These Are the 10 Most Complex Aircraft to Fly

From unstable airframes to a lack of safety features, not all pilots in the US Air Force are qualified to fly these aircraft. 

Military aviators are uniquely skilled individuals, operating their aircraft with a finely blended combination of physical precision and intellectual dexterity. However, not all aircraft require the same level of skill to operate, while others are notoriously difficult to handle. 

Ranking aircraft based on their difficulty is a subjective exercise. What is difficult for one pilot may feel natural for another. However, a handful of aircraft have been widely regarded by experts as being challenging to fly. Five such aircraft include the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, Northrop T-38 Talon, and Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey.

10: F-22 Raptor Pilots Must Be Wary of Pushing the Aircraft to Its Limits

• Year Introduced: 2005
• Number Built: 195 (incl. test aircraft; 187 operational)
• Length: 62 ft 1 in (18.90 m)
• Height: 16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
• Wingspan: 44 ft 6 in (13.56 m)
• Weight:
  • Empty: 43,340 lb (19,700 kg)
  • Standard Conditions: ~64,000 lb (29,030 kg)
  • Maximum Takeoff Weight: 83,500 lb (37,875 kg)
• Engines: 2 × Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 thrust-vectoring turbofans
• Top Speed: Mach 2.25+ (1,500+ mph, 2,414+ km/h)
• Range: 1,850 mi (2,960 km) with drop tanks
• Service Ceiling: 65,000 ft (19,812 m)
• Loadout:
  • Up to 8 air-to-air missiles internally (AIM-120, AIM-9)
  • Optional JDAMs for the air-to-ground role
  • 20 mm M61A2 Vulcan cannon
• Aircrew: 1

An intuitive entry on the list, the F-22 Raptor is one of the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world. However, the well-publicized extreme performance envelope of the F-22 makes for an aircraft that is difficult to fly. The F-22 is capable of flight attitudes that exceed human limits if the pilot is not exceedingly careful. Pilots must remain vigilant to energy management, angle of attack, and stealth parameters—all while flying in a combat environment. Further compounding the difficulty of flying the F-22 is that classified systems can limit training opportunities. Yet heavy training is required to master the avionics and sensor fusion systems, which are highly integrated and require intensive training. 

9: The CH-53 K King Stallion Is a Nightmare to Fly

• Year Introduced: 2022 (IOC)
• Number Built: ~10+ (ongoing production)
• Length: 99 ft (30.2 m)
• Height: 28 ft 4 in (8.6 m)
• Wingspan (rotor diameter): 79 ft (24.1 m)
• Weight:
  • Empty: ~54,000 lb (24,500 kg)
  • Standard Conditions: ~60,000 lb (27,215 kg)
  • Maximum Takeoff Weight: 88,000 lb (39,916 kg)
• Engines: 3 × General Electric T408-GE-400 turboshafts
• Top Speed: ~200 mph (320 km/h)
• Range: 530 mi (850 km)
• Service Ceiling: ~14,380 ft (4,380 m)
• Loadout:
  • No fixed offensive weapons
  • Can carry 36,000 lb (16,330 kg) of external cargo
  • Chaff/flare dispensers, machine guns (door/gunner mounts)
• Aircrew: 4 (2 pilots, two crew chiefs/gunners)

The CH-53 series, especially the newer CH-53K King Stallion, is one of the heaviest and most complicated helicopters ever built. Pilots are tasked with managing enormous amounts of power, torque, and size when piloting the aircraft. Making matters worse is that the CH-53 is utilized in high-risk missions, including shipboard landings, sling-loading heavy external cargo, and dust landings in degraded visual environments (DVE). Pilots must manage a high degree of blade flapping, vibration, and an intricate set of flight controls. Paired with the CH-53’s tendency to operate in brownout conditions, or at nighttime under NVG, the CH-53 becomes a surprisingly difficult aircraft to operate. 

