Grumman YA2F-1 Intruder: Nothing is perfect.

Not one of the prettiest, but I’ve always found the tadpole shape of the Intruder really alluring. Appearances apart, there’s one technical feature in this ultra-sophisticated aircraft not pursued in production I really love: its swivelling jet nozzles. As originally designed those nozzles swivel downwards to shorten both take-offs and landings. Tests soon showed that results were negligible compared to the cost, complication and extra weight they entailed. Sadly only the prototypes used them.