ever herd of the lockeed f19 stealth fighter; 
I got it for christmas,but never herd of it has any body herd of it?
Hi David,
when the existence of the Stealth Fighter first became known, someone decided to make a model of it based on pure specualtion. The result of this guesswork and specualtion is the F-19 model you hold in your hand. It was a guess at what the F-117 actually looked like.
Probably someone will know a bit more than I do, but I know it was a guess at what the F-117 looked like before official photos of it were released.
Paul
Heres what i found at wikapedia I have also wacthedthe hisory channel when they where talking about groom lake and they mentioned the F-19A
It is possible that the “F-19” exists, but is still classified (or possibly a black project) - a number of projects have been kept secret for many years - or simply that the designation was left open to confuse foreign intelligence agencies.
One account says that an early designation for the F-111 Aardvark in the 1960s was F-19.
F-19A Specter
There is a rumor about a Northrop F-19A Specter, a stealth fighter that was built in same time as the F-117 Nighthawk but rejected for budgetary reasons; both Northrop and Lockheed did not know about each other’s projects. The Monogram model company released “F-19A Specter” models in 1987 as a rival to Testors. (Research at Above Top Secret.com suggests that the Northrop “F-19A” may in fact exist, but nothing has been confimed.)
It also should be noted that Jane’s began using the F-19 designation for a stealth fighter project by Lockheed in 1984. Whether or not they heard this information from other sources or inadvertently started the F-19 myth is unknown.
Back in the early to mid 80s, Italeri released 1/72 and 1/48 kits of the F-19 as well as a MiG-37 “Ferret” Soviet stealth aircraft in 1/72 and 1/48. All of which were their own creations and they freely conceded the kits were pure speculation. The Revell F-19 that you’ve posted the picture of is exactly what the Italeri F-19 kit looked like.
I had a 1/72 F19 kit back in the late 80s, I still come across bits of it in my spares box. Real or not, it’s a cool looking ship and I wish I hadn’t torn mine up!
The F-19 kits sold quite well but when the 117 showed up the sales started to slow down. Even Arii produced a kit or two and scales ranged from 1/144th to 1/48th. I have a few still in my stash and have been converting them into various types of vehicles from ground attack skimmers to high speed light maint. vehicles (pick-p skimmers) assigned to railroad companys.
someone has to do something with these kits.
The boxtop pic above is largely what the Italeri/Testors kit looked like, however there are some minor detail differences. The Italeri/Testors kit didn’t have the canards as depicted above and the intake opening (as shown above) was faired over, with just the perimeter of the ‘vee’ shape being an open slot. See http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/TESTORS%20F-19%20STEALTH%20PAGE.htm
When they came out, we referred to this as the “Stealth Frisbee.”
There was another version with a completely different configuration. Anyone have information on that one?
Do you mean the Monogram one which resembled a model left on the parcel shelf of your car for several hours in mid-summer?
http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/MONOGRAM%20F-19%20STEALTH%20PAGE.htm
BTW: I have no affiliation with the above linked site
That’s the one!
I have several A/C books printed when the F-117 was still behind closed doors, but people new there was a ’ stealth fighter’. In two of those books, entire pages are given to the ‘RF-19’. I am under the impression it was widley beieved to be the real thing ( thats the impression the book gives).
Will
I always though that maybe the US skipped F-19 to confuse the soviets. I read a book that when theUS Navy created SEAL team 6, there were only 3 SEAL Teams. The reason they skipped to six was to make the Soviets wonder where SEAL Teams 4 and 5 where. The same could apply to aircraft. I heard the numbers from F-112 to 116 were designated to captured Mig’s the USAF flew for testing, was why the 117 designation for the stealth fighter.
I remember reading that once a F-117 crashed prior to its declassification that the USAF officer told the Media that “I can assure you it was not an F-19 that crashed”. Maybe this is also a reason to skip the F-19 designation to provide confusion.
Of course maybe it was a Failed prototype of another stealth fighter with no reason to declassify a cancelled aircraft.
Just theories of mine I guess although a doubt that an F-19 exists,
I like your theory, makes sense.
Will
The Testors kit is actually referred to in Ben Rich’s book Skunk Works. They actually had Congressional hearings to investigate how Testors got the plans to a top secret aircraft. Just goes to show you how dumb some in Congress are!
As an aside about the F-117, an Air Force general was killed flying an F-117 about 1983, years before it was released to the public. His death was explained away that he was flying an ex-Soviet Mig fighter when he crashed.
very interesting i will post pictures of the finished model after I make it.
Great Book
Will
I have two (2) of the Italeri/Testor’s F-19 kits, and one of the Monogram version, both in 1/48th. One of the Italeris and the Monogram are about 75% complete (yeah, it takes me a r e a l l y long time to finish a model sometimes!), but I still have one of the Italeri F-19’s in the box (and plastic bag!). I also still have two (2) of those Mig-37-B “Ferret-E” Soviet stealth fighters, one built & one unbuilt.
P.S. Phil, thanx 4 the link to that Fantastic Plastic website; I found a model I’ve been looking for since about 1980: the Aurora “Ragnarok Orbital Interceptor”, circa 1975.