Air unit ratings come and air unit ratings go in Europa, as longtime players of the series know--each game seems to re-rate some air units. Second Front has ushered in a new set of air ratings, and almost all (all, I hope) are here to stay.

In rare cases, different ratings for an air unit express the typical employment of the aircraft in the campaign being simulated. (The Wellington bomber in particular was rated in Their Finest Hour as a shorter-range, high bomb load air unit, while in Western Desert it appeared as a long-range air unit carrying a smaller bomb load.) Also rarely, different ratings for the same aircraft in service with different nations is sometimes used to show that air crews of one nation are unlikely to fly the aircraft to its full potential. (Usually, air crew quality is handled behind the scenes: an aircraft's rating stays the same, but a nation with lower air crew quality has to have more aircraft per air unit than a high-quality air crew nation. Sometimes, however, this is not sufficient and the air ratings are modified as well/instead.) In most cases, however, a new rating signifies a Europa-wide revision to how the air unit is represented.

In the design of almost every Europa game, the ratings of all the air units involved in the campaign are examined: ratings for previously rated aircraft are reviewed and ratings for aircraft appearing for the first time are drawn up. Second Front continued-and expanded-this process. All ratings of all aircraft involved in the campaign were reviewed; in addition, the ratings for (almost) all combat aircraft produced or developed by the U.S., Britain, Germany, and Italy were reviewed, whether or not a particular aircraft appeared in the game. This wide-ranging review has, I believe and fervently hope, yielded the final values for the aircraft of these nations.

This article lists the ratings, and a few notes, for WW2-era U.S. military aircraft-including the strategic bombers, USN aircraft, and other aircraft not shown in Second Front. (Subsequent columns will cover British, German, and Italian aircraft.) Civil aircraft, and military aircraft of types not shown in Europa (most recon types) are ignored. A Note on Designations: The model designations for the air units correspond as closely as possible, given space limitations on the counters, to the actual aircraft designations, based on the originating nation's designation, even for aircraft in service of another nation. Thus, RAF P-51s are designated "P-51," and not "Mustang," which was the official RAF designation. (Doing the designations this way lets you easily see which nations are flying the same aircraft, although at the loss of some "color"-seeing what foreign nations actually designated the aircraft. I've always had mixed feelings on this the desert war is more colorful with Marylands, Baltimores, and Kittyhawks flying about rather than A-22s, A-30s, and P-40s-but, since neither scheme is intrinsically superior, I've stuck with the way Europa has always handled this.) Some, but not all, of the foreign designations are noted below.

Not every single model is shown. When two models are virtually identical, rate out the same, and have no game reason for being differentiated, all are factored into the most significant model designation. For example, the Americans, particularly in 1940-41, would designate as different models an aircraft that was the same except for the type of propeller it was equipped with. In some cases, if the same aircraft was made by two different manufacturers or factories, it was given different model numbers.

One area where I had to break from Europa tradition in Second Front is in handling submodels. Previously, Europa lumped all submodels of an aircraft into a general rating for the model. This worked well (although not perfectly) for the early- to mid-war period-in general when a particular make of aircraft was improved significantly (sufficiently to warrant a new Europa rating), it was given a new model designation. By the middle of the war, however, some countries, particularly Germany and the U.S., were introducing significant improvements at the submodel level. To keep the aircraft ratings accurate, I had to introduce submodels in Second Front. Now, I do not intend to show every single submodel that ever existed: there's too many of them, and most submodels or a particular model rate out the same. Instead, I show submodels only when the ratings differ, and I factor all submodels with the same rating into the first major submodel of that rating. For example, P-51 D5 includes all 8F8 3-1/23 P-51s, until the improved P-51D20s (9F8 3-1/28) come along.

U.S. Army Aircraft Designations: Both U.S. Army Air Force (originally the U.S. Army Air Corps, but this distinction is ignored below) and U.S. Navy aircraft are shown below. Until 1962, each service had its own designation scheme. The USAAF used a letter-andnumber scheme designed in 1919 and revised in 1924. This scheme was used, with periodic modifications, until 1962, when the U.S. adopted a new designation system for all military aircraft, including both the USAAF and USN. 

