[cmsgop]

Don't forget about the F-86 !!!

[MEG33]

Have you tried google?

[Mr. Blond]

"A" denotes a ground attack role.

[Poohbah]

"A" designator = Attack.

The F-4, F-15, and F-16 share almost no relationship, aside from being airplanes.

The F-4 Phantom II was originally the F4H Phantom II, built for the US Navy. Its mission was fleet air defense and strike. The Air Force bought it as a multirole aircraft; its original designation was the F-110 Spectre.

The F-15 Eagle was designed as a single-role air superiority fighter--the motto during design and development was "Not a pound for air-to-ground!"

The F-16 was designed as a lightweight, low-cost fighter.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

F-117. Changed aerial warfare.

[OneTime]

Doesn't the B-52 have the longest service history?

[MediaMole]

U.S. Air Force Museum

[snippy_about_it]

Click on US Military Aircraft

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

no question the b-52 is without doubt the most important jet ever to be deployed by the us military!!



50 years old and still the workhorse of the us bomber fleet!

[JimVT]

Although it arrived late the P-51 Mustang saved a lot B-17 crews by bouncing ME-109s all over Germany during WW2.

[Phsstpok]

The A in a war planes designation means "attack" or ground attack. In pilot's lingo it's "air to mud." The F in war planes like the F16 means that it is a "fighter" or air superiority fighter. Most F16s are actually FA16s, meaning that they are suitable for both air to air and air to ground combat roles. Most F15s are F only, but there are FA15 type planes as well. B would be bomber, so the B2 and B1 bombers are obvious. The "aardvark" FB-111, is the swing wing fighter bomber of vietnam vintage. Then you have the F117 stealth "fighter" which is really a bomber, but exceptions prove the rule.

definitely check on the Sabre of Korea vintage, as well as the Skyhawk of Vietnam. The A4 Skyhawk was the last stick and rudder fighter, as far as I can tell, that was flown in the traditional manner. The F4 was the first of the more sophisticated planes of the type we have now, but it was a step removed for the pilot from the "old days."

The F104 was a significant plane in the development of modern aircraft design as well. My favorite fighter that never was is the YF71, the fighter version of the SR71 blackbird reconnaisance plane. It didn't have guns on it because it was faster than the bullets it would be firing and would catch up to them before they could hit the bad guys. Not a good plan. They developed the Phoenix missle for that test platform, which certainly would have been the ultimate high altitude interceptor. Russia dropped the high altitude bombers it would have gone after to there was no reason to develop it further. The Phoenix lived on, and as I understand it, they built the Navy F14 around the missle, rather than the traditional other way around.

[Pukin Dog]

You are somewhat correct regarding the F-4; for the AirForce anyway. The Air Force's mission for the F-4 was that of primary interceptor, which became the primary role for the F-15.

The F-4 was originally designed for the Navy and was forced upon the Air Force by former Secretary Robert McNamara after the failure of the F-111 to perform in the fighter/interceptor role. The Navy moved to the F-14 for both Fleet Defense and interceptor roles.

[FreeperinRATcage]

Well, you need to start at the beginning with the Bell P59A Airacomet, which was the first US jet fighter. It never went into production, since its performance wasn't all that much better than the P-51D, and may have even been outclassed by the prop driven Bearcat.

The P80, later the F80, Shooting Star was the first US jet fighter to go into production. It served into Korea, but was outclassd by the Mig 15. The F86 Sabre was rushed into service to counter the Mig 15.

[Pukin Dog]

Most important jets?

This would be my list in this order.

B-58 Hustler, for the amount of research gained for follow on aircraft.
B-70 Valkyrie for the same reason.
A-12/SR-71 Blackbird for research on engines computerized engine control.
F-14 Tomcat, the best airplane ever designed with the worst engine.
F-16 Falcon, for linking inherit instability with fly-by-wire technology, and G-Onset research.
B-47, for large swept wing research.
P-80 Shooting Star, first military operational jet.(american)

[richwolo]

Everyone is right to a degree. However, mixing the B-52, the F-4 and the F-117 with each other is quite a salad to say the least.

The F-4 was a fantastic airplane. True it was first used by the Navy but I don't think the AF was unhappy to get it in their weapons chest. It replaced the F-105 Weasel. More F-4s were built than any other fighter inteceptor. It was and still is the fastest fighter interceptor ever built. While it's true top speed was never reported (it had always been classified) it is somewhere in the range of 1700 MPH or more then mach 2 1/2. Being a very large fighter interceptor, it was capable of carrying a tremendous assortment of air to air or air to ground weapons. it was truly the air superiority fighter interceptor of all time when compared to what it was up against. The Luftwaffe, Greek and Italian Air forces still fly the F-4. It is still the stellar airplane of the Luftwafee, having been modified and improved tremendously from thoose originally flown by the USAF, USMC and USN.

the USAF still flies F-4 as unpiloted drones piloted from the ground. They are used to penetrate air defense aircraft (F-15s) in training misisons, flying out of Eglin AFB in Florida. I have talked to pilots at Eglin who still have the greatest respect for the F-4 and it's capabilities. It still assumes it's air superiority mission competing against F-15s. In summary, the F-4 was for it's time the greatest fighter intercepptor airplane ever built. A great airplane for your son to write about. Go to the AF website for dozens of great photos of this fantastic airplane.

