Belgian owned and operated aircraft are identified by either registration letters or serial numbers for military aircraft. [1]
Belgian owned and operated aircraft are identified by either registration letters or serial numbers for military aircraft. [1]
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile. In accordance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation all aircraft must be registered with a national aviation authority and they must carry proof of this registration in the form of a legal document called a Certificate of Registration at all times when in operation. [1]
The first use of aircraft registrations was based on the radio callsigns allocated at the London International Radiotelegraph Convention (1912). The format was a single letter prefix followed by four other letters (like A-BCDE). [1] The major nations operating aircraft were allocated a single letter prefix but minor countries had to share a single letter prefix but were allocated exclusive use of the first letter of the suffix. [1] Belgium was not considered a major operator of aircraft and was allocated the prefix and first letter suffix O-B. When the conference allocated the same prefix it made sure that they were in different parts of the world, the other user of the O prefix was Peru and they were allocated O-P. [1] The first allocation was O-BEBE to a Fokker D.VII on 1 March 1920. [1]
At the 1927 International Radio-Telegraph Conference, new radio callsigns were allocated to Belgium, comprising ON, OO, OP, OQ, OR, OS and OT. [1] In 1928 the International Convention of Air Navigation re-allocated the aircraft registration prefix to align with these radio callsigns. [1] Belgium could use all or any letter groups that had been allocated as radio callsigns and in 1929 the prefix OO- was selected for civilian aircraft, while a number of Belgian military aircraft have used the prefix OT-. [1] [2] On 1 March 1929 a number of existing civilian aircraft were migrated across to the new register, many retaining much of their earlier registration; for instance the Caudron C.27 previously registered O-BAFW became OO-AFW. [3]
Registrations are sometimes re-cycled. One of the first aircraft on the revised register was OO-AJT, initially allocated to a Stampe et Vertongen RSV.26/100 in March 1929. This same registration was used again from 1952 on a Miles M.14 Hawk Trainer III, and re-issued for a third time in 1958 on a Zlin Z.226T Trener. [3] [4] [5]
Some of the blocks of registrations have had a reserved usage and these include:
The Belgian Government issued registration for civil aircraft used in the Belgian Congo and from April 1934 used OO-CAA to OO-CZZ. The allocation ceased in 1960 with independence and the allocation of the prefix 9Q. [1]
When the Belgian Air Force was re-formed in 1946 individual aircraft were allocated serial numbers in either a one or two letter prefix followed by a one or two digit number. The first allocations were mainly single letters (for example A-1 was an Auster AOP.6) but sometimes a second letter was used to distinguish variants, for example NA-1 was an Avro Anson I and NB-1 was an Anson II. [6]
| Designation | Aircraft | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A- | Auster AOP.6 | |
| C- | Airspeed Consul | |
| C | de Havilland Canada Chipmunk | |
| D | de Havilland Dominie | |
| G | Miles Magister | |
| H | North American Harvard | |
| K | Douglas Dakota | Some aircraft temporary used KP- for photography, KFC- reconnaissance and KR- for VIP transport |
| O | Airspeed Oxford | |
| P | Percival Proctor | |
| T | de Havilland Tiger Moth | |
| V | Stampe-Vertongen SV.4 | SV-4B and SV-4C |
| ED | Gloster Meteor T.7 | |
| EF | Gloster Meteor F.4 | |
| EG | Gloster Meteor F.8 | |
| EN | Gloster Meteor NF.11 | |
| ID | Hawker Hunter F.4 | |
| IF | Hawker Hunter F.6 | |
| MA | de Havilland Mosquito TT.3 | |
| MB | de Havilland Mosquito NF.30 | |
| MC | de Havilland Mosquito TT6 | |
| NA | Avro Anson 1 | |
| NB | Avro Anson 12 | |
| SG | Supermarine Spitfire XIV | |
| SM | Supermarine Spitfire IX |
In the 1950s the first letter started to be used as a role prefix, for example FX-01 was a Lockheed F-104G Starfighter classified as a Fighter. [6]
| Designation | Aircraft | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AT | Dornier-Dassault Alpha Jet | |
| AX | Avro-Canada CF-100 | |
| BA | Dassault Mirage 5BA | First aircraft used the serial MA-01 later changed to BA-01 |
| BD | Dassault Mirage 5BD | First aircraft used the serial MD-01 later changed to BD-01 |
| BR | Dassault Mirage 5BR | |
| CA | Airbus A310 | |
| CB | Boeing 727 | |
| CD | Dassault Falcon 900 | |
| CE | Embraer 135 | |
| CF | Swearingen Merlin III | |
| CH | Lockheed C-130 Hercules | |
| CM | Dassault Falcon 20 | |
| CP | Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar | |
| CS | Hawker Siddeley 748 | |
| CT | Airbus A400M Atlas | 15th Air Transport Wing, Melsbroek Air Base (since October 2020) |
| FA | General Dynamics F-16A | |
| FB | General Dynamics F-16B | |
| FC | Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter | |
| FR | Republic RF-84F Thunderflash | |
| FS | Republic F-84E Thunderjet | |
| FT | Lockheed T-33A | |
| FU | Republic F-84F Thunderstreak | |
| FX | Lockheed F-104G Starfighter | |
| FZ | Republic F-84G Thunderjet | |
| KX | Douglas DC-4 | |
| KY | Douglas DC-6 | |
| LB | Piper Super Cub | L-21B air cadet glider tugs |
| MT | Fouga Magister | |
| RM | Percival Pembroke | |
| RS | Westland Sea King | |
| ST | SIAI SF.260 |
An Aero Commander 560F was operated for royal flights between 1961 and 1973 without a serial number but display its radio callsign OT-CWB instead. [6] Similarly, there have been Douglas C-47B transports "registered" OT-CWA, OT-CWG and OT-CNR, and a Sikorsky S-58 helicopter "registered" OT-ZKP.
In 1954 the Belgian Army formed its own aviation element and serial numbers were allocated in the form OL-A01, the OL for Observation Leger (light observation), the letter for the type and the number for each individual aircraft. In 1974 the OL prefix was dropped. [6]
| Designation | Aircraft | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A | Sud Alouette II | |
| B | Britten-Norman Islander | |
| D | Dornier Do 27 | |
| G | Aerospatiale Puma | |
| H | Agusta A.109 | |
| L | Piper Super Cub | L-18C |
The Belgian Navy have operated a number of shipborne helicopters which were allocated serials with single letter prefix although the radio callsigns were also painted on the aircraft in a similar format to registrations. [6]
| Designation | Aircraft | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| B | Sikorsky S-58 | |
| M | Sud Alouette III |
The Belgian Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie and later the Federal Police have operated both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters which carry serial numbers prefixed G with individual aircraft identified by increasing numbers. The first was an Aerospatiale Puma registered as G01.