8: F/A-18 Hornet Pilots Must Learn to Fly in Challenging Environments

• Year Introduced: 1999 (Super Hornet variant)
• Number Built: ~600+
• Length: 60 ft 1 in (18.31 m)
• Height: 16 ft (4.88 m)
• Wingspan: 44 ft 9 in (13.62 m)
• Weight:
  • Empty: 32,100 lb (14,600 kg)
  • Standard Conditions: ~48,000 lb (21,770 kg)
  • Maximum Takeoff Weight: 66,000 lb (29,937 kg)
• Engines: 2 × General Electric F414-GE-400 turbofans
• Top Speed: Mach 1.6 (~1,190 mph, 1,915 km/h)
• Range: 1,275 mi (2,050 km) clean / 2,070 mi (3,330 km) ferry
• Service Ceiling: 50,000+ ft (15,240+ m)
• Loadout:
  • Up to 17,750 lb (8,030 kg) of ordnance
  • AIM-9, AIM-120, AGM-88, bombs, external fuel tanks, and 20 mm M61A2 Vulcan cannon
• Aircrew: 1 (F/A-18E), 2 (F/A-18F)

The F/A-18 Hornet makes the list not so much for the jet’s flight characteristics but for the way it is flown. The workhorse of the US Navy operates from aircraft carriers, forcing challenging circumstances upon the aviator. While the F/A-18 benefits from a sophisticated fly-by-wire system, the jet has a heavier frame and a high approach speed, which complicates carrier operations. The F/A-18 lacks the thrust of more powerful jets like the F-15 or F-22, meaning it cannot accelerate as readily, which makes energy management critical. In addition, the multirole nature of the F/A-18 presents its own set of challenges, as pilots are tasked with juggling various mission profiles, including air-to-air, air-to-ground, aerial refueling, night operations, and low-level strike missions. While the aircraft itself is not particularly challenging to fly, flying it from carriers in a multirole setting demands considerable attention and skill.

7: Pilots of the E-2 Hawkeye Must Account for Poor Visibility

• Year Introduced: 1964 (E-2D variant in 2010s)
• Number Built: ~300 (all variants)
• Length: 57 ft 6 in (17.52 m)
• Height: 18 ft 3 in (5.56 m)
• Wingspan: 80 ft 7 in (24.56 m)
• Weight:
  • Empty: ~43,800 lb (19,866 kg)
  • Standard Conditions: ~51,000 lb (23,133 kg)
  • Maximum Takeoff Weight: 57,500 lb (26,083 kg)
• Engines: 2 × Allison T56-A-427A turboprops
• Top Speed: 400+ mph (648+ km/h)
• Range: 1,500 mi (2,400 km)
• Service Ceiling: ~34,700 ft (10,600 m)
• Loadout:
  • No offensive weapons
  • APS-145 or AN/APY-9 radar, electronic surveillance gear
• Aircrew: 5 (2 pilots, 3 mission systems operators)

Operating in the danger-laced conditions of the aircraft carrier, the E-2 Hawkeye suffers from poor rearward visibility due to its radar dome and limited engine power relative to its weight, which increases vulnerability during carrier launches and arrested landings. The E-2 pilot must always account for a sluggish throttle response, slow acceleration, and the demands of landing on a pitching carrier deck with limited out-of-cockpit visibility. The E-2 also has a high center of gravity and a unique aerodynamic profile, which makes the aircraft prone to yaw instability, especially during asymmetric thrust situations or in rough carrier landings. The result is that the unassuming E-2 is one of the most challenging aircraft to fly in the US inventory. 

6: Av-8B Harrier II Pilots Don’t Have the Luxury of Automation

• Year Introduced: 1985
• Number Built: ~340
• Length: 46 ft 4 in (14.12 m)
• Height: 11 ft 8 in (3.55 m)
• Wingspan: 30 ft 4 in (9.25 m)
• Weight:
  • Empty: 13,968 lb (6,336 kg)
  • Standard Conditions: ~20,000 lb (9,070 kg)
  • Maximum Takeoff Weight: 31,000 lb (14,061 kg)
• Engines: 1 × Rolls-Royce F402-RR-408 (Pegasus) vectored-thrust turbofan
• Top Speed: ~662 mph (1,065 km/h, Mach 0.9)
• Range: 1,200 mi (1,930 km)
• Service Ceiling: 43,000 ft (13,100 m)
• Loadout:
  • Up to 9,200 lb (4,200 kg) of ordnance on six under-wing and one centerline pylon (missiles, bombs, gun pods)
  • 25 mm GAU-12/U cannon (via gun pods)
• Aircrew: 1

The difficulties of piloting the AV-8B Harrier II are well documented. The first operational US aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities, the Harrier forced pilots to master the transition between hovering and conventional flight, which is a tricky balance of managing nozzle angles, thrust, and stability with perfect precision. Unlike the V-22 Osprey, which automates some of the transition between hover and flight, the Harrier relies entirely on direct pilot input. The aircraft is also inherently unstable while hovering. Even minor input errors at such a low altitude can end in tragedy. As a result, the thrust-vectoring Harrier is one of the most accident-prone jets in the history of the US military.

5: The V-22 Osprey Has a High Accident Rate

• Year Introduced: 2006
• Number Built: 464
• Length: Fuselage: 57.3 ft. (17.47 m)
• Height: Nacelles vertical: 22.1 ft. (6.73 m); Stabilizer: 17.9 ft. (5.46 m)
• Wingspan: Rotors turning: 84.6 ft. (25.78 m); Stowed: 18.4 ft. (5.61 m)
• Weight: 52,600 lbs. (23,859 kg)
• Engines: Two Rolls-Royce AE1107C, 6,150 shp (4,586 kW) each
• Top Speed: 351 mph
• Range: 500 nautical miles
• Service Ceiling: 25,000 feet
• Loadout: 
• Aircrew: 4 — 2 pilots, 2 special mission aviators

The V-22 Osprey is notoriously dangerous and difficult to fly. The aircraft’s unique tilt rotor combines the vertical lift of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft. While the Osprey’s hybrid capability is innovative, it makes for a demanding and dangerous aircraft to fly. Pilots must master two very different flight regimes, rotary-wing and fixed-wing, and transition between them seamlessly. Fortunately, the V-22 is equipped with a triple-redundant fly-by-wire system. However, any error made during mode transitions can be catastrophic. 

The V-22’s high accident rate is linked to aerodynamic complexities such as vortex ring state or asymmetric lift during mode conversions. The aircraft also produces intense rotor downwash, has poor visibility in hover mode, and is quite sensitive to wind gusts. Osprey pilots must account for all the aforementioned factors when operating the aircraft, and to make matters worse, the V-22 has no ejection seat.

4: The T-38 Talon Lacks Modern Safety Features

• Year Introduced: 1961
• Number Built: 1,187
• Length: 46 feet, 4 inches (14 meters)
• Height: 12 feet, 10 inches (3.8 meters)
• Wingspan: 25 feet, 3 inches (7.6 meters)
• Weight:
  • Empty
  • Standard conditions
  • Maximum takeoff weight: 12,093 pounds (5,485 kilograms)
• Engines: Two General Electric J85-GE-5 turbojet engines with afterburners, generating 2,050 pounds dry thrust; 2,900 with afterburners
• Top Speed: Mach 1.08 at sea level (812 mph)
• Range: 1,093 miles
• Service Ceiling: 55,000+ feet (16,764 meters)
• Loadout: 
• Aircrew: 2

One might expect a “trainer aircraft”—a small, inexpensive jet aircraft used to train student pilots to fly larger ones—to be easy to fly. The T-38 Talon, the primary jet trainer for the US Air Force for successive generations, defies these expectations: it is one of the least forgiving aircraft to fly in the US inventory. Dating back to the 1960s, the T-38 was designed without the safety redundancies typically found on modern aircraft. Furthermore, the T-38 is light, fast, and responsive—arguably too responsive, especially for inexperienced pilots. 

