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Naming of Bombers


railfancwb
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It my understanding that they were just project numbers that did not conflict with other plane numbers. It has nothing to do with the year or order. 
 

They often went from X, Y or something else in development to B in production.  Usually B for bombers F for fighters S for surveillance etc. 
 

I just don’t get how the F 117 is a Fighter when it gas no guns and just carries bombs or missiles. 
 

 

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35 minutes ago, Historian said:

I think it was based on the type and when it was accepted or production.

17 came begore 24 and 25.

B1 was a first...atomic bomber (supersonic) and the b2 followed in line.

This is what i always understood.

What about a  B 52?

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s. The bomber is capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons,[2] and has a typical combat range of more than 8,800 miles (14,080 km) without aerial refueling.[3]

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1 hour ago, railfancwb said:

How are bombers named? B-47 and B-52 I kinda understand. What about B-17, B-24, and B-36 to pick some I don’t understand. There are still others…

There really isn't any according-to-Hoyle schema to it. I think that the people who made the decisions changed and they did whatever they liked. Some aircraft that were developed close together chronologically sometimes have a numbering pattern, because the same people/philosophy was in play, like the century fighters (F-100 -- F-107), or the F-14 through the F-20. Of course, the F-22 came decades later and it kinda fits that numbering pattern, but then you have the F-35. Go figure.

One naming rule that endured for decades was the convention of giving US Army helicopters Indian names. I suppose political expediency has thrown that one in the crapper though.

One of my favorite naming conventions was (Is still, I guess), the NATO designations for Soviet/Now-Russian aircraft. Fighter names always start with an 'F', like Fulcrum, Frogfoot, Forger and Flogger. Bomber names always start with a 'B', like Badger, Blinder and Backfire. As an interesting aside, the Tu-4 Bull was a Soviet copy of the US B-29. I mean EXACT. They took apart a B-29 and cloned everything, to include some damaged surface finishes in castings and 'Boeing' cast into the steering yokes, wheels, whatever you call them.

Their helos always started with 'H', of course, like the Halo, the Havoc and the Helix. Cool names all.

Anyway, here is a list of the NATO Soviet naming schema.

  Missiles  
  A Air-to-Air Missiles  
  K Air-to-Surface Missiles  
  G Surface-to-Air Missiles, including ship-and submarine launched missiles  
  S Surface-to-Surface Missiles, including ship-and submarine launched missiles and anti-tank missiles  
1x1.gif
  Aircraft  
  B - Bomber Aircraft  
  C - Commercial Aircraft and Cargo Aircraft  
  F - Fighter Aircraft and Ground Attack Aircraft  
  H -  Helicopters  
  M -  Miscellaneous Aircraft (all aircraft not included in other categories)
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Also, we have had two F-4s and an A-4. There are a lot of numbers to choose from. Seems like they could have picked something that hasn't been used.

There were also a Corsair one and two and a Thunderbolt one and two. There was probably some other name duplication, but those two come to mind.

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We have also had military aircraft named Hawk (Several of those, in fact), Redhawk, Blackhawk, Warhawk, Turkeyhawk, Goshawk, Seahawk, Skyhawk, Sparrowhawk, Mohawk, Tigerhawk, Tomahawk, Kittyhawk and Nighthawk. There are undoubtedly more.

Have you ever typed the same word so many times that it stopped looking like a real word to you? :biggrin:

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Then there are the military aircraft named after cats, like the Kitten one and two, the Hellcat, the Tigercat, the Bearcat, the Bobcat, the Tomcat, the Cougar, the Jaguar, the Panther, the Tiger one and two  and the Super Tiger. Most of these are made by Grumman. Cat names was kinda their thing.

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Military aircraft with names related to atmospheric phenomena: The Lighting one and two (US, but there are others, including the BAE Lightning), The Thunderchief, A Couple of Thunderbolts, the F-84 Thunderjet, The Thunderstreak(F-84 variant), the aforementioned Thunderscreech(F-84 variant), the Thunderflash(F-84 variant), the Thunderceptor(F-84 variant), the Hurricane, some Tornadoes, the Typhoon, the Cyclone, etc.

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Couple of things going on. The sequences (B-17, B-24, B-26, etc.) were assigned when the prototypes (Boeing 299 became B-17) were accepted by the AAF. This changed some in the early 60s due to McNamara's consolidation scheme, so the USAF's F-110 became F-4. 

In 1947, with the creation of the USAF, all Pursuit types were renamed to F designations. This created a minor conflict for types like the F-5 which was the photo-recon Mustang, but it was no big deal.

The common names (Mustang, Lightning, etc.) were themed by the manufactures, mostly. As noted, Grumman named their fighters after cats (Wild, Hell, Bear, Tiger, Panther, Cougar, Tom, ...), MacDonalds used ghostes (Banshee, Phantom, Voodoo), Vought had a pirate theme (Corsair, Cutlass), Lockheed named theirs after astronomical phenom (Lightning, Shooting Star, Starfire, Starfighter, Galaxy, Hercules), Boeing named the B-17 Flying Fortress because it had unprecedented armament for 1933, then they continued that tradition with the Superfortress and Stratofortress. 

Brits used city names for bombers (Lancaster, Manchester, Halifax, ...) 

Germans had pet names for the BF-109 (Dora, Emil, Franz, Gustave, Klaus)

IIRC, the F-117 got that designation because congress wouldn't appropriate any money for a new bomber/attack plane, so they slipped it in under a fighter appropriation. 

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There were two B-26s. Martin built one they called the Marauder, but everyone else called it The Flying Prostitute or The Baltimore Whore, because "it had no visible means of support". It was retired after WWII and the Douglas A-26 Invader was redesignated B-26. The North American A-36 was also called The Invader.

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22 minutes ago, gwalchmai said:

There were two B-26s. Martin built one they called the Marauder, but everyone else called it The Flying Prostitute or The Baltimore Whore, because "it had no visible means of support". It was retired after WWII and the Douglas A-26 Invader was redesignated B-26. The North American A-36 was also called The Invader.

" One a Day in  Tampa Bay "

 

 

They trained at MacDill AFB in Tampa during WW II.

 

 

https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1257&context=tampabayhistory#:~:text=Throughout the Army%2C fliers repeated,air approaches free of obstructions.

 

 

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1 hour ago, gwalchmai said:

 

IIRC, the F-117 got that designation because congress wouldn't appropriate any money for a new bomber/attack plane, so they slipped it in under a fighter appropriation. 

That sounds very plausible. I'm not sure how true it is but I recall watching something that said the powers that be were so paranoid about the 117's true purpose being leaked, that it was given the F designation instead of B.

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