United Kingdom military aircraft registration number, known as its serial number, or tail code is a specific aircraft registration scheme used to identify individual military aircraft in the United Kingdom (UK). All UK military aircraft are allocated and display a unique registration number. A unified registration number system, maintained initially by the Air Ministry (AM), and its successