If you’ve ever looked up at the sky and thought, “Wait… is that thing supposed to fly?” — you’re not alone. Over the years, aviation has produced some truly bizarre-looking aircraft. From pancake-shaped prototypes to flying whales with wings, engineers have pushed the limits of design in pursuit of speed, stealth, or just solving incredibly niche problems.
Some of these weird planes were ahead of their time, others were brilliant but bonkers, and a few were just plain confusing. So buckle up (or strap into whatever cockpit these things had), as we count down the 10 weirdest-looking planes ever built.
Top Weirdest Planes
Aviation has always been a blend of science, ambition, and just a little bit of madness—and nowhere is that more obvious than in the designs that make you do a double take. In this list, we’re diving into the top 10 weirdest-looking planes ever built—aircraft so strange you’ll wonder how they ever got off the ground (or why someone thought they should).
You’ll see asymmetrical designs, flying pancakes, jet-powered “parasites,” and cargo planes that look like something straight out of a Pixar movie. Some were experimental marvels, others full-blown flops, but all of them earned their place in aviation’s hall of bizarre. Let’s take off.
Vought V-173 “Flying Pancake”
Resembling something between a UFO and a breakfast item, this WWII-era experimental aircraft had a flat, disc-shaped body and enormous propellers. It was designed for short takeoff and landing but never saw combat.
Its standout feature? A flat, disc-shaped body with two massive, slow-turning propellers mounted on its wingtips, giving it the unmistakable look of a flying saucer… or, yes, a pancake. Though it performed admirably in tests, the concept was eventually shelved in favor of more conventional aircraft.
Today, the original V-173 is preserved and can be seen at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia—a testament to just how far inventiveness can go in aviation design.
NASA AD-1 Oblique Wing
This experimental aircraft had a wing that could pivot mid-flight to reduce drag at high speeds. The wing shifted diagonally across the body—yes, like a door half open. It looked strange and flew even stranger, but it offered valuable aerodynamic insights.
The AD-1 first flew in 1979 and carried out over 70 test flights until its retirement in 1982. It handled well at small sweep angles, but at high angles, pilots reported serious handling issues—like wing flexing and aeroelastic distortion—that made the aircraft unstable.
The AD-1 was retired after completing its test program. The extreme wing angles created too many stability issues for practical use, and by then, other aerodynamic advancements (and materials) were taking center stage. Still, the AD-1 became a symbol of NASA’s boundary-pushing approach to flight research.
Rutan Boomerang
Designed by aviation genius Burt Rutan, the Boomerang is an asymmetrical plane—with engines and wings offset on either side. It looks completely unbalanced but was built to fly safely even if one engine failed. Weird? Absolutely. Brilliant? Also yes.
The Rutan Boomerang is a masterpiece of problem-solving wrapped in a totally unexpected form. It may look like an aircraft drawn by someone without a ruler, but in truth, every offset detail is part of a well-balanced equation. It’s weird, it’s brilliant, and it’s yet another example of how innovation in aviation often comes from the people who dare to fly crooked… on purpose.
Northrop Tacit Blue “Whale”
Nicknamed the “Whale” due to its bloated, boxy body, this Cold War stealth prototype helped develop stealth technologies used in the B-2 bomber. Its rounded fuselage and radar-absorbing shape made it oddly adorable… and very hard to detect.
Tacit Blue flew more than 130 successful test flights between 1982 and 1985, and although it never entered production, the lessons learned directly influenced more famous stealth aircraft like the B-2 Spirit bomber.
For years, the Tacit Blue was kept under wraps—literally and figuratively. It wasn’t publicly unveiled until 1996, well after its program had ended. When it was finally shown to the world, aviation enthusiasts were stunned not just by its odd looks but by how much it had contributed to modern stealth aircraft design.
Bartini Beriev VVA-14
Designed by aviation genius Burt Rutan, the Boomerang is an asymmetrical plane—with engines and wings offset on either side. It looks completely unbalanced but was built to fly safely even if one engine failed. Weird? Absolutely. Brilliant? Also yes.
