It's no secret that I can be a huge nerd. So last night, when the Discovery Channel advertised that they were running a program that would list the Top 10 Fighter Planes of all time, I got a bit squealy. Suzanne rolled the eyes of course, she's no nerd, but understood that I Had To See This. Going beyond the call of duty, she even refused to mock me when I asked her if it was okay that I planned on trying to name them before the show did. She fell asleep about halfway through but, bless her soul, she seemed genuinely proud this morning when I told her that I got 4 of the top 5 right. She's a keeper.

So just for fun, here, according to The Discovery Channel, are the Top 10 Fighters of All Time:

10. Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk - stealthy, ugly, more of a bomber than a fighter, but when operating at night, impossible to defeat.

9. Fokker Dr.1 Triplane - The only famous triplane, it was flown by The Red Baron. Difficult to fly, apparently, and you feel a little funny saying 'fokker' in mixed company.

8. Mitsubishi Zero (A6M2) - The number 2 fighter of the Pacific Theatre (second to number 1 on this list), the Zero was feared as an attack fighter, but had very little in the way of defense capability. Now Mitsubishi makes the Montero.

7. Harrier Jump Jet (AV-8B Harrier II) - It can take off straight up! It can land straight down! It's not very fast and and it takes a supestar to fly it, resulting in a lot of accidents, but the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and US Marine Corps can't all be wrong.

6. F-86 Sabre - An aerodynamacist for the F-86 prototype project claimed that the Sabre had broken the sound barrier in a steep dive 14 days before Chuck Yeager in the X-1. Yeager was said to have coughed while exclaiming, 'Bullshit!'

5. Messerschmidt Me109 - Oh my god this thing kicks ass. My personal number 2, I believe that airplanes should not have progressed beyond this. It looks scary, it was scary, and it killed more Allied planes than any other. One half of the greatest pair of duelling planes in history.

5. F-18 Super Hornet - I should like this more than I do. I've seen it in real life a few times, Canada uses them, and I know a guy who used to work on them. But it fights like a robot, killing overmatched enemies before they know they're a target.

3. Mig-21 - The Russians get one! I never would have picked it, but post WWII, only the C-130 Hercules has been made in greater numbers. I think they sold one on eBay not too long ago.

2. Supermarine Spitfire - Were it possible to make sweet, sweet love to a machine, this is the one I'd give a right seeing to. Those wings, that snout, that delicate shape....the partner to the Me109 in that deadly dance in the summer of 1940. This is, in my mind, the best plane ever.

1. North American P-51 Mustang - The Cadillac of the skies. Not as sexy as the Spit, the Mustang nevertheless outperforms everything of its era. It was even used at the beginning of the Korean war, before everyone switched to jets. It's alright I guess.