A1- A12...F1- YF23?? what is in between??

So the fighter/attack/bomber designations all make complete sense!

What I am trying to get started is a thread(With Photos if possible) of all the designations that DID NOT make the cut. For example, the YF-22 beat out the YF-23 for production...hence we all know and have seen the YF-23, right?? But, what about all the others...the A-9 vs. the A-10 for production?? Great looking plane that I bet very few have seen!

Anyway, I think you get the idea. To make it simple, maybe a key to what is/was production is good?; (by the way, I do mean jet aircraft)

B1-Lancer A1-??, F1-??
B2-Spirit, F2-??, A2-??
S3-Viking, A3-??, F3-??, B3-??
F4-Phantom II, A4-Skyhawk,
F5-Freedom Fighter, A5-Vigilante
A6-Intruder, F6-??
A7-Corsair II, F7-??
A8-??, F8-Crusader
A9-(sort of), F9-??
A10-ThunderboltII/Warthog, F10-??
F11-??, BUT F(1)11-Aardvark/Raven
A12-Avenger, F12-??
A13-??, F13-?? (curious??)
F14-Tomcat,
F15-Eagle
F16-Falcon/Viper
F17- to be YF17, then.....
F18-Hornet
F19-??
F20-Tigershark
F21-??
F22-Raptor
F23-to be YF23..cut program


Do you get what I mean...lots of inconsistencies and peculiararities inthe mix here. What can you provide to help clear some of this up??

Peace, Mondo

mondo !!!!!
im gonna have to scan this whole book... but atleast youll get your answers...
the book is called

EDWARDS AIRFORCE BASE
Experimental Flight Test Center

Skunk,

I had a feeling you'd be one of the first to respond to this!! With that username and your photos on the other thread that seem to be lots of Edward's shots, I figured you must just have a special interest in the are or be a current/ex Edward's stationed officer! I am from the general area out there (no longer) but have been around the Lancaster and Mojave scene for quite some time myself.

Take your time, but I hope to get some answers in some way or another from all the great sources of info from the aero people here on ATS. I worked on the F18 program for a while as well, but was sort of compartmentalized to that area, so I am curious about the other projects.

Peace to you and thanks ahead of time...by the way, i sent you a u2u! Mondo

www.dfrc.nasa.gov...

the web site above shows all the aircraft that made it to the test test faze. All testing is done @ Edwards. So if you dont see an F-13 to counter the F-14 Tomcat its because the F-13 purposal didnt make it past the design faze or doesnt exist.

[edit on 7-3-2007 by skunkworks82]

You might find this link interesting, it lists all the designations that were skipped, and why

www.designation-systems.net...

Here's the answer to those in your post that I know;

A-1 Skyraider, F-1 Fury (ex AD and FJ)
F-2 Banshee (ex F2H... etc for the rest, you get the idea)
A-3 Skywarrior, F-3 Demon
F-6 Skyray
AV-8 Harrier (applies equally in A and V sequence coincidentally, or deliberately.
F-9 Cougar
F-10 Skynight
F-11 Tiger
YF-12 ("blackbird fighter")
13 - skipped for superstition
F-21 Lion (IAI Kfir)

also mondo this has been disscused a number of times so searching the F-13 on ats may help you get info from people who have talked about this before.

One second thought never mind I tried and the stupid search function never seems to be able to find what I want. maybe its because F-13, F-18 extra never find it but if you enter hornet it pops up.

very important find !!!! well done. that of course sheds light to all the programs that didnt make it for different reasons

Waynos et al:

Thanks you guys for the help, yeah I was having a brain fart when I did not consider the F3 and so on, but it's neat that the military has the superstition and skipped the F13!!

Anyway, thanks for the help and I will get to searching those links!!

Peace, Mondo

here is the YC-14/YC-15 Advanced Medium STOL Transport (AMST)

www.globalsecurity.org...


HERE IS THE YC-14

i98.photobucket.com...
HERE IS THE YC-15

Neither one made the cut cause the C-130 was cheap and reliable

Mod Edit: Image Size – Please Review This Link.


[edit on 8/3/2007 by Mirthful Me]

B-52 VS B-60

i98.photobucket.com...

the YB-60

i98.photobucket.com...

the XB-52

Mod Edit: Image Size – Please Review This Link.



[edit on 8/3/2007 by Mirthful Me]

Well here is a Boeing F-13A
Boeing F-13A 'Superfortress' aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu...

F-84/XF-84/XF-84H/XF-106

F-84/XF-84
i98.photobucket.com...