The prototype was built with pontoons for water landings, a massive central fuselage, and twin engines mounted on top. It flew several times from land and performed adequately in test flights. However, one of its key features — a set of vertical lift engines for VTOL capability — was never fully developed or installed.
The Bartini Beriev VVA-14 was a wild mix of futuristic vision, Cold War urgency, and experimental risk-taking. It never fulfilled its lofty promise, but it stands as a symbol of an era when aircraft designers were willing to push every limit of what a flying machine could be. From the sky to the sea, and almost back again—the VVA-14 is aviation weirdness at its most wonderful.
Kalinin K-7
A monstrous Soviet experimental plane from the 1930s, the K-7 had a wingspan bigger than a Boeing 747, six pusher engines, and twin booms for landing gear. It looked more like a flying building than a plane—and crashed on one of its test flights.
The Kalinin K-7 was designed to be crewed by 11 personnel, including two pilots, a navigator/bombardier, a radio operator/gunner who manned the nose-mounted 20 mm cannon, a flight engineer, and six additional gunners.
Surprisingly, the K-7 did fly. Its first flight took place in 1933, and despite its unwieldy shape and mechanical complexity, it got off the ground. But the test program quickly revealed serious flaws: vibrations in the tail booms, structural instability, and underpowered engines. After just seven test flights, disaster struck. During one flight, the aircraft suffered a structural failure, causing it to crash and killing 14 people.
McDonnell XF-85 Goblin
This tiny, egg-shaped jet fighter was meant to be carried inside a B-36 bomber and deployed in mid-air. It had no landing gear and had to be reeled back in like a fish. Sounds cool, but it was nearly impossible to dock safely in practice. Pilots entered it by climbing into the bomb bay, and it was launched and recovered while both planes were in the air—a daring maneuver that turned out to be a little too ambitious.
Designed in the 1940s, the Goblin was a bold—and ultimately impractical—attempt to solve a very specific problem: how to protect long-range bombers deep in enemy territory without the need for ground bases or refueling stops.
Though the idea of a “parasite fighter” had some logic behind it, the technology of the time simply wasn’t up to the task. The docking process was too dangerous, and the Goblin itself was underpowered and lightly armed, making it a weak match for more capable enemy fighters.
NASA M2-F1 “Flying Bathtub”
This lifting-body glider helped test the concept of spacecraft reentry without wings. It was basically a wooden fuselage with wheels and no wings to speak of. It looked—and flew—like a bathtub with ambition.
The success of the M2-F1 proved that a spacecraft didn’t need wings to land like a plane—a key insight for the design of reentry vehicles. It paved the way for more advanced lifting bodies like the M2-F2, HL-10, and ultimately the concepts that influenced the Space Shuttle and modern spaceplanes such as Dream Chaser.
The M2-F1 also became a pop culture icon of sorts. It appeared in the opening credits of The Six Million Dollar Man, showing one of its real crash landings (no pilots were seriously injured). The footage gave it a sort of mythic status among aviation and TV fans alike.
Blohm & Voss BV 141
The Blohm & Voss BV 141 was a WWII German reconnaissance aircraft famous for its asymmetrical design—with the cockpit on one side and the engine and tail boom on the other.
Despite its odd appearance, it flew surprisingly well and offered excellent visibility for the crew. However, it never entered mass production due to competing designs and engine shortages.
Airbus Beluga XL
The Airbus BelugaXL is one of the most distinctive aircraft in the skies today—massive, oddly shaped, and undeniably charming. Nicknamed the “flying whale” for its bulbous fuselage and smiling paint job, the BelugaXL is a super-sized cargo plane built to carry large aircraft parts between Airbus manufacturing sites across Europe.
The winner of weirdness, the Beluga XL looks like a cartoon whale with wings. It’s used to carry large aircraft parts between Airbus factories and has a huge, bulbous cargo hold sitting atop a regular fuselage. It even has a painted-on smile. It’s functional, friendly, and fantastically strange.
