A-1 (AD) Skyraider, A2D Skyshark, SB2D-1 (BTD-1) Destroyer

[scooter]

The issue with the USN system is that they got a bit carried away with role-letters in some instances. I don't know the Japanese system, but AFAIK it works in much the same way. I do prefer a name/mark system like Rickshaw, though. The American obsession with type designations seems a bit unnecessary to me, using several entirely different designators for variants of the same aircraft. But then the Americans generally seem to see names as of less importance.

Probably one of the few thing's the MacNamara Defense Department did right was the 1962 Tri Service Aircraft Designation System, which cleaned up the discrepancies and confusion in AF/Navy/Marine designations (like Phantoms purchased for the AF would have been F-110s)

The 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system is a unified designation system introduced by the United States Department of Defense on 18 September 1962 for all the U.S. military aircraft. Prior to this date, each armed service used their own nomenclature system. Under the 1962 system, almost all aircraft receive an unified designation, whether operated by the United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy (USN), United States Coast Guard (USCG), United States Marine Corps (USMC), or the United States Army. Experimental aircraft operated by manufacturers or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are also often assigned numbers in the X-series.[1]
The 1962 system was based on the one used by the USAF between 1948 and 1962 which was in turn based on the USAAS/USAAC/USAAF system used from 1924 to 1948. Since it was introduced, the 1962 system has been modified and updated; in 1997 a revised form of the system was released.

1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system

[ysi_maniac]

Super Skyraider powered by Pratt & Whitney XR-4360-10 28 cylinder four-row   

[NARSES2]

Interesting 

[jcf]

Interesting, although I'm not sure that a 200hp increase at normal rating, not takeoff, for the R-4360-10 as used on the Boeing
XF8B, is worth a weight increase of 900+ lbs. Installed length is 43" greater than the R-3350-26WA as used on the AD(A-1)
family. 

BTW the installed length of the R-4360-4, as used on the Martin Mauler, is only ~ 16" greater than the installed length of the
R-3350-26WA used on the Skyraider. HP at normal setting would also be increased by 200, weight by ~ 500lb.

[ysi_maniac]

Cargo Skyraider

[jcf]

Turned the station wagon into a van. 

Still using the Yankee system? 

Yankee Escape System