Had to close my coffee shop today for annual judicial training in Seattle. Since the weather was so bad after lunch, I ducked into a bookstore to browse around a bit. There was a book on all the different kinds of fighter planes ever made and flown. Of course, I leafed through the pages looking at pictures and of course, stopped to read about the Hornet.
It says the Hornet is so versatile that "with a flip of a switch" it can go from a fighter (presumably the "F") to an attack jet (presumably the "A"). What on earth kind of switch can do something like that??? There must be a difference in fighter and attack that I know nothing about.
What do I know about the plane; I just know a certain fella who used to fly it. Say, maybe I should ask him!
Once upon a time, aircraft were usually mission-specific. Think WWII, and Bombers were B-something, Fighters were "P" for Pursuit, and Photo-Reconnaisance were "F" for "Photo." (Yeah, go figure that one out).
Late in WWII, and through the second-generation jet fighter development (the late '50s), fighter aircraft that had been designed for a primary air-to-air mission were being pressed into air-to-ground roles. In WWII it was because they had run out of enemy combatant airplanes to do battle with. In Vietnam, it was because there wasn't anything better to use.
Up through about 1972, Congress went along with an "F" designation as long as the airplane could fly upside-down and release bombs. The F-105, F-111, and F-117 really should never have been called "F." Some versions of the -111 were actually called F/B-111, for "Fighter/Bomber."
Ironically, the Navy called small maneuverable airplanes that could drop bombs "A," and it was appropriate.
About the time the A-10 came into being, Congress got persnickety about the desgnation. Aircraft were getting so expensive, it was often a political advantage to give it more than one capability (as well as the general capability in it). I've seen the F-18 and F-22 go from F-18 and F-22 to F/A-18 (try saying that 3 times fast), and the F-22 magically become the F/A-22, and back again, when the Air Force (or Navy) tried to sell it to Congress because it had "..an inherent air-to-ground capability...but really, it's still an air superiority fighter."
(Almost forgot..think it was 1992: the Air Force, wanting to get rid of the A-10, re-designated some F-16s as "A-16s," to show that they could do Close Air Support. The difference? They painted them green-camoflauge.)
We'll have to ask USMC, but I don't think anybody calls it an "Ef-Fay-A-Teen." They either call it an F-18, or a Hornet. No one calls the F-22 an Ef-Fay..they call it an F-22 or a Raptor.
NO ONE calls the F-16 a "Fighting Falcon"....except the official Air Force namers! Funny story: the Generals wanted to name it "Falcon," after their perenially-losing Academy Football team.
And for a short time, it was "Falcon." But the French company Dassault found out, and threatened to sue..as they have a family of business jets called the Falcon.
Not wanting to admit defeat, the Generals re-named it "Fighting Falcon." (The pilots all call it the Viper...and roll their eyes in disgust when someone calls it a Fighting Falcon).
A friend of mine flies Dassault Falcon 20s for the Coast Guard...I tell him he flies the "Peaceful Falcon."
What I've always wondered is why it even needs a switch for that.
You want to be an attack jet? Point it towards the ground and drop the bomb.
You want to be a fighter jet? Point it towards another plane and release a missile!
I must be missing something.
No, you're right-on. At least in the Phantom, turn a rotary knob to select the air-ground store you want to employ, select the air-ground mode on the sight (again, a rotary knob; how primitive...and easy). Point at the ground (if necessary; some deliviery modes are pointed upward to "loft" the weapon), and hit the pickle-button.
Want to go air-air? Generally only had to select the air-air weapon you wanted, aim at the target, and pull the trigger.
No avionics/software changes, although in newer jets, (example, F-16) the weapons load is reflected in the flight computer to limit the g-load of the aircraft (ie, the carriage-limit of a particular weapon may be lower than the airframe limit).
Mostly, 'A' vs 'F' is about semantics. Select the appropriate weapon and aiming mode, and destroy something on the ground (Attack) or in the air (Fighter).
The "F" and "A" In "F/A-18"
Say, maybe I should ask him!
Linear Mode
