Originally Posted by Roland Pulfrew
Quote:
Never liked the raf way of designating stuff, the Americans have always done it so much better.
Really? They have their way and we have ours. They have an EC-135, a KC-135, an RC-135 and a WC-135. On top of that there is a KC-135A, KC-135B, KC-135D, KC-135E etc etc. I've never had a problem with "our" way; its not exactly confusing - Sentinel, Shadow and Nimrod all being different aircraft. Thank God the embassy bloke wasn't around when we had Valiant B2, Victor B2, Canberra B2 and Vulcan B2 all around together!
All of those C-135s are the same base airframe (the prefix indicates modified mission - a very clear description) - while all of your R1s, GR1s, and B1/B2s are all very different airframes with the same designation.