XF-84H/XF-106
i98.photobucket.com...

now whats intresting about this plane is that its was temporarily renamed XF-106 ... It is a fuel efficent version of the F-84.. this plane was also a test bed aircraft for supersonic propellers

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[edit on 8/3/2007 by Mirthful Me]

As for previous ideas and rumors, one theory holds that the designations F-112 - F-116 are assigned to aircraft based at the USAF's Soviet aircraft squadron stationed at Nellis, possibly at the Tonopah Test Range (TTR) where the F-117 was being developed. However, another theory postulates that many test flights operating out of Nellis AFB, including those of acquired Soviet MiG aircraft, used the arbitrary call sign "117" and that it was used so often that Lockheed assigned it to the Stealth fighter to disguise its identity. In using the same call sign as that of other test aircraft, the stealth fighter would then be thought of as another secret aircraft of the MiG squadron by anyone hearing its designation and not an operational aircraft. A more outlandish scheme claims that after the 1962 designation system change, new fighters were "recessively" assigned designations following the F-111, the last fighter to have a pre-1962 designation. Therefore, it would be F-112 (F-14) Tomcat, F-113 (F-15) Eagle, F-114 (F-16) Fighting Falcon, F-115 (YF-17) Cobra, and F/A-116 (F/A-18) Hornet, leading up to the F-117 Stealth fighter. There is, however, a major flaw to this notion. If the new 1962 system were ignored and a "recessive" continuation of the pre-1962 system maintained, the Navy would presumably have kept its old system intact, so it would be F13F Tomcat, F-112 Eagle, F-113 Fighting Falcon, F-114 Cobra, and F5H Hornet, leaving open F-115 and F-116. However, most accounts totally ignore the F-5 and the YF-12 Blackbird prototype which flew in 1964; adding in these two aircraft could fix the flaw in this "recessive" theory, but the whole idea seems too bizarre. I also received an e-mail with a different version of this "recessive" theory (thanks to William Blake!): F-112 is the F-5 Tiger II, F-113 is the F-15 Eagle, F-114 is the F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-115 is the F-17 Cobra, F-116 is a classified aircraft, bringing us to the F-117 Nighthawk. This does, however, ignore the YF-12 Blackbird.

www.driko.org...

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Mod Edit: External Source Tags – Please Review This Link.


[edit on 8/3/2007 by Mirthful Me]

F-80 P-80 Shooting Star
F-81 Convair XF-81
F-82 Twin Mustang
F-83 Bell XP-83
F-84 Redirected from Republic YF-96
F-85 Goblin
F-86 Redirected from North American YF-95
F-87 Blackhawk
F-88 Redesignated the F-101 Voodoo
F-89 Scorpion
F-90 Lockheed XF-90
F-91 Thunderceptor
F-92 Convair XF-92/Variant of the F-102 Delta Dagger
F-93 North American YF-93/Variant of the F-86 Sabre
F-94 Redirected from Lockheed YF-97
F-95 Sabre
F-96 Thunderjet
F-97 Starfire/F-94
F-98 Falcon

well thats it for the known fighters.. Im sure im wrong though


F-1 UNKNOWN
F-2 F-2 Attack Fighter/variant of the F-16C
F-3 F3H Demon
F-4 F-4 Phantom II
F-5 Freedom Fighter/Tiger
F-6 UNKNOWN
F-7 F7U Cutlass
F-8 Crusader
F-9 Cougar
F-10 UNKNOWN
F-11 Tiger
F-12 YF-12A interceptor/SR-71 Blackbird
F-13 No aircraft asigned
F-14 Tomcat
F-15 Eagle
F-16 Fighting Falcon
F-17 Cobra/YF-17
F-18 F/A-18 Hornet
F-19 UNKNOWN
F-20 Tigershark
F-21 UNKNOWN
F-22 Raptor
F-23 Black Widow II/YF-23

@skunkworks82: Your high-numbered listing (F-80 to -121) has several corrupted or spurious entries, and definitely doesn't come entirely from the "external source" you mention. For the low-numbered listing (F-1 to -23), you should have read Waynos' post first .

Regards
yf

there are like 4 different A-12's !!!
not to mention how many other aircraft have the same designations
but they were at different time periods.
so much for easy


A-12 Shrike Curtiss 1933 production/reengined A-10
A-12 (J2F) Duck Grumman 1948 observation amphibian; redes. OA-12
A-12 Lockheed 1962 prototype YF-12; non-standard designation
A-12 Avenger 2, Dorito General Dynamics/McDD 1990 USN/USAF (F-111 replacement?) flying wing advanced tactical attack (ATA); cancelled

Originally posted by skunkworks82
well thats it for the known fighters.. Im sure im wrong though

F-1 UNKNOWN
F-2 F-2 Attack Fighter/variant of the F-16C
F-3 F3H Demon
F-4 F-4 Phantom II
F-5 Freedom Fighter/Tiger
F-6 UNKNOWN
F-7 F7U Cutlass
F-8 Crusader
F-9 Cougar
F-10 UNKNOWN
F-11 Tiger
F-12 YF-12A interceptor/SR-71 Blackbird
F-13 No aircraft asigned
F-14 Tomcat
F-15 Eagle
F-16 Fighting Falcon
F-17 Cobra/YF-17
F-18 F/A-18 Hornet
F-19 UNKNOWN
F-20 Tigershark
F-21 UNKNOWN
F-22 Raptor
F-23 Black Widow II/YF-23

F-1 new designation for FJ-4 Fury
F-2 new designation for F2H Banshee
F-6 new designation for F4D Skyray
F-10 new designation for F3D Skyknight
F-21 designation for IAI Kfir