A USAAF designation consisted of:

T-#S (such as P-51 D)
T: Type Symbol. Important types included:
A: Attack
AT: Advanced Trainer
B: Bomber
BT: Basic Trainer
C: Cargo (Transport)
CG: Cargo Glider
F: Photographic
L: Liaison (1942+)
O: Observation (became L in 1942)
OA: Observation Amphibian
P: Pursuit
PT: Primary Trainer
R: Rotary Wing
TG: Training Glider

#: Model Number. Each different model ordered for each type received its own model number. (Not all models reached operational service.) Thus, the B-24 was the 24th model of bomber ordered by the Army. Model numbers were assigned based on the sequence in which the contracts for the aircraft were issued (and numbers were not reassigned if the contracts for a model were subsequently canceled.) Note that the sequence of contracts, and thus the model number, did not necessarily have any relationship to when the actual aircraft was first designed or flown. Higher-numbered models were not always later aircraft.

S: Series Letter. Modifications of the original model were designated by a series letter following the model number. (In Europa, the combination of type symbol, model number, and series letter is used to designate specific "models.") Originally, the basic model appeared without a letter and modifications were lettered alphabetically, starting with "A." During the war, this system was modified, and the first production aircraft could appear with an "A" (or other) letter. The letters "I" and "0" were not supposed to be issued (but sometimes were), since they could be confused with the numerals "1" and "0." The Army would also reserve some letters for a model, such as for experimental work, and sometimes did not use the reserved letters.

The designation described above was not the complete designation the Army used, but it served to identify aircraft for most purposes.

A full designation was:

PT-#S-##-M (such as KC-135A-80-BN)
P: Status Prefix. The Army used prefixes before the type symbol to designate certain statuses of an aircraft. Of these, the two most important ones were "X" for experimental (often but not always a prototype version of an aircraft) and "Y" for versions used in service testing. In theory, an aircraft would go through X- and Yversions before reaching service as a production model, with modifications being made to improve the aircraft at each step. In practice, X or Y- versions would sometimes be skipped. Also, under the impact of war, the process was speeded up; the Army would order production of a model before the Y- or even the X- version flew.
Example: In February 1940, Boeing (and other firms) received the Army's request for a "Hemisphere Defense Weapon:" a bomber that could carry 2,000 lbs. of bombs for 5,000 miles at a speed of 400 miles per hour. To meet this specification, Boeing designed its Model 345, based on its earlier long-range bomber work. Of the various designs submitted, Boeing's was judged the best, and in August 1940 the Army ordered two prototypes, designated as XB-29; a third XB-29 was ordered in December. In 1941, with the prospect of war against distant foes looming, the B-29 project became top priority. Fourteen service test YB-29s were ordered, followed by an order for 250 production B-29 aircraft in September 1941, with more orders soon following. By the time the first XB-29 was ready to fly in September 1942, Boeing had already received orders for 1,500 B-29s.

The Army used other prefixes, adopting many new ones during the war. Most, if not all, have little significance for Europa. For example, "C" transport/cargo type-aircraft with capacities of less than 8 persons or 1,400 lbs. of cargo received the "U" for "utility" prefix, but Europa factors out these low-capacity aircraft. Important prefixes included:

C: Transport
R: Restricted (used for aircraft that were no longer suitable for their original purpose, but could be used for other duties)
S: Anti-Submarine
T: Trainer
U: Utility
X: Experimental
Y: Service Test
Z: Obsolete (for aircraft still in service, but considered obsolescent)

##: Block Number. In 1941, it was clear that the series letter by itself couldn't handle growing complexity and continual improvements to aircraft models. Block numbers were adopted to track minor changes to aircraft within a series letter. The first block number for a series was 1, and subsequent changes on the production line to the series aircraft were assigned block numbers of 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. (The gaps in the block numbers were reserved to track changes made after the aircraft left the factory.) The first aircraft to receive a block number was the P-40E-1. Europe uses the block numbers to identify submodels, with the hyphen between the series letter and block number being dropped to save space on the counters.

M: Manufacturer Identification. As the U.S. ramped up to produce many tens of thousands of military aircraft in 1941/42, with multiple manufacturers building the same aircraft (or the same manufacturer building it at multiple factories), the Army wanted to be able to track aircraft production by source. To do this, a two letter manufacturer ID was added at the end of the aircraft designation. For example, Lockheed was assigned LO for its Burbank, California, operation and LM for its Marietta, Georgia, facility. Unlike in most other countries, where aircraft production was concentrated in a handful of concerns, many dozens of American companies could-and did-produce aircraft, from converted civilian factories (e.g., GN: Gibson Refrigerator) to traditional aircraft firms (e.g., GR: Grumman Aircraft Corp.) to massproduction automobile companies (e.g., GC, GK, GM: various General Motors plants). All told, over a hundred manufacturer IDs were issued.

In addition to the standard designations, the Army used non-standard designations. Occasionally, small numbers of aircraft were procured for various reasons and used serial numbers without designations, or even just the manufacturer's designation, such as the Morane Saulnier MS-322 flown by the U.S. air attache in France. (Anomalously, the Me 109B flown by the U.S. air attache in Germany did receive a designation, XC-44. The Luftwaffe grabbed this aircraft when the U.S. entered the war.)

When the U.S. entered the war, the Army experienced a shortage of aircraft while U.S. factories tooled up for wartime production. Part of the shortage was met by requisitioning aircraft being produced in the U.S. for Britain. Where possible, the Army simply assigned designations for these aircraft that fitted into the standard scheme. These aircraft, however, were built to British requirements and often differed from equivalent American models. For example, Bell Aircraft Corp. was producing the same fighter for both the U.S. and Britain-but the British Airacobra was sufficiently different from the American P-39 that the Army maintenance and supply operations couldn't handle it as a P-39. In these cases, the manufacturer's own model numbers for the aircraft were used (with, for fighters, the standard type symbol):

British Model	US Equivalent	US Designation
Boston	A-20	DB-7
Vengeance	A-31	V-72
Liberator	B-24	LB-30
Ventura	B-34	Model 37
Lightning	P-38	P-322
Airacobra	P-39	P-400

This situation was cleaned up when lend-lease was enacted. Thereafter, aircraft for the RAF (but not the Fleet Air Arm-see, Europa didn't originate the concept of an exception to every rule!) were ordered through U.S. Army procurement channels and were thus assigned standard Army designations.

Note that the standard designation did not include a name for the aircraft. In practice, many aircraft had popular names, either officially or unofficially. Once the British began ordering U.S. aircraft, those aircraft often (but not always) became known to the U.S. public by their British-assigned names. Sometimes confusion resulted, with the U.S. calling P-40s "Warhawks" while the British designated various P-40 models as "Tomahawks" or "Kittyhawks." By mid-war, the British and Americans cooperated together to standardize the American popular name with the British official name.

U.S. Navy Aircraft Designations:

The U.S. Navy began systematically designating aircraft in 1911, and in 1922 devised the scheme that it would use, with periodic modifications, until 1962. The Marine Corps and Coast Guard used the Navy system. For administrative purposes, Navy aircraft were divided into two classes: airplanes, designated with a "V," and airships (dirigibles), designated with a "Z." In actual practice, the "V" was not used. (Airships did use the "Z," but they are ignored below.)

A designation consisted of:

Ty#M-## (such as SB2C-4)
Ty. Type (or Class) Designation. This consisted of a one or two letter symbol for the aircraft's type. Important types included:
B: Bomber
BT: Bomber-Torpedo F: Fighter
G: single-engined Transport (to 1941)
J: Utility
JR: Utility Transport
N: Trainer
O: Observation
OS: Observation-Scout
P: Patrol
PB: Patrol-Bomber
R: Transport
S: Scout
SB: Scout-Bomber
SN: Scout-Trainer
SO: Scout-Observation
TB: Torpedo-Bomber
TS: Torpedo-Scout


#: Type Sequence Number. Multiple different aircraft of the same type from the same manufacturer were numbered sequentially, with the number inserted between the type and manufacturer ID letters. The first aircraft of a type from a manufacturer was not numbered (e.g., the first fighter type from Boeing was designated FB, not F1B) but subsequent aircraft were (F2B, F3B, etc.). The Navy usually took care to ensure that two different aircraft did not receive the same basic designation. For example, when the "A" manufacturer ID letter became vacant (when General Aviation became North American and was given the "J" ID) and was reassigned to Brewster, the first Brewster fighter was the F2A, since FA had already been used by General Aviation's experimental XFA-1. On occasion, the same designations were issued for different aircraft, such as when there was a large time period between their service use: Boeing Army B-17Gs acquired by the Navy in 1945 were designated PB, even though the Navy had used PB in 1925 for a Boeing flying boat.

M: Manufacturer Designation. A single letter (rarely, two letters) identified the manufacturer of the aircraft. In almost all cases, when different manufacturers built the same aircraft, the aircraft received a new designation based on the manufacturer: Grumman F4F-1 fighters built by General Motors were designated FM-1. So many companies produced aircraft for the Navy during the war, that it was difficult to assign a unique single letter to each. On occasion, different manufacturers received the same manufacturer ID (Curtiss and Cessna both received "C"), as long as they didn't produce aircraft of the same type. (If they subsequently produced "competitive" aircraft, one of the manufacturers received a new ID for the competing type.) Important manufacturer IDs were:

A: Brewster
B: Beech; Boeing
C: Cessna; Culver; Curtiss
D: Douglas; McDonnell
E: Gould (gliders); Piper; Pratt-Read (gliders)
F: Fairchild (Canada); Grumman
G: Goodyear
H: Howard
J: North American
K: Fairchild (U.S.); Kaiser
L: Bell; Columbia; Langley
M: Martin; General Motors
N: Naval Aircraft Factory
O: Lockheed (Plant A)
P: Piper (gliders);
P-V Engineering; Spartan
Q: Bristol
R: Brunswick-Balke-Collender; Ryan
S: Sikorsky; Stearman, Supermarine the Spitfire was the FS-1 in the Navy)
T: Taylorcraft; Northrop; Timm
U: Chance-Vought
V: Lockheed (Vega, Plant A); Canadian Vickers; Vultee
W: Waco; Canadian Car & Foundry
Y: Consolidated

##: Aircraft Configuration Sequence. Configurations of an aircraft were indicated by numbers, starting from 1, separated from the rest of the designation by a hyphen or dash. For example, the SB2C-1 was the first Helldiver configuration to see service, followed later by the SB2C-3. (There was no production SB2C-2, as the -2 had been reserved for an experimental seaplane version which did not go to production.)

As with the Army, the Navy had a full designation that added more information:

PTy#M-##S (such as SB2C-4)
P Status (or Class) Prefix. The Navy, like the Army, used the "X" prefix to designate experimental aircraft, often prototypes. (The Navy eventually adopted the "Y" prefix, but only after the war.) During the war, the Navy added the "H" prefix for helicopters and the "L" prefix for gliders.

S: Special Purpose Suffix. By and during World War II, a confusing number of suffix letters were appended to the aircraft sequence number. In most cases, the letters stood for a particular ability or modification of an aircraft, although the same letter often was used for different purposes. Also, "A" and "B" were occasionally used to indicate minor modifications to an aircraft, when the modifications weren't considered significant enough to change the configuration sequence number. Also, on rare occasions for Army aircraft in the Navy's service, a suffix matching the aircraft's Army series letter was used. For example, PBJ-1 was the USN version of the B-25, and PBJ-1J aircraft corresponded to Army B-25J aircraft. Important suffixes included:

A: Armament on a normally unarmed aircraft
A: Arrester gear on a normally non-carrier aircraft
A: obtained from the Army
A: Amphibious (a flying boat modified to be also able to land on the ground)
A: land-based versions of carrier aircraft
B: special armament
B: British lend-lease version acquired by the Navy
C: arrester gear added to make non-carrier aircraft Carrier capable
C: reinforced for Catapult use
C: Cannon armed
D: Drop tank equipped 
E: Electronic equipment
G: Coast Guard version
M: Missile carrier
N: Night fighter
P: Photographic

R: Transport conversion
S: anti-Submarine
T: two-seat Trainer version
U: Utility

Like Army aircraft, Navy aircraft had popular names, but these were not part of the standard designation.

Also like the Army, the Navy used non-standard designations on occasion. Civil aircraft taken by the Navy used their civil model numbers, such as the B-314 for the Boeing Model 314. A very few Army aircraft-and captured enemy aircraft used for test purposes-used their original designations.

American Aircraft Ratings in Europa