one of the members from the other sites that's got connections in both the CALTY and ED2 design studios says he got a return email from ED2, he is going to post it this morning. Sounds like I was correct in my assumption:
Nemesis- I think you are right on. I actually got an email back from one of the designers from ED2 that was involved with the FT-86 I will post some info tomorrow on my theory
I'll keep you guys posted...