A Short (Very Short) History of the F-19
What airplane came in a little box and never flew?
- By Patricia Trenner
- Air & Space magazine, January 2008
In 1986, as speculation about Lockheed’s Northrop built what it called the YF-17 technology demonstrator to compete with General Dynamics’ YF-16 in the lightweight fighter program. When the F-16 won, the U.S. Navy hired Northrop to base the Navy’s next fighter on the -17, with the result designated F-18.)
Testors assumed that in order to deflect radar waves, the F-19 would be sleek and streamlined and would somewhat resemble Lockheed’s other-worldly SR-71. Testors stuck a pair of standard-issue vertical stabilizers on its 1/48-scale model and packaged it up. Some 700,000 sold almost immediately, making it the best-selling model ever, surpassing even AMT’s Star Trek USS Enterprise.
Would that art imitated life. When the Air Force unveiled the F-117 Nighthawk in 1990, it was not a pretty sight. Lockheed’s stealth fighter was as angular as the house of seven gables.
Aviation sleuths conclude that the F-117 designation came from the numbers—YF-110, YF-113, YF-114—the Air Force gave to captured Soviet aircraft it test-flew in the high-desert base in Nevada nicknamed Groom Lake, which was also the site of the F-117 test flights.
And the Testors F-19 model kit? Last seen on eBay for $8.
Comments (29)
the other reason that the f-19 became popular was also when the F-117(at the time it was considered "Top Secret") made Headline of a crash in the National Forest at a night excersice.
A civilian nearby claimed to have photographed something. The film was taken by the government and the area sealed until the area was cleared of debries. News media used the model as a possible make of the Government cover-up as real or fake.
The maker of the F-19 model was questioned by the Federal Government on how he came up with the design. His reply was he took the Sr-71 drone and made some modification to the design and came up with the F-19.
The F-19 came pretty close to the "Project Have-Blue" which is the early design of the F-117.
Posted by Keera on March 21,2008 | 01:14 AM
The article prompts me to ask: why is it that in all the years that I've read A&SM -- and my collection starts with issue #1 -- the magazine has never seen fit to do a serious article on scale plastic aircraft modeling? It's a multi-million dollar industry, the US branch of the International Plastic Modeler Society has thousands of members and chapters in every state, and the national convention typically sees 1,500+ museum-quality pieces on display. The next national IPMS-USA national convention is in Virginia Beach, VA in early August. Why not send a reporter/photog to get a visually interesting story about some of aviation's most fervent enthusiasts?
Posted by Warty on March 24,2008 | 12:47 PM
Remember - it wasn't just Testor's who got it wrong - Tom Clancy included a very similar "stealth fighter" concept in the chapter entitled "The Frisbees of Dreamland" in his novel "Red Storm Rising".
Apparently he had some sort of sources he more-or-less trusted feeding him the same kind of bad info Testor's got.
Posted by mike weber on April 24,2008 | 12:23 AM
There is another model maker who got it wrong. In 1952, Aurora Model Company made a model, which they called, a
MIG-19. Looked nothing like a MIG-19. Looked like a cross between a German WW2 TA-183 (which was not built) with a nose of a North American F-86D. They may be collector item now.
Posted by Clem Miller on May 1,2008 | 09:54 AM
the same faux paux happened with the stealth bomber... some model company (monogram?) designed this flying triangle that looked sort of like the b-2 and and marketed it as the "top secret stealth bomber" - this was around mid-1988 - anyone remember that?
Posted by sbarbu on May 7,2008 | 06:18 AM
I just happened to purchase and build this model in 1987 when I was 12 years old.To this day the model is in secracy!It flew away sometime in 1988 and I haven't seen it since!I am into R/C Flying these day's(21 years now)and would love to build and fly a scale mock-up of a turbine powered SR-71,for now I will keep looking up in search of my long lost F-19!
Posted by Jason Nicodemus on May 8,2008 | 09:19 AM
In the late 80s/early 90s there was a computer game called F-19 Stealth Fighter, by Microprose, the kings of flight games of that moment. The aircraft featured in the game was exactly the look of Testors's. And the game was very funny!
I remember some other models of secret aircraft, such as Lockheed Aurora and a russian plane called MiG-37.
