Editing F-19

{{Short description|Hypothetical fighter aircraft}}
'''F-19''' is a skipped [[DoD]] designation in the [[1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system|Tri-Service fighter aircraft designation sequence]] which was thought by many popular media outlets to have been allocated to the Lockheed [[F-117 Nighthawk]], but was actually skipped in favor of F-20 for the Northrop [[F-5G Tigershark]] at Northrop's request to avoid confusion with the [[MiG-19]].

==History==
Since the [[1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system|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 to a fighter due to [[triskaidekaphobia]], though the designation had previously been used for a reconnaissance version of the [[B-29 Superfortress variants#RB-29J (RB-29, FB-29J, F-13, F-13A)|B-29]]. After the [[McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet|F/A-18 Hornet]], the next announced aircraft was the [[Northrop F-20 Tigershark|F-20 Tigershark]]. The USAF proposed the F-19 designation for the fighter, but Northrop requested "F-20" instead. The USAF finally approved the F-20 designation in 1982.<ref name=saga>Frey, Lieutenant Colonel William. [http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/cadre/aspj/airchronicles/aureview/1986/may-jun/frey.html "The F-20, Saga of an FX"].{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} ''Air University Review'', May–June 1986.</ref> The truth behind this jump in numbers is that Northrop pressed the designation "F-20" as they wanted an even number, to stand out from the Soviet odd-numbered designations.<ref name=":Sheffield" />

The United States received the first [[Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk]] stealth attack aircraft in 1982. During the decade many news articles discussed what they called the "F-19". The [[Testor Corporation]] produced an F-19 [[scale model]].<ref name="afmag-richelson">{{cite magazine|author=Jeffrey T. Richelson |url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2001/July%202001/0701crash.aspx |title=When Secrets Crash|magazine=Air Force Magazine|date=July 2001|access-date=1 November 2019}}</ref> The company had decades of experience in producing highly detailed models that pilots and aerospace engineers purchased, and used its sources in the United States military and defense contractors. The ''[[CBS Evening News]]'' with Dan Rather and other media discussed the model after its January 1986 introduction. When the real stealth aircraft crashed in California in July 1986, news stories used the model to depict it. Representative [[Ron Wyden]] asked the chairman of [[Lockheed Corporation]] why an aircraft that Congressmen could not see was sold as model aircraft. The publicity helped to make the model the best-selling model aircraft of all time,<ref name="ciotti19861019">{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-19-tm-5852-story.html |title=Tempest in a Toy Box : The Stealth Fighter Is So Secret the Pentagon Won't Admit It Exists. John Andrews Shocked Everyone by Building a Model of It. To Tell the Truth, He Says, It Wasn't All That Much Trouble. |last=Ciotti |first=Paul |date=1986-10-19 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=2020-01-21 |language=en-US}}</ref> but the model's smooth contours bore little resemblance to the F-117 and its angular panels.{{r|afmag-richelson}} The F-117 designation was publicly revealed with the actual aircraft in November 1988.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jr |first=John H. Cushman |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=1988-11-11 |title=Air Force Lifts Curtain, a Bit, on Secret Plane |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/11/us/air-force-lifts-curtain-a-bit-on-secret-plane.html |access-date=2023-09-16 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Notable appearances in media==
[[File:F-19 ERTL diecast toy.jpg|thumb|right|Die cast toy of F-19 produced by ERTL in the 1990s]]