[grapeape]

As a history major I would like to put forth a fact that is often overlooked by ALL historians. This concept was first taught to me by Baily Stone of the University of Houston History department. One must always look at external factors when evaluating history. Changes in one part of the world were heavily influenced by factors in other parts. My slogan for this concept is “For every reaction there had to have been an action.”

There is also another concept that I always adhere to that is somewhat controversial to academics and that is always look at the who the enemy feared the most and that item is what was most important.

Keeping this in mind we will have to look at the production and why they were produced as well as their impact to the world. During the period of operational US jet technology 1948? – present, the main threat was the USSR. The US governments’ attitude for dealing with the cold war was one of diplomacy first. This left the US wanting in the areas of technical innovation all of the way up through the beginning of the collapse of the USSR. The only area where we concentrated our talents in mass we the areas of photo reconnaissance. In this area we absolutely destroyed the Soviets. We developed two planes that fit the criteria I have stated above. They are the U2 and SR71 spy planes. They were invented in record time by the greatest engineers of all time. They were invented because of the USSR’s commitment to aggressive military expansion. They caused extreme panic and fear in the east. They are the best known of all of the US planes that have ever entered service.

Hope this helps

[Junior]

A = Attack (Ground attack)
F = Fighter
B = Bomber
E = Electronic Warfare

[yarddog]

There ought to be a mention somewhere of the F-100, the first supersonic fighter. Also a fairly heavily used one.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

As a flight test engineer I knew some test pilots, and one in particular liked to talk. Don described the F-111 as "a fine airplane--as long as you didn't get in it thinking it was a fighter!" It was the first successful swing-wing aircraft--but notwithstanding its "F" designation it couldn't get out of its own way in ACM (air combat maneuvering). It was far too heavy for that. The weight went into a huge fuel capacity and a large (internal) weapon-carrying capacity. The F-111B was a failure as a carrier-based aircraft, no matter what weight-reduction measures were taken to make carrier operations practicable.

Lessons learned from the F-111B program produced the Grumman F-14 design in 1970. Long-since out of production (thanks to Dick Cheney as SecDef), the F-14 is still used because of its outstanding range and armament payload coupled with excellent maneuverability and a weight and landing speed within the capabilities of aircraft carrier catapult and arrestment facilities.

Armament includes a 20mm internal Gatling gun, and 'most any guided missile you want, including the long-range Phoenix missile. And, lately, bombs--a capacity which was designed in but for decades was not tested because the F-14 pilot community was averse to the mission. It also features a very effective air-air radar system, upgraded from the original AWG-9 which was itself top-notch for its time.

The most significant limitation of the F-14 was the fact that the development project for its intended engine was a failure. So the TF-30 Pratt&Whitney engine, intended to be installed only in the first 17 F-14 airframes, was instead employed in hundreds of them. It was about 15 years before the General Electric F110 bomber engine was modified for use in fighters and made standard for the F-14. This provided not only significantly higher thrust but reduced weight and--of comparable importance--high resistance to compressor stall over a very wide range of flight conditions. And markedly faster throttle response as well.

Because of its swing-wing design the F-14 is highly maneuverable in subsonic flight (and air combat maneuvering tends to slow down combatants to subsonic speeds) but capable of high speed at high or low altitude. No other fighter aircraft carries a wider variety of air-air ordinance, nor more weapons payload or as much internal fuel. And it operates from a carrier.

The F-18 replacement for it was initally designed as a "low-cost fighter", the F-17. The Navy refused to buy the winner of the the low-cost fighter competition, the F-16, on grounds that a single-engine design was unsuitable for Naval use. It then loaded the design with added armament capablity and designated it the F-18. But low weight naturally translated into short range, and added armament compromised maneuverability and range. With the F-14 program cancelled and its production facilities dismantled, the Navy needed a completely new aircraft.

Unable/unwilling to get approval for a new plane above-board, Navy had the F-18E/F "version" developed. Although this aircraft has the same outward appearance and the same numerical designation as earlier F-18s, neither its wings, nor its engines, nor its fuselage are common with the earlier F-18 design. After three full-scale aircraft developments, the new F-18 is a pretty good plane. But not so good that the Navy would wish for the chance to trade one of its remaining servicable F-14s for one . . .

[AFCdt]

I'll assume you meant fighter jets. Here's my quick run-down.

F-80 Shooting Star (and T-33 two-place trainer)
F-86 Sabre
F-100 Super Sabre
F-105 Thunderchief
F-4 Phantom II
F-14 Tomcat
F-15 Eagle (F-15E Strike Eagle)
F-16 Fighting Falcon
F/A-18 Hornet

Of course, I'd also add the T-37 and T-38, two aircraft which have taught generations of Air Force and allied pilots. In fact, the T-37 is only now being replaced by the T-6A Texan II.