Question: Why did the U.S. military start using letters to name the airplanes it uses? For example B-17, P-51, F-86? Answer: ...
Not What You Think Official on MSNOpinion

Why America’s aircraft naming system breaks its own rules

Every U.S. military aircraft is supposed to follow the same Mission Design Series system, where letters and numbers explain ...
Names like F-22, B-1, C-130, and SR-71 look like random military code, but they actually follow a system built to reveal what an aircraft is supposed to do. The letters point to a primary mission like ...