Piper Tri-Pacer

The Piper Tri-Pacer is the answer to the question, asked by Piper back in the day, “How can we build a nosewheel four-seater without designing a whole new plane?” Easy. Put a nose wheel on a Pacer. The result is an aircraft that files okay, carries four svelte friends, and doesn’t cost a lot. But it’s not fast, and, well, look at it. It’s a profile that only a mother could love. But it is much beloved by its owners, which is true for just about every plane on this list. And the Tri-Pacer was very popular. During its 14-year production run, Piper turned out nearly 10,000 of them.

On the other hand

For an airplane that’s supposedly unattractive, the Tri-Pacer, sometimes derided as the “Flying Milk Stool,” is the subject of some of the most beautiful air-to-air photographs of the era. In my view, it’s one of the most underappreciated beauties out there.