Meanwhile the USN had its own scheme that used multiple letters and tended to reuse numbers (F4-F and F4-U were totally different aircraft).
The old USN system was:
1st Letter: Type of aircraft
2nd Number: Model in sequence from a given manufacturer. But there is no number 1.
3rd Letter: Manufacturer
Hyphen (if needed), and then…
4th Number: Sub-type in sequence. Again, no number 1.
So F4F was the 4th model of Fighter plane made by Grumman (F4F: Fighter model 4 from vendor F). We usually call it the Wildcat. In fact the F4F-3 and F4F-4 were the most common types (3rd and 4th sub-versions).
But when Wildcat production was taken over by General Motors (vendor M), the Wildcats they delivered were the F2M (their second production fighter for the Navy). It's a good thing GM took it over, because someone needed to make Wildcats for small escort carriers that had very limited room and take-off and landing decks for the larger higher-performance Grumman F6F (Hellcat) and F7F (Tigercat) and F8F (Bearcat) fighters.
Vought (vendor U) was also in the business of making planes for the USN. Their 4th fighter version was also an F4, but because it came from Vought it was the F4U. We usually call it the Corsair. F4U-1 was a major production version, but the F4U-4 was built in the largest numbers. Now you have just got to know that the difference between an F4F-4 and an F4U-4 was NOT just who made the d@mned thing. Wildcats at Midway were a long ways from Corsairs over Okinawa!
But wait, didn't they also have Corsairs called FG-2s or F3As, I hear you mumble. That's because some were built by Goodyear (vendor G), who didn't just sit on their license but further developed the Corsair into the FG-2 -- a specialized fast-climbing quad-20mm armed fleet defense fighter highly prized for anti-kamikaze work. And some were built by Brewster (vendor A), a firm that had already built some other fighters for the USN. You may recall that their second fighter for the navy, F2A Brewster Buffalo, that was replaced on the production line by the F3A Corsair, was not quite so fondly remembered by history!
Now if that all seems "oh so simple", let's add that the first letter was not always just one letter -- it could be TWO letters. So for example TB was the Navy prefix for torpedo bombers. The TBD Devestator was the first torpedo bomber from Douglas (vendor D). The TBF Avenger was the first torpedo bomber from … oh come on now, I already told you … Grumman! (You remember vendor F, as in F4F, F6F etc.) But when it was made by Martin that same Avenger it became the TBM.
SB was for Scout Bombers. So SBD Dauntless was the first scout bomber from Douglas. And SB2C Helldiver was the second scout bomber from Curtiss (vendor C). In some the USN squadrons the SB2C Helldiver replaced the SBD Dauntless that had replaced the SBC-2 Helldiver … as in the second sub-version of the first model scout bomber from Curtiss (and Curtiss just liked the name Helldiver I guess).
Now isn't THAT an easy way to keep track of things? And you wonder why the Air Force wanted none of it?
So when the SBD Dauntless was provided to the USAAF it became the A-24. That's the 24th attack plane accepted into service, bother with who made the d@mned thing. Note that does NOT mean the 24th bomber, though, because B-24 was a very different beast altogether.
I hope that's all clear.
And this is why MacNamara rationalized all of the services into a single numbering scheme, and after the "century series" of USAF fighters (F-100 through F-111), the next major USAF fighter (after 3 less-than-successful programs) was the F-4 Phantom. Which, in the USN, was called … wait for it … the F-4 Phantom. WHAT A CLEVER SCHEME!
Now as to the F-117 … I read that it was supposedly named as a counter-intelligence ruse, to make it seem like a 15 year old fighter program when it was the newest latest bestest secretest attack plane going. Or so I've read. Wasn't part of the program, so don't know if that's all actually true.
-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)
...
