There used to be a saying in the aviation world it went like this 'If it looks right then it will fly right' after all the most beauitiful fighter designed the immortal Spitfire was a true classic in beauty both on the ground and in the air.
It does seem that aircraft of yesteryear,had that little bit of something special about them in terms of beauty when compared with the products of today,the designers used every part of the aircrafts anatomy to show it off the best they could,whilst at the same time getting the best aerodynamically.
To demonstrate what I mean then the little sketch prepared above illustrates my point,lets start with the most ugly of aircraft parts,the undercarriage,notice how neat little wheel spats ( called pants in the U.S.A ) fair over the landing gear parts,then the wing to fuselage joint is neatly faired in with alloy pre-shaped panels,next the Gipsy type engine has been beautifully cowled giving adequate air cooling with easily removed wrap round panels,couple this with a nice polished metal spinner that has been blended into the contours of the fuselage.
Working down towards the tail the essential cockpit is once again blended into the decking with its metal framework to protect the pilot.
The tail of an aircraft once was used by designers as a personal trademark of the company,such as De Havilland & Percival who were so proud of their designs,as the tail fin offers a lot of latitude as regards physical shape and size,and area which is difficult to calculate with any mathematical accuracy,then it leaves a first class blank canvas.
So you can se what I am getting at,pre war designs in particular paid a lot of attention to the way that the machine looked,some true classics include the Mosquito,De Havilland Comet Racer,the unique Lysander,the Westland Whirlwind fighter,even the stubby little Gee Bee racer had classic lines despite its dumpy nature.
Some modern designs seem to have little if any regard for aesthetic beauty,such as the Short 360 ( nicknamed 'Shed' or 'Irish Concorde' by their pilots ) prefering quick build boxy fuselages to nice clean lines.
A study of aircraft design is a rewarding project,one excellent book to get your hands on is 'Flight without formulae' this excellent reading covers all aspects of design without getting out the slide rule,or should we say today the pocket calculator !