Re: [OT] USAF plane nomenclature

Thomas Barclay wrote:

> What do these mean? I'm guessing F is for
> fighter, B is for bomber, V is a qualifier
> meaning Vertol or Vectored thrust... but what
> are some of the others like the /A?

The F/A stands for Fighter/Attack, which means that it's dual-tasked for
both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat (i.e. the F/A-18, whereas the
A-10 Warthog is primarily (exclusively) a ground attack aircraft,
although from what I understand, there are some Iraqi helicopter pilots
who might debate that if they were able to!).

> And what's the Osprey? A VT-22 ? (T for
> Transport?)

Mmm, not sure about that one, but it sounds right.  I wouldn't worry
about it too much, as the Osprey probably won't make it out of the
hangar much longer anyway.  I do know that for the Air Force, the T
alone typically designates a training aircraft.  As for the VF, I've
only seen that in reference to naval squadron designations (i.e. VF-12,
etc.)

> Is X experimental?

Yup.

> And what kind of tags get stuck on CAS planes
> like the Warthog (A for attack)? Didn't the
> Sandy's (from Nam era) have a different sort of
> designator?

See the explanation above, the A has been used for attack craft since
the advent of the A-1 Skyraider (which was widely used in Vietnam IIRC).

> I further assume H (as in Huey UH1H) is
> helicopter, U perhaps univeral? And the A in AH-
> 64 is attack helicopter?

Sounds right to me.