F-19
F-19 is a designation for a United States fighter aircraft that has never been officially used, and has engendered much speculation that it might refer to a type of aircraft whose existence is still classified.
History
Since the unification of the numbering system in 1962, U.S. fighters have been designated by consecutive numbers, beginning with the F-1 Fury. F-13 was never assigned due to superstition, but after the F/A-18 Hornet, the next announced aircraft was the F-20 Tigershark. There have been a number of theories put forth to explain this omission, but none have ever been confirmed.
The most prevalent theory in the 1980s was that "F-19" was the designation of the stealth fighter whose development was an open secret in the aerospace community. When the actual aircraft was publicly revealed in 1988, it was called the F-117 Nighthawk. There seems to be no evidence that "F-19" was ever used to designate the Nighthawk, although the National Museum of the United States Air Force website (as of 2007) does include the entry "Lockheed F-19 CSIRS (see F-117)". [1]
Cultural references
- In the 1983 Chevy Chase film Deal of the Century, Gregory Hines' character "Ray Kasternak" piloted an F-19 in a dogfight against an autonomous drone fighter.
- In 1986, the Testor Corporation released a model aircraft kit, calling it the F-19 Stealth Fighter. [2][3]
- Like the Testor Corporation, Monogram models also released the F-19A Specter which was based on the design by Loral Inc[4]
- Jane's Information Group published an incorrect entry on the F-19 in their aviation reference, Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1986-1987. In addition to the fictitious artwork, the 1987-1988 and 1988-89 editions lists the aircraft as the "Lockheed RF-19 and XST". [5]
- In 1988, Microprose released a computer game entitled F-19 Stealth Fighter, the first computer simulation of stealth air combat.
- In his 1986 novel Red Storm Rising, Tom Clancy featured the "F-19 Ghostrider" as a secret weapon used to combat a Soviet invasion of Germany. This vehicle was considerably more capable than the F-117, being a supersonic fighter rather than a subsonic precision bomber.
See also
Related lists
References
- ^ National Museum of the USAF Fighter Index
- ^ "Lockheed F-19 Stealth Fighter (1986)". Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ Trenner, Patricia (2008). "A Short (Very Short) History of the F-19". Air & Space magazine. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "F-19A Specter (1987)". Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ Taylor, JWR (Editor) (1988). Jane's All the World's Aircraft, 1988-1989. Jane's Information Group. p. p.411. ISBN 0 7106-0867-5.
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