After the completion of "Project Stealth Fighter" for the Commodore 64 by designers Jim Synoski and Arnold Hendrick, Sid Meier and Andy Hollis were brought in to work on the PC conversion. Hendrick wrote of the new game, "The only thing borrowed from the C64 would be the game scenario concepts, military equipment research data, and perhaps some flight dynamics algorithms". Despite its planned 30 September 1988 release being delayed to mid-November "F-19 Stealth Fighter" was very popular, selling out in just two months.