Posted by Martín on May 9,2008 | 03:32 PM
Don't forget that Electornic Arts (IIRC) also made a flight simulator PC computer game (that ran on MS DOS) called the F-19 (which was actually developed from the same style F-15 game). The Electronic graphics depicted essentially the same plane as the testors model pictured in this webpage/article.
Posted by Rockhammer on May 23,2008 | 03:24 PM
the model is origianly an italeri model . they made it around at the same time as their "mig 37B ferret E" which they said was a russian equivalent of the F-19 . i still love the design of the ferret E . revell also came up with an interesting design for a F-19 ( http://tinypic.com/fc4j8x.jpg ) which i still prefer to the italeri/testor version .
Posted by david on May 31,2008 | 01:30 AM
The MiG-37 Ferret atcually looked a little like a proposed Naval version of the F-117.
www.afwing.com/intro/f117/f117p92.jpg
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal8/7001-7100/gal7071-MiG-37-Chong/00.shtm
The Revell F-19 looks a lot like a picture that appeared in a National Geographic article on aviation from a late '70s issue.
Posted by Mike on June 4,2008 | 04:16 PM
love to see all the video completelly!
Posted by dorival on June 7,2008 | 04:37 PM
Is this kit available anywhere now?
Posted by Gregory Hill, Sr. on June 14,2008 | 11:57 AM
I remember this model fondly. I made this kit when it came out, and there was also a Commodore 64 game based on this design called F-19 Stealth Fighter by Microprose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-19_Stealth_Fighter)
Posted by Johnny on June 15,2008 | 11:23 AM
I OFTEN WONDER HOW CLOSE THIS MODEL CAME TO THE REAL AIRCRAFT
Posted by CF MANING on June 17,2008 | 09:00 PM
I still have the Ertl Force One diecast version of the F-19.
Posted by Gene Mayeda on June 18,2008 | 09:04 AM
Folks,
Missed by many, but during a Congressional arms service hearing a Congressman held up a model of the Testor F-19 asking why if a model company knew what it looked like and the Russian knew what it looked like why didn't the American people. The Pentagon official just stated that the model looked like nothing he had ever seen. Everyone on that committee thought he meant "It looked not `exactly' like anything he had seen. I have the complete transcript somewhere in my pile of back AFJI issues. Almost all the major newspapers missed that Congressional hearing.
Finally, when I was in Washington DC at AUSA's annual convention I knew an editor for a Peterson publication called International Weapons and Arms and he stated he had information on what the F-19 looked like. He showed me a drawing of what looked like a turtle shell with wings. I just stated "Nick, the dang thing can never fly. You been had. Also, if it was someone was hours away from being arrested!" Little did I know that their were to many flat areas in the drawing like a diamond. But I was looking at what someone had seen from a great distances.
Jack E. Hammond
.
Posted by Jack E. Hammond on June 22,2008 | 11:29 PM
The TRUTH is that this IS a very real aircraft. The "F-117" is just a decoy, a bit of misdirection to hide the multitude of very real clandestine aircraft that the government has been flying covertly for many years.
Posted by obflisticate on June 27,2008 | 05:44 PM
yep the famous kit from Testors ( Actually Italeri...)
Funny as I saw this kit in its original Italeri boxing at the same time as I saw it in the Testors one. http://homepage.mac.com/h_saito/Hobby/Hobby8_PLANES/Stealth/F_19/F-19.html
The Monogram F-19 did look like one of the older Stealth designs from the 70's I think I have the Pop Sci mag that had it in it many years ago, Always liked that design better than the Italeri one...
