On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:06:25 -0600, "Steven P. McNicoll"
wrote:

Alan Erskine wrote:

The first purpose-built ASW aircraft was the Grumman AF Guardian, it
preceded the S designation for such aircraft. The second purpose-built
ASW aircraft was the Grumman S2F Tracker. It was
designated S2F because it was the second ASW aircraft built for the
Navy by Grumman. With the Tri-Service designation system the S2F
became the S-2. Why not S-1? Probably just to keep things as simple
as possible.

I think the AF was already out of service in the USN by the time the
designation system was changed; that might explain the abscense of the
"S-1".


That sounds like a good reason not to redesignate an aircraft to me, but the
DoD didn't agree. The Convair F2Y Sea Dart was redesignated F-7 under the
Tri-Service designation system, five years after the program was canceled.



See
http://www.designation-systems.net/u...ns.html#_Note5


"5. The F2Y Sea Dart was included in the redesignation process,
because a single YF2Y-1 had not yet been formally stricken from the
Navy's inventory by June 1962 (when the process of selecting the new
designations for all existing aircraft had already been completed)."
------

Robert

Uncommon Aircraft: http://fire.prohosting.com/hud607/uncommon