The T-38 is feared for its lack of manual reversion—meaning that if the hydraulic systems fail and both engines flame out, the aircraft becomes uncontrollable. The engines are also known to produce relatively little thrust at low altitudes, requiring pilots to manage their energy and glide scope carefully during landings. The problem is compounded by the aircraft’s delta wings, which provide low drag but limited lift at lower speeds, thereby increasing stall risk during approaches or tight turns. Even small mistakes can be unforgiving when flying the T-38—especially on landing, where the aircraft’s narrow landing gear and fast approach speeds require detailed attention from novice aviators.

3: The F-117 Nighthawk’s Stealthiness Came with Drawbacks

• Year Introduced: 1983
• Number Built: 64
• Length: 65 ft 11 in (20.09 m)
• Height: 12 ft 5 in (3.78 m)
• Wingspan: 43 ft 4 in (13.21 m)
• Weight:
• Empty: ~29,500 lb (13,381 kg)
• Maximum Takeoff Weight: ~52,500 lb (23,814 kg)
• Engines: 2 × General Electric F404-F1D2 turbofans (non-afterburning)
• Top Speed: Mach 0.92 (~684 mph, ~1,100 km/h)
• Range: ~930 nautical miles (~1,720 km)
• Service Ceiling: ~45,000 ft (~13,700 m)
• Loadout: Up to 5,000 lb of internal weapons (GBU-10/12/27, JDAMs, BLU-109, B61 nuclear bomb)
• Aircrew: 1

While the F-117 Nighthawk was the world’s first operational stealth aircraft, that level of innovation came with drawbacks. To facilitate stealth performance, namely the unorthodox diamond shaping which deflected radar waves, the Skunk Works designers of the F-117 made sacrifices to the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. The F-117 lacked anything resembling traditional aerodynamic smoothness. Instead, it was forced to rely upon a quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire system merely to stay aloft, because the aircraft was too unstable for a human pilot to handle without computer assistance. The aircraft also had no afterburners and a minimal angle of attack envelope, which required the pilot to use slow, deliberate handling at all times, especially during takeoff and landing.

Compounding the risks, pilots often flew in near-total darkness, using infrared or heads-up displays, which increased the risk of spatial disorientation and added to the intellectual demands of flying the inherently unstable craft.

2: SR-71 Blackbird Pilots Have to Multitask

• Year Introduced: 1966
• Number Built: 32
• Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
• Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
• Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)
• Weight:
  • Empty: ~67,500 lb (30,600 kg)
  • Standard Conditions: ~85,000–100,000 lb (38,600–45,400 kg)
  • Maximum Takeoff Weight: 170,000 lb (77,100 kg)
• Engines: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J58-P4 turbojet engines
• Top Speed: Mach 3.3+ (~2,200+ mph / 3,540+ km/h)
• Range: ~2,900 mi (4,700 km) without refueling
• Service Ceiling: 85,000+ ft (25,900+ m)
• Aircrew: 2

While most remember the SR-71 for its astonishing speed, the complicated business of flying the aircraft at Mach 3.2 is often disregarded. Successful piloting of the SR-71 required mastery over the most extreme flight conditions. The high speed and high altitude in which the aircraft operated demanded much of the pilot corps—in particular managing the aircraft’s finicky engine.

The SR-71’s J58 turbojet engine transitioned to ramjet-like operation at high speed. If a very delicate balance of airflow was not maintained, the engine could “unstrap,” thereby losing thrust, causing the aircraft to yaw violently. Even a minor, unplanned yaw at Mach 3.2 could quickly cause a serious problem. Mastery of the SR-71 required the pilot to manage heat, speed, altitude, and complex systems while flying long-duration missions over enemy territory under total radio silence.