Arii in Japan had one that was similar with diferent intakes from the Testors/Italeri offering, as well as canards mounted on the strake... http://www.geocities.jp/sonyradio117/f19.jpg
Posted by William G on September 19,2008 | 07:39 AM
I am the son of Ray W. Brown. Among other things, dad was awarded an FIA certificate for making the first flight guided only by a Lear Radio Compass. The flight took place in 1935 he was the manager of the aviation division of General Tire who sponsored the flight. I have communicated wi the lady in charge of gathering and taking care of some of the historical materials and I have promised to prepare some material on my dad and send it to her. She has some information on this flight already. Dad flew a Lockheed Vega powered by a 450 P&W engine. As a kid I was taken for a ride by Major Al Williams during an air show at the Akron airport. I flew in his Golf Bi-Plane which at the time was painted a bright yellow. He stayed at our home for a few days. I must have been about five years old - Donald Brown
Posted by Donald J. Brown on September 23,2008 | 04:28 PM
Reading about the original secret "Stealth" aircraft, brings back old memories to me as I was the designer that drew up the first configuration for that aircraft. I was a Preliminary Design Engineer with Boeing/Wichita in the early 60's, when Powers was shot down in the USSR. We (Boeing) immediately got the job of designing a radar invisible unmanned aircraft to do the job that Powers had been doing. I spent many months coming up with configurations of drones that could do the job, when all of a sudden we were told "Forget that requirement" as the satilites can take good enough pictures that we do not need an aircraft anymore. The Army then ask Boeing if we could put a man in our best consiguration and make a fighter out of it? So I drew up an invisable radar fighter, but Boeing was not interested in building little aircraft as they were in production at the time with the B-52 and large Commercial jets. Never the less, our little "stealth fighter" was so invisable that you could detect grasshoppers in Boeing's bigest radar transmitters, but nothing of the invisable "stealth airplane"! The whole design exercise at the time was considered "Top Secret"!
Posted by James R (Bob). Humphreys. P.E. on October 6,2008 | 04:23 PM
I too would like more on model building. I have built models since age 7 and now at 47 I am building my own from scratch and they bring good money. I always love to see others work. The artist in me I suppose.
Posted by James R. Shepherd on October 23,2008 | 01:18 AM
Minor correction:
The author said, "... he F-117 designation came from the numbers—YF-110, YF-113, YF-114—the Air Force gave to captured Soviet aircraft it test-flew in the high-desert base in Nevada nicknamed Groom Lake."
YF-113 and YF-114 were assigned to MiG-17s and Mig-23s under test. YF-110A was the initial designation for what was the modified F-4B that became the prototype for the F-4C Phantom II in Air Force service. YF-110B, YF-110C and YF-110D were various models of the MiG-21.
Posted by Charlie Carey on October 28,2008 | 01:56 PM
I have one of the F-19 ON MY SHELF. NOVEMBER 12,2008
Posted by Mike Orazio on November 12,2008 | 12:16 AM
I'm looking for unbuilt Monogram F-19 kits in either 1/72 or 1/48 scale. Anyone know of a source?
Posted by Chris Hungerland on February 19,2009 | 02:39 PM
The intakes and moving plugs are right for a high mach aircraft. Only the front lifts. The small fins at the front of each intake would be covering the jack-screws, and are not at the angle in the kit, but 90 degrees to the surface of each intake. This makes the surface aligned with the opposite vertical at the rear. The F-117 seems to have pitch stability issues which could make it a rough rider. The phrase "wobbly goblin" was used when talking about one of the black aircraft. The F-19 would have a likely serious blanking effect with the canted in vertical surfaces giving rise to some yaw instability as the nose was raised for landing. The back end would likely wobble side to side with marginal control and yaw problems landing. This would likely get it the wobbly goblin nickname.
Posted by RichNeveln on June 18,2009 | 02:59 PM
We now have actual photos of the craft onboard an aircraft carrier.
http://projectcamelot.net/F-19_1.jpg
http://projectcamelot.net/F-19_2.jpg
No word on its capabilities...
Posted by JCG on September 27,2009 | 04:43 PM
I have a wooden model of the same plastic plane down to the serial number and tell letter I have owned this model for many years I bought it at an estate sale in Mc Kinney ,Texas from a lady who said that her late husband had worked on this plane for 10 years when he died .He worked for E systems now Ryathon
this last year the one comming to a close I was on a southwest air lines flight going from Harligen Texas to love field .I was traveling with a southwest pilot who was now in the air force reserve he was hopping back to love field. He is a pilot in the air force also and I was a crew chief on F4 E in the air force many years ago. He was at one time at Dyess air force base. Long store short he produced a photo of him standing by the real plane its the only photo I have seen and I don't know the time of the photo so is it real or fake who knows more secound hand data on a plane that does not exist, oh the model that I hve was made by Hal-Net out of new jersey.
Posted by tom on December 3,2011 | 10:03 PM
I have the Model Kit here........Never Been Built
Posted by Mike Orazio on April 1,2012 | 04:11 AM