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 to a fighter due to triskaidekaphobia, though the designation had previously been used for a reconnaissance version of the B-29. After the F/A-18 Hornet, the next announced aircraft was the YF-20 Tigershark. The USAF proposed the F-19 designation for the fighter, but Northrop requested the "F-20" instead. The USAF finally approved the F-20 designation in 1982.[1] The truth behind this jump in numbers is that Northrop pressed the designation "YF-20" as they wanted an even number, in order to stand out from the Soviet odd-numbered designations. Despite this, the designations YF-17 and YF-23 were not skipped (although YF-20, YF-17 and YF-23 all were prototypes and did not enter production phase).[2]
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.[3] 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,[4] but the model's smooth contours bore little resemblance to the F-117 and its angular panels.[3] The F-117 designation was publicly revealed with the actual aircraft in November 1988.[5]
Notable appearances in media
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".[2][6][7] The kit is claimed to be the best-selling plastic model kit of all time.[8]
Like the Testor Corporation, Monogram models also released the "F-19A Specter" which was based on the design by Loral Inc.[9]
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.[2]
The Toyline Ring Raiders, produced by 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 Tyco Fast Traxx remote control car from 1991 has a resemblance to the F-19 fighter jet.[citation needed]
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 retrofuturistic cockpit is also seen used as part of an airframe crash test demonstration at the show.[12]
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. The G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy the "Phantom X-19" was loosely based on the Testor model.[13]
The 1990 videogame Air Diver featured an "F-119D Stealth Fighter" that strongly resembled the Monogram F-19 model.[14]
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.
