What it says in the title. A lot of small craft in Star Wars start with "T" - T-16, T-47, T-65. Did they ever explain what that stands for? In the U.S. Air Force it stands for "training," but I think we can safely assume from the X-wing that that's not what it is here. (I could have posted this on a more general discussion thread, but it definitely was never explained in movies or TV shows - I figured the only place it would've popped up would be in novels or, more likely, the various technical manuals).
I've thought about that before, and I can't find a consistent pattern. My best guess is that everybody who comes up with an original designation does it according to what they perceive as The Rule of Cool.
I always took it to stand for Transport, since the T is on more than one type of craft. Aircraft, Spacecraft, speeder, fighter, etc. It's a generic designator for something whose most basic function is to transport somebody around.
Thanks for the responses, all. I think I'm going with "T" as signaling a production line (and "Z" doing the same with the Headhunter) as the likeliest explanation.
True, but maybe the T designation was pushed by the manufacturer's marketing department. Maybe they hoped that civvies would want to own tactical-looking craft, the way some people like to drive their own Humvees.
What is a T-16 used for anyway? Doesn't seem like it's useful as a cargo hauler...or why would Owen Lars have one on his moisture farm?
Womp rats are a large, dangerous pest ("not much more than 2 meters") that is best dealt by being gunned down from the air - and that's why Luke got one?
As far as 'totally random threads' go, I actually enjoy this one more than I probably should! I always thought that it was a manufacturer designation, but I'll confess to not paying enough attention to who made what.
Crop duster? Bush plane? Lots of ranchers have Piper Supercubs to survey their land. Piper PA-18 Super Cub - Wikipedia
The T- stands for Tom. Its named in honor of Tom Tarkinson from Balsor who figured out how to further the fuel usage in small space craft.
Maybe "transport" then? I keep thinking how the U2 was given its name, maybe Incom deliberately gave it a designation similar to civillian craft to deflect attention from the Empire: The aircraft was renamed the U-2 in July 1955... The "U" referred to the deliberately vague designation "utility" instead of "R" for "reconnaissance", and the U-1 and U-3 aircraft already existed.
For much of the time I'd assumed it referred to certain Incom design teams. T for speeders and starfighters; Z for a very popular line of starfighters; A for scout ships, and so on (see A-23 Sleuth) It might have another meaning, though, like 'Tactical' for T or something. More likely the U in UT-60 just means Utility tacked onto the existing prefix, which may not have that much of a special meaning.