1: Not Everyone Can Fly the U-2 Dragon Lady

• Year Introduced: 1956
• Number Built: ~104 (including all variants)
• Length: 63 ft (19.2 m)
• Height: 16 ft (4.88 m)
• Wingspan: 103 ft (31.4 m)
• Weight:
  • Empty: ~16,000 lb (7,300 kg)
  • Standard Conditions: ~20,000–22,000 lb (9,070–9,980 kg)
  • Maximum Takeoff Weight: ~40,000 lb (18,140 kg)
• Engines: 1 × General Electric F118-101 turbofan
• Top Speed: ~500+ mph (805+ km/h)
• Range: ~7,000 mi (11,265 km)
• Service Ceiling: 70,000+ ft (21,300+ m)
• Aircrew: 1

The U-2 is arguably the most notoriously difficult aircraft to fly in the US military. Routinely operating around 70,000 feet, near the very edge of the Earth’s atmosphere, where the air is extremely thin, the margin between stall speed and critical Mach number (where shockwaves can form on the wings) is just 10 knots. That means the pilot must keep the aircraft within a ten-knot envelope or risk falling from the sky.

Landing the U-2 is also a problem due to how the aircraft is configured to glide so effectively, meaning that the pilot must stall the aircraft just inches from the runway. In addition, visibility from the U-2’s cockpit is so limited that a “chase car” with another U-2 pilot at the wheel is driven behind the aircraft to help guide the landing. Factor in the pressurized space suit that the U-2 pilot must wear during a long-duration solo mission, and one is confronted with arguably the most complex aircraft to fly in America’s military inventory.

Honorable Mention: Aerial Refueling with the KC-135 is a Difficult Task

• Year Introduced: 1957
• Number Built: 803
• Length: 136 ft 3 in (41.5 m)
• Height: 41 ft 8 in (12.7 m)
• Wingspan: 130 ft 10 in (39.88 m)
• Weight:
  • Empty: 104,000 lb (47,173 kg)
  • Standard Conditions: ~200,000 lb (90,718 kg)
  • Maximum Takeoff Weight: 322,500 lb (146,300 kg)
• Engines: 4 × CFM International CFM56 (KC-135R variant)
• Top Speed: 530 mph (853 km/h)
• Range: 1,500–11,000 mi (2,400–17,700 km) depending on fuel load
• Service Ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,200 m)
• Loadout:
  • Up to 200,000 lb (90,700 kg) of fuel
  • Boom for refueling; drogue adapters optional
  • No offensive weapons
• Aircrew: 3 (pilot, copilot, boom operator)

While the KC-135 Stratotanker may not appear to be among the most complex aircraft to fly, its role in aerial refueling, for which it is designed, is one of the most technically demanding missions in military aviation. Although the KC-135’s basic flight characteristics are manageable, the precision and finesse required to successfully operate the refueling boom, especially in turbulent conditions or within a combat zone, require dexterity and talent. In addition, the KC-135 was developed in the 1950s and is a converted airline, so it does not have any of the modern automation systems that make life easier for other tanker platforms. Pilots are tasked with managing old analog instruments, limited thrust margins, and slow throttle response—all while flying in tight proximity with fast jets, or massive airlift aircraft like the C-17. In such close proximity, even minor turbulence or pilot error can result in a mid-air collision or broken refueling equipment. All of those factors, paired with the long-duration, all-weather missions the KC-135 is tasked with flying, demand elite flying skill, which typically goes unrecognized in favor of more glamorous assignments. 

About the Author: Harrison Kass

Harrison Kass is a Senior Defense and National Security Writer at The National Interest. Kass is an attorney and former political candidate who joined the US Air Force as a pilot trainee before being medically discharged. He focuses on military strategy, aerospace, and global security affairs. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global Journalism and International Relations from NYU.

Image: Shutterstock / JJW Photography.