* In 1986, the [[Testor Corporation]] released a [[model aircraft]] kit, calling it the "F-19 Stealth Fighter".<ref name=":Sheffield">{{cite book |author = Richard G. Sheffield|title = Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk|publisher = Aerospace|year = 1995|pages = 72|isbn = 978-1880588192|url = https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lockheed-F-117-Nighthawk-Robert-Dorr/dp/1880588196}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/TESTORS%20F-19%20STEALTH%20PAGE.htm|title= Lockheed F-19 Stealth Fighter (1986)|access-date=2007-04-11 }}</ref><ref name=short>{{cite web |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/issues/2008/december-january/f19.php |title=A Short (Very Short) History of the F-19 |access-date=2008-02-11 |last=Trenner |first=Patricia |year=2008 |work=Air & Space magazine |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717053318/http://www.airspacemag.com/issues/2008/december-january/f19.php |archive-date=2012-07-17 }}</ref> The kit is claimed to be the best-selling plastic model kit of all time.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/a-short-very-short-history-of-the-f-19-23036383/?no-ist|title= A Very Short History of the F-19|access-date=2014-06-20 }}</ref>
* Like the Testor Corporation, [[Monogram models]] also released the "F-19A Specter" which was based on the design by [[Loral Inc]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/MONOGRAM%20F-19%20STEALTH%20PAGE.htm |title= F-19A Specter (1987)|access-date=2007-04-11 |publisher=Fantastic Plastic Models}}</ref>
* In his 1986 novel ''[[Red Storm Rising]]'', [[Tom Clancy]] featured the "F-19A Ghostrider" (nicknamed "Frisbee" by the pilots and crew) as a secret weapon used to combat a Soviet invasion of Germany.<ref name=":Sheffield" />
* An F-19 was the alternate mode of the [[Decepticon]] character Whisper in Marvel Comics' ''Transformers'' comic book series during the [[Transformers: Generation 1]] era.<ref>"Transformers" #56 (September 1989)</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=Transformers: The Ark II |page=192 |author= Jim Sorenson & Bill Forster |ISBN=978-1-60010-180-9 |publisher=IDW Publishing |date=July 22, 2008}}</ref>
* The Toyline [[Ring Raiders]], produced by [[Matchbox (brand)|Matchbox]], made extensive use of the F19 and F19A on multiple occasions. The main hero Victor Vector flew a personal F19 named ''Victory 1''! The antagonistic pilot Cutthroat used a F19A with the designation ''Bayonet''. In the so-called "Wing Packs", in which every main pilot got his own squadron, F19 and F19A fighters were part of many sets.
* The Testors F-19 appears briefly in the animated opening for the TV show ''[[Beyond 2000]]''.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}
* The Tyco ''Fast Traxx'' remote control car from 1991 has a resemblance to the F-19 fighter jet.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
* An F-19 appears in [[Dan Dare]] as a ''Mark Two Stealth low profile penetrator'', flown at Space Fleet's annual aerospace show by Colonel Dan Dare and nicknamed a "mud mover" by Digby. A modified "F-19" design with a [[Retrofuturism|retrofuturistic]] cockpit is also seen used as part of an airframe crash test demonstration at the show.<ref>Dan Dare and the Return of the Mekon, The Dare Report pages 16/17. Author [[Pat Mills]], Artist [[Ian Kennedy (comics)|Ian Kennedy]].</ref>
* [[MicroProse]] released the 1987 video game ''[[Project Stealth Fighter]]'' and the successor 1988/1990 game ''[[F-19 Stealth Fighter]]'', both featuring an imagining of the F-19's capabilities, with artwork based on the [[Testor Corporation]] model kit.
* In 1988, an F-19 was released in the ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' toy line, called the "X-19 Phantom".  Included was a pilot codenamed [[Ghostrider (G.I. Joe)|Ghostrider]].  The ''[[G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero]]'' toy the "Phantom X-19" was loosely based on the Testor model.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/88/phantom/|title= GI Joe ARAH PHANTOM X-19 STEALTH FIGHTER }}</ref>
* The 1990 videogame ''[[Air Diver]]'' featured an "F-119D Stealth Fighter" that strongly resembled the Monogram F-19 model.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/genesis/air-diver/cover-art/gameCoverId,192987 |title=Air Diver rear box art}}</ref>
*The 1989 video game ''[[David Wolf: Secret Agent]]'' involves the disappearance of the SF-2a "Shadowcat" stealth fighter, whose appearance was loosely based on the Testor model. The same happens in the 1990 game ''[[Operation Stealth]]''.
*The videogame ''[[RoboCop: Rogue City]]'' shows the F-19A Specter at an [[Omni Consumer Products (RoboCop)|OCP]] expo center.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IGCD.net: Loral F-19 in RoboCop: Rogue City |url=https://www.igcd.net/vehicle.php?id=330176&l=en |access-date=2024-08-07 |website= igcd.net}}</ref>
*The [[Alabama Air National Guard]]’s 117th Intelligence Squadron uses the F-19A Specter on their squadron logo.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trevithick |first=Joseph |date=2017-10-23 |title=This USAF Intelligence Squadron's Insignia Appears to Show the "F-19 Specter" |url=https://www.twz.com/15337/this-usaf-intelligence-squadrons-insignia-appears-to-show-the-f-19-specter |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=The War Zone |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=117th Intelligence Squadron |url=https://www.117arw.ang.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2001677680/ |access-date=2024-08-07 |website= 117arw.ang.af.mil}}</ref>

==See also==
{{aircontent
|related=
|lists=
* [[1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system]]
* [[List of fighter aircraft]]
* [[List of military aircraft of the United States]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{Cite web |last=Rossen |first=Jake |date=2021-09-12 |title=The '80s Toy That Was Considered a Threat to National Security |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/toy-considered-threat-to-national-security |access-date=2024-08-14 |website=Mental Floss |language=en-US}}

==External links==
* [http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/nonstandard-mds.html#_MDS_F117 Non-Standard DOD Aircraft Designations: Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk]
* [http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/missing-mds.html "Missing" USAF/DOD Aircraft Designations]

{{US fighters}}

[[Category:Fictional fighter aircraft]]
[[Category:Stealth aircraft]]