Learned Something New

[Crazy]

today. Found out what the designations for American fighters mean:

"P" stands for Pursuit, a designation used for fighter types between 1925 1947, though this changed in 1947 when the "F" for Fighter designation entered use.

"51" means the the aircraft was the 51st pursuit type to be built.

"D" The fourth main variant of the Mustang which included the 1,490hp Packard V-1650 Merlin engine, six gun main armament, and the teardrop canopy.

"20" This is the Block Number. These numbers ran in fives as minor equipment changes were implemented.

"NA" means that the aircraft was built at Inglewood, California, the other designation "NT" denotes an aircraft built in Dallas, Texas

 

[cheddar cheese]

cool i already knew about the pursuit bit but i didnt know about the other stuff

 

[plan_D]

I knew all of that but, what can I say? I remember you had to get told what the P means by LG.
Just to add to the list for production designations; RE, Republic Farmingdale; RA, Republic Evansville; CU, Curtiss-Wright at Buffalo.

 

[Lightning Guy]

LO- Lockheed, Burbank
VN- Vega, Nashville

You mine find this interesting as well. American engines were designated by a letter and then a series of numbers (V-1710, R-2800, etc.). The letter designated the type of engine (V for inline 'vee' engine, R for radial) and the numbers were the capacity of the engine in cubic engines.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

the numbers were the capacity of the engine in cubic engines.

wow, is this some form of american unit, engines within engines...............

 

[cheddar cheese]

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

now that's what you call spam................

 

[cheddar cheese]

no, i only just noticed the typo and thought it extremely funny

 

[Lightning Guy]

Cubic inches. They sound similar so (as crummy as it is) that's my excuse.

 

[cheddar cheese]

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

it's better than anything C.C. could come up with....................

 

[cheddar cheese]

im fine with that cos any insult to me is an insult to you too, you are the inferior of the two of us after all

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

back on topic, i gonna hint as guess that the "B" as in "B-52" "B-36" means bomber??

 

[plan_D]

Thanks for telling us that, Lanc.

I'll probably get some of these wrong but; P is Pursuit, F is Fighter, B is Bomber, A is Attack, PR is Photo-Recce, AEW is Airborne Early Warning, AWACS is Airborne Warning and Control System...I know the last two were modern.
I've missed some there...the F could get confusing because in World War 2 the Americans didn't have F for fighter, they had the F-5 which was a recce Lightning but I don't know what the F stands for on that...

 

[Lightning Guy]

I'm not sure that it stood for anything. There were also F- models of the A-20, the P-51, and I believe the B-24 but I don't remember exactly what the designations were.

 

[plan_D]

They had the F-51 after the war when they changed to F instead of P. There were F-51s in Korea.

 

[Lightning Guy]

During the war, the F-3 was the recon version of the A-20, F-4 and F-5 were versions of the P-38, the F-6 was from the P-51, and the F-7 from the B-24. At least I think that is correct.

 

[DaveB.inVa]

F was for Foto

The recon version of the B-29 was the F-13A

 

[evangilder]

Here is my incomplete list. These are fairly standard, although the Navy and the AF uses different designations for some aircraft. This is not a complete list:
A is for attack
AT is for advance trainer (AT-6).
B is for Bomber
C is for Cargo.
D is typically for drone tugs or carriers (DB-36)
E is for electronic (EA-6)
F is for fighter
G is mostly for gliders
H is for Helicopter (AH-64, attack helicopter)
J is typically a Navy designation for utility transport
K is for tanker aircraft (KC-135)
L is for Liaison (L-5 Bird dog)
M is sometimes used for medical, sometimes for clandestine operations
N is the Navy deignator for trainer (SNJ=AT-6)
O is for observation (OV-10 Bronco)
P is for pursuit
Q is for unmanned vehicles (Q-1 Predator)
R is for Reconnaissance
S is for scout (SB-2C=Scout/Bomber)
T is for trainer (T-38 Talon)
U is for Utility (U-7 Seneca, typically a cargo aircraft. U2 is an exception)
V is typically for VIP transport (VC-135)
W is for Weather recon (WC-130)
X is for experimental, as in XB-70, experimental bomber.
Y is for prototype.


The SR71 is a misnomer. It was originall called the XR-71, and someone mispronounced it (I think it was a president) and it stuck.

 

[KraziKanuK]

links

http://rwebs.net/avhistory/acdesig/usarmy.htm

http://rwebs.net/avhistory/acdesig/usnavy.htm

for 1939 to 1945 USAAF and USN

Some other interesting stuff on the site as well.