Wing Commander 2 Enigma

The F-57A indeed only has a pilot and turret gunner. However, the Sabre which appears in the book is an F-57B, specially modified so that it can fulfill the role of the Broadsword bomber without taking the space of a Broadsword bomber. The weapons officer has been added so that the pilot doesn't have to worry about targetting the torps.
 
Not only the new Sabre from ER saved space, the Broadswords were way to big t be carried on the Tarawa class (that is, if you were planning to carry any other fighters than just a few Broadswords..
 
The two-seater variant is the F-57D, not the F-57B.

The Tarawa, being the 8th ship of her class, is certainly *not* Tarawa class.

[This message has been edited by Bandit LOAF (edited September 30, 2000).]
 
Yeah, End Run also says the Rapier is the F-54. So, what does that tell ya?
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If I'm locked on, there's no such thing as evasive action!
 
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Well, he got the F-57 part right, so I think it's safe to assume that (for once) he didn't screw up, and it's supposed to be F-57B.

And the F-54D should have been F-44H, of course
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I have absolutely no idea what's wrong with my grammer, but I'm technically correct... the F-57B *isn't* the two person Sabre.

As for the Rapier's, I don't think there's any reason to believe that they're some special new H variant... they're probably just the C model of the Rapier (plus, isn't 'H' a special designator for actual aircraft?)
 
I'm pretty sure the only special designators are N, M, and U. There's bis and UTI if you're talking about Soviet planes.

H might mean a version with advanced radar though, I don't really remember.
 
In US terms H signifies a helicopter, eg. RAH 66 Comanche, AH 64 Apache Longbow, AH 1W Super Cobra, etc.
If you're talking about a variant H would simply mean an aircraft modified and/or improved from the last variant.
I'm pretty sure the Russians don't use H in their designation system.
 
I have absolutely no idea what's wrong with my grammer, but I'm technically correct... the F-57B *isn't* the two person Sabre.
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Ah. My apologies, in that case you are indeed right
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As for the Rapier's, I don't think there's any reason to believe that they're some special new H variant... they're probably just the C model of the Rapier (plus, isn't 'H' a special designator for actual aircraft?)
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Well, no. It depends on the placing in the designation. If it's after the number (in this case, 44), it simply means the next "major modification" of the design. Thus, H means the next variant after G. In this sequence, only two letters are skipped - I and O, presumably because they could be confused for numbers.

Now, the reason why I suggested that he meant the F-44H goes like this. He calls the Rapier an F-54D. The trouble with this, is that F-54 is the Epee, not the Rapier. The last variant of the Epee we saw was the F-54C. Thus, if he called the Rapier F-54D, he meant that it's the next variant after the one in the game (F-44G). So, if we use the proper F-44G instead of F-54C, and move on to the next variant, it would be F-44H.

And yes, if the H was placed before or immediately after the F (eg. HF-44 or FH-44), then it would be a special designation. FH-44 would be a helicopter, whereas HF-44 would be a fighter specially modified for rescue work. Of course, that's according to the current (1962) American system.
 
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Heh, heh, I think we're pushing the reality envelope a bit here.
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