F-19

It is always interesting to hear how things really unfolded years after the fact, when the true stories can be revealed. F-19 was the designation the model companies thought the stealth would be because they skipped it between the F-18 and F-20 programs. The F-117 (if I recal properly, and I may bewrong) was in a designation class usually used for captured Russian aircraft in the US inventory. That way if the designation leaked, it wouldn't arouse much suspicion as a secret program.

I have also heard that the codename Aurora was actually used for the B-2 program before it became public. So really all of that mysterious work the Air Force was doing on that super secret "hypersonic reconessance aircraft" was probably just preliminary B-2 work. On the topic of secret spy planes though... anyone who keeps up with Aviation Week magazine had probably heard about the new stealth recon UAV that was used over Iraq. No official anouncements yet, but the AF did acknowledge that it exist. Rumor has it that it is a derivative of the Dark Star UAV built by the Skunk Works.

I heard rumours that the Kit is based on secret papers that were found next to the autobahn in germany close to a US base, after this the US goverment announced that it was a test design and told their engineers to change the actual designs.


Apparently the firefox in the movies was also based on leaked information from the russians.

Microprose made a PC-comapitble game way back in the late 80's called "F-19". Darned good game for it's time, what with only 4 colors to choose from and 640x480 max resolution! I remember many missions over central europe, limping back to base on fumes after getting shot up. Doesn't quite compare to modern flight sims, though!

Thanks for the info. My research pointed to the same conclusion, that the F-117 was the stealth fighter that the F-19 was meant to be. Interestingly enough, I had a micro-machine when I was young which looked just like this model. Needed to be accurate though, I guess the model will go on my Sci-Fi shelf.

Hey Nick Fisher;
Then Monogram's kit is modeled after an Air Force Picture and the Testors/Italeri kit is their own design, the planes where designed by hearsay from information leaked out before the AF wanted to acknowledge it's exsistance, then congress caught word and made the AF release the acknowledgement of the attack plane to the general public but it's designation #'s where completely different (F-117)

Nope, never built. Both the Monogram and Testors F-19s were designed by the model companies, and had little or nothing to do with any real-world aircraft designs.