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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 2770.PDF
824 FLIGHT International, 22 November 1% i New US Aircraft Designations MANY readers have recently noticed unfamiliar designations for American military aircraft appearing in our pages. Strange as it may seem at present, the new ncmenclature is to be welcomed, for it represents the first-ever standardization of aircraft symbols throughout the American Armed Forces. Previously, the US Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and even Coast Guard had individual letters and numbers; and although quantitative assess ment is clearly impossible, the resulting waste of time and money must have been considerable. The new scheme is based upon that previously used by the Air Force. Essen tially, it comprises a letter signifying the primary function, a hyphen, and a number identifying the basic aircraft type; but prefix and suffix letters may be added. Production aircraft may also be named, and future names will be single words appro priate to the primary mission. A typical example of the new scheme is provided by the Neptune patrol aircraft (picture below). This originally bore the Navy designation P2V, followed by a sub type number, such as -7. Under the new scheme the basic aircraft is styled the P-2 and the P2V-7 becomes the P-2H. The suffix is the eighth letter of the alphabet because sub-types of the former P2V-6 have been allocated both F and G. The first model of every aircraft will in future have the suffix A. In front may be added a prefix "modified- mission" letter. The entire designation may begin with a letter signifying development status. For example, XSP-2H would signify: experimental (X); anti-submarine (S); patrol (P); followed by -2H denoting the type of aircraft. The following are the symbol letters:— Status G, grounded permanently; J, special test, temporary; M, special test. permanent; X, experimental; Y, prototype; Z, planning. Modified mission A, attack; C, transport; D, director; E, special electronics; H, search- rescue; K. tanker; L, cold-weather; M, missile-carrier; Q, drone; R, reconnaissance; S, anti-submarine; T, trainer; U, utility; V, staff (i.e., "VIP"); W, weather. Basic mission A, attack; B, bomber; C, transport; E, special electronics; F, Lockheed P-2H Neptune (formerly P2V-7) Grumman A-6A Intruder,(A2F-I)
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