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Airplane types? - RadPig94 - 06.07.2010

from when i started getting into planes to recently, i've always thought that B=Bomber (ie b-25) A=Attacker F=Fighter. then i got to wonderin' does it really mean that or what? because i've seen a few things that didn't make that true, such as the F-117, it's NOT a fighter but a stealth bomber. also, i've always wondered what the P (P-51) stood for. can anyone clear this up for me?

Re: Airplane types? - GueroFlex - 06.07.2010

p stands for pursuit and the reason was that it was thought that because of its geographical location the u.s only had to worry about enemy bombers and therefore the term pursuit to pursue bombers.

Re: Airplane types? - dunkelgrun - 06.07.2010

Here you are - seek and ye shall find: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mi ... ted_States
They're all in here.

:cheers:

Re: Airplane types? - Guest - 07.07.2010

F-117 was not a bomber, it is more of a Precision Strike(Because of Stealth) Ground Attack Aircraft.

Re: Airplane types? - RadPig94 - 10.07.2010

Verhängnis Wrote:F-117 was not a bomber, it is more of a Precision Strike(Because of Stealth) Ground Attack Aircraft.

Then otherwise wouldn't it be called an A-117 if it's an attacker? whatever, oh well on with life :\

Re: Airplane types? - Guest - 10.07.2010

But I thought it was still classed as a Fighter.

Re: Airplane types? - RadPig94 - 10.07.2010

Verhängnis Wrote:But I thought it was still classed as a Fighter.
it might have carried a couple of sidewinders (not sure) but it wasn't made for turning and burning, the plane even had a hard time flying inverted

Re: Airplane types? - Storebror - 10.07.2010

RadPig94 Wrote:the F-117, it's NOT a fighter
So you never wondered what "SR" stands for?
My guess is: It's just to confuse the Russians.

Best regards - Mike

Re: Airplane types? - RadPig94 - 10.07.2010

Storebror Wrote:
RadPig94 Wrote:the F-117, it's NOT a fighter
So you never wondered what "SR" stands for?
My guess is: It's just to confuse the Russians.

Best regards - Mike

probably, for all we know it may mean Super Rocket or some big technical word

Re: Airplane types? - WhoDatNotSayin - 10.07.2010

This is what Wikipedia has to say on the subject:
Quote:The operational aircraft had the official designation of "F-117A". Most modern U.S. military aircraft use post-1962 designations in which the designation "F" is usually an air-to-air fighter, "B" is usually a bomber, "A" is usually a ground-attack aircraft, etc. (Examples include the F-15, the B-2, and the A-6.) The F-117 is primarily a ground-attack aircraft so its "F" designation is inconsistent with the DoD system, but it is an inconsistency that has been repeatedly employed by the U.S. Air Force with several of its ground attack aircraft since the late 1950s (i.e., F-105, F-111, etc.).

The designation "F-117" seems to indicate that it was given an official designation prior to the 1962 U.S. Tri-Service Aircraft Designation System and could be considered numerically to be a part of the earlier "Century series" of fighters. The assumption prior to the revealing of the aircraft to the public was that it would likely receive the designation F-19 as that number had not been used. However there were no other aircraft to receive a "100" series number following the F-111. Captured Soviet fighters were given F-series numbers for their evaluation by U.S. test pilots, and with the advent of the Teen Series fighters, most often Century Series designations.

As with other exotic military aircraft types flying in the southern Nevada area, such as captured fighters, an arbitrary radio call of "117" was assigned. This same radio call had been used by the enigmatic 4477th "Red Hats/Red Eagles" unit that often had flown expatriated MiGs in the area, but there was no relationship to the call and the formal F-19 designation then being considered by the Air Force. Apparently, use of the "117" radio call became commonplace and when Lockheed released its first flight manual ("dash one"), F-117A was the designation printed on the cover.

A televised documentary quoted a senior member of the F-117A development team as saying that the top-notch fighter pilots required to fly the new aircraft were more easily attracted to an "F" plane, as opposed to a "B" or "A" aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-117
Probably as good an answer as we are ever likely to get.

Re: Airplane types? - Guest - 10.07.2010

Storebror Wrote:
RadPig94 Wrote:the F-117, it's NOT a fighter
So you never wondered what "SR" stands for?
My guess is: It's just to confuse the Russians.

Best regards - Mike

Supersonic Reconaisance pherhaps?

Re: Airplane types? - WhoDatNotSayin - 10.07.2010

'F' for fighter sounds sexier than 'B' for bomber. Easier to get funding...

And as for trying to make a distinction between a bomber and a precision ground attack aircraft, I thought the USAAF cracked that with the Norden bombsight. :wink:

Re: Airplane types? - Storebror - 11.07.2010

Storebror Wrote:you never wondered what "SR" stands for?
RadPig94 Wrote:probably, for all we know it may mean Super Rocket or some big technical word
Verhängnis Wrote:Supersonic Reconaisance pherhaps?
Neither of these.
An urban legend tells that Lyndon B. Johnson messed up the designation in his public announcement and it should have read "RS-71", but that's also wrong.
In fact USAF Chief of Staff LeMay simply didn't like the "RS" designator (which meant Reconnaissance-Strike) - he already objected it when the RS-70 was discussed (the Valkyrie Reconnaissance Version), preferring "SR-70". He managed to have Lyndon B. Johnson's speech script altered to show "SR-71" in all places.
Using archived copies of Lyndon B. Johnson's speech, it can actually be verified that it reads SR-71 both in the script and on the tape recording. However, the official transcript of the speech, created from the stenographic records and handed to the press afterwards, shows "RS-71" in three places. It seems that not the president but a stenographer did accidentally switch the letters.

Best regards - Mike

Re: Airplane types? - KG64_Cnopicilin - 11.07.2010

WhoDatNotSayin Wrote:'F' for fighter sounds sexier than 'B' for bomber. Easier to get funding...
Lol

Re: Airplane types? - Fireskull - 11.07.2010

Hi,

On rare occasion, an aircraft will be planned in a certain role but after changes and testing, it might end in another role. This happened with the F-117 which originally was intended as a fighter/bomber. Later it was only used in the bomber/strike role as advancing electronics gave new life to older fighter types which could do both the fighter and strike roles with good survivability. Examples of these are the F-18, F-15, F-16, and F-14 (before it was eventually retired). The advancements in electronics also saw some older bombers being extended in their roles such as the B-29 and A-10. Meanwhile, the F-117 was slid into the specialty role of STEALTH strike aircraft with radar jamming and strike on Command and Control.