The 'F'

If this has been posted before, or is too ridiculously stupid to be on here then please feel free to move/delete. Just been wondering what the 'F' stands for on most fighter jets etc... F-14 F-16, does it just stand for Fighter or something more technical??

The "F" designation stands for 'fighter' aircraft, though it is questionable one some aircraft, such as F-117, etc.
"B" designation stands for 'bomber' aircraft. "A" designation stands for aircraft that provide ground support.



seekerof

[Edited on 9-5-2004 by Seekerof]

Originally posted by Seekerof
The "F" designation stands for 'fighter' aircraft, though it is questionable one some aircraft, such as F-117, etc.
"B" designation stands for 'bomber' aircraft. "A" designation stands for aircraft that provide ground support.



seekerof

[Edited on 9-5-2004 by Seekerof]

Cheers buddy means i can have a decent argument with mates now and show off yay

C means cargo, right?

Originally posted by Seekerof
The "F" designation stands for 'fighter' aircraft, though it is questionable one some aircraft, such as F-117, etc.

My understanding is that the F-117 got the "F" designation as part of its cover. It obviously should have a "B" designation, as it can only carry air-to-ground munitions. Even if fitted with air-to-air, it would be a very poor fighter. It has poor manuverability and can't go supersonic.

Originally posted by PurdueNuc

My understanding is that the F-117 got the "F" designation as part of its cover. It obviously should have a "B" designation, as it can only carry air-to-ground munitions. Even if fitted with air-to-air, it would be a very poor fighter. It has poor manuverability and can't go supersonic.

To my understanding it can go Mach 1, which is supersonic.

Originally posted by Shugo
To my understanding it can go Mach 1, which is supersonic.

No, it is strictly subsonic.

I don't think the airframe can handle the stress of going through the sound barrier.

Plus, it has no afterburning capability. It's engines do not produce enough thrust to supercruise.

Originally posted by PurdueNuc
My understanding is that the F-117 got the "F" designation as part of its cover. It obviously should have a "B" designation, as it can only carry air-to-ground munitions. Even if fitted with air-to-air, it would be a very poor fighter. It has poor manuverability and can't go supersonic.

aerospaceweb has some good information on this.
Aerospace History Questions

Further information can be read here:
Non-Standard DOD Aircraft Designations

2.7 Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk
This is probably the best known "illegal" designation of them all! Both the type letter "F" and the number 117 of the Nighthawk's designation don't conform to the regulations in the designation system.

Why "F"?
Although it is commonly called the Stealth Fighter, The Nighthawk should have received an "A" designation. It has no air-to-air role whatsoever, and the "A-for-Attack" designator is in fact prefectly made for tactical ground-attack aircraft like the F-117. The topic has been discussed to death among enthusiasts, but there seem to be essentially two possible reasons for the assignment of an F-designation:

For the U.S. Air Force, all dedicated combat aircraft are either "fighters" or "bombers". E.g., A-10s are deployed in Tactical Fighter Wings - there is no such thing as an "Attack Squadron" in USAF. While the A-10 possibly only escaped an F-designation by using its speed ;-), there was no reason (for the USAF) not to call the F-117 a "fighter". After all, there have been fighters with marginal or non-existing air-to-air capabilities in the Air Force before - F-105 and F-111, respectively.
The "F" prefix was part of the classified designation, directly connected to the number 117. See discussion below.

Hope that helps.


seekerof

Then argue with this statement...

This is from the Encyclopedia of World Aircraft 2002:

Performance: maximum speed Mach 1; normal operating speed Mach 0.9

Well, to get specific, flying at a speed around Mach 1 is called "transonic," while flying at exactly Mach 1 is just "sonic." Anyways, near sea level the F-117 can fly very near Mach 1. Now, at higher altitudes, sound travels slower through the air, so Mach 0.9 at sea level could be Mach 0.92 at 30,000 feet, for example. So, it is possible that the F-117 could fly faster than sound at altitude. The standard of measurement is at sea level, though.

Regardless, when you're taking on much more maneuverable aircraft that can fly over twice as fast, you're in trouble. So, no dogfighting with the F-117.

I remember watching a TV program that interviewed some people in USAF and they said they called it the F-117 to attract the better more ambitious pilots who would like to fly fighters rather than pilots who were for bombers

Originally posted by Shugo
Then argue with this statement...

This is from the Encyclopedia of World Aircraft 2002:

Performance: maximum speed Mach 1; normal operating speed Mach 0.9

Check the thrust to weight ratio and then do the math and tell me what you come up with.

Chances are you will see that the 117 can approach the speed of sound, but cannot go faster than it.

the f117 was basicaly an exsperiment wi bits they made in the lab
but it was the worlds first stealth fighter/bomber

Originally posted by devilwasp
the f117 was basicaly an exsperiment wi bits they made in the lab
but it was the worlds first stealth fighter/bomber

No, the experiment was the HAVE BLUE program.

The F-117 was a modification of that aircraft based on lessons learned. You are correct in that the HAVE BLUE had no ability to drop ordnance.

LINK

yewah but really would u base your country's defense on the f117?
it wasnt officially one but i thnk it was just a toy for the USAf to work on

Originally posted by devilwasp
yewah but really would u base your country's defense on the f117?
it wasnt officially one but i thnk it was just a toy for the USAf to work on

I'm not quite sure I know what you mean by that? Do you mean to base your defenses on the F-117 or against the F-117?

The HAVE BLUE was not a toy to play with, read the link. They used it to prove out theories and refine the angles needed to deflect the radar waves. That was carried onto the F-117, and the knowledge gained from the F-117 was used on the B-2, and the knowledge learned from that is being applied to the TOP SECRET follow on program.

so your telling me u guys didnt stick stuff or add stuff to the f117 just to see what happened?

Originally posted by devilwasp
so your telling me u guys didnt stick stuff or add stuff to the f117 just to see what happened?

They added things on the inside. The only change to the outside was to swap out the ruddervators with a different kind of metal.

They refined the design in the Have Blue stage. There was no need to mess with it after they did all that work.

u always have to tweak with the designer to see what makes it work bad and work better
i mean no 1 knew the lynx was fast until the messed around wi the rotors and such

Originally posted by devilwasp
u always have to tweak with the designer to see what makes it work bad and work better
i mean no 1 knew the lynx was fast until the messed around wi the rotors and such

The way that it was built did not lend it self to tinkering.

As I understand in the best thing that they did to speed up the Lynx was giving it more powerful engines.