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In honor of the release of the latest Batman movie, we’ve decided to take a look back at Batman’s planes through the years.
Batgyro- first seen in Detective Comics No. 31 (1939)
Batman first took to the air in an autogyro, which had the ability to remain hovering in the air while the Dark Knight fought criminals on the ground.
Batplane- first seen in Batman No. 1 (1940)
Batman swapped the autogyro for a more traditional propellor operated fixed wing craft equipped with machine guns. In 1946, a jet powered version of the plane appeared in Detective Comics No. 108.
Batplane II- first seen in Batman No. 61 (1950)
After losing the Batplane in an accident, Bruce Wayne and Robin use the power of Wayne Industries to design a new and improved model. Batplane II seems to have been inspired by the US Navy’s F9F Panther.
Batplane in the sixties- first seen in Detective Comics No. 327 (1964)
Miliatry aviation buffs will instantly recognize the jet Batman flew here as a modified F-104 Starfighter.
Batplane in the late sixties- first seen in Batman No. 203 (1968)
Later in the sixties Batman switched over to a jet that looks like an altered F-101 Voodoo.
Batplane in the seventies- first seen in Batman No. 231 (1971)
A mainstay of the US military during the Vietnam era, the F-4 Phantom provided the inspiration for Batman’s jet in the 1970s.
Batplane in the eighties- first seen in Untold Legend of Batman (1980)
The US military buildup at the end of the Cold War was to Batman’s benefit as he took a modified F-15 Eagle as his ride.
Batwing seen in Batman (1989)
For the 1989 Tim Burton film, Batman flew a craft with an outline in the shape of his logo. Armed with an array of machine guns and missiles, the Joker was nevertheless able to shoot it down with a comically over-sized pistol.
Batwing seen in Batman Forever (1995)
Batman again managed to wreck the Batwing, this one even more Gothic-styled than the last, in the campy Joel Schumacher directed film.
Dark Knight director Christoper Nolan is said to favor a more realistic Batman. The upside of this is that audiences aren’t subjected to such foolishness as Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. The downside, however is that we aren’t likely to see another Batplane this time around.
4 Comments
EK said:
A slight correction, the 1980 Batplane is based on the F-14 Tomcat, not the F-15 Eagle.
Carycomic said:
Two points of info, re: the Batplane II. First off? The "Panther" had straight wings. Its swept-winged successor was brand-named "Cougar." Secondly? As initially depicted in 1950, the Batplane II could just as easily have been inspired by the Lockheed XF-90. While the straight-winged and delta-winged versions, depicted later in that decade, could have been inspired by the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star and Convair XF-92, respectively.
Carycomic said:
Incidentally, re: Batplane I? The illustration most closely resembles the Northrop A-17. A two-seat fighter plane that was initially produced with fixed landing gear (a la the Boeing "Peashooter"). But, later models had retractable landing gear and a swivel-mounted machine gun for rearguard use by the tandemly-seated observer. The A-17 never saw active military service, though. Instead, it spent the WWII years as a fighter-pilot trainer.
Carycomic said:
Last, but not least? The jet-powered version of the Batplane I could have been based on the turbojet-propelled Bell Airacomet. In fact, it could explain (within the technological context of the Golden Age stories) why Batplane I's propellor ceased to be visible to the naked eye, as a whole!
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