane did Amelia Earhart disappear in?

Amelia Earhart disappeared in a Lockheed Electra 10E Special, registration NR16020. She and navigator Fred Noonan left Lae, New Guinea, on July 2, 1937, bound for Howland Island, and were never seen again.

Who designed the Spitfire?

R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine, designed the Spitfire. Its prototype first flew on March 5, 1936, but Mitchell died on June 11, 1937, more than a year before it entered RAF service.