【U. S. air power fighter designations】
——Vol. 4 The differences between Navy and Army
Now for the Navy's designation scheme for its fighters. From the start, the US Navy had an entirely different designation scheme for its combat aircraft. Like the Army, the Navy originally had no consistent scheme for designating their aircraft, and they simply used the original manufacturers designation. However, in 1923, the Navy decided to adopt a consistent scheme for designating its aircraft, but the scheme they chose was quite different from that chosen by the Army Air Services in 1920. The Navy scheme is as follows:
(prefix)(function)(succession num)(mfg code) - (variant number)(suffix)
The function was designated by a letter or letters (F for fighter, TB for torpedo bomber, etc). The prefix designated special features or role (such as X for experimental) and was not always used. The mfg code was a single letter which specified the manufacturer of the aircraft (C for Curtiss, B for Boeing, U for Vought, F for Grumman, etc). The succession number indicated the chronological order in which the particular aircraft of the given type had been ordered from the manufacturer designated by the manufacturer code. The suffix was used to indicate a special modification of the basic aircraft to fulfill a role for which the original design had not been intended.
For example, the F4U-5N Corsair was the fourth basic fighter type to be ordered by the Navy from the Chance Vought Aircraft Corporation. The "5" designates the fifth modification of the basic Corsair aircraft to enter service. The N suffix designates a special modification for night-fighting applications.
(to be continued..)
（網圖侵删）[兔子]
