Re: [OT] USAF plane nomenclature

On Fri, 28 Jun 2002 06:44:06 -0700 Michael Llaneza 
<maserati@earthlink.net> wrote:

> A couple of quick notes.
 
> An aviation history enthusiast in the Air Force ( I *hope* we have 
some in the AF) probably noted that BF-111 is awfully close to to the 
German Bf- series from WW2 (the Me-109 started life as the Bf-109 until 
Willy Messerschmidt made an ego move).. Maybe. <

Actually, the company changed its name. Originally, it was the 
Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (and I know the spelling's appalling) -- hence 
Bf -- then became Messerschmitt whatever, and the designations changed 
to Me, which is what the Allies had been using anyway <g>.

If you want a real "ego move", how about the Focke-Wulf Ta 152 and Ta 
154, named for Kurt Tank? <g>
 
> The 11 missing numeric designations are in use by X-series aircraft. 
We're going to bump into WW2 designations this century (P-47, P-51) so 
it's a good thing the Pursuit designation is out of fashion. <

Unless they've changed the system and not told anyone, that doesn't 
make sense. Unlike the WW2 German system, there is no unique number 
issued to an aircraft type; it's perfectly possible to have an F-1, 
B-1, C-1, X-1, H-1, E-1, etc, and all those types exist. Each letter is 
in a separate series, so the fact that *X*-24 to -31 and -33 and -34 
are taken in no way requires *F* aircraft with the same numbers to be 
skipped, and it's not good that the Pentagon appears to be allowing 
this for no better reason than some brain-dead marketer who can't cope 
(or who thinks no-one else can cope) with the X-35 being a prototype 
for the F-24. Truth be told, the X-35 should have been the XF- or YF-24 
or -25 anyway.

Phil
----
(Dr) P.A. Atcliffe
Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
University of the West of England, Bristol
Phone: +44 (0)117 344 2496
Fax:   +44 (0)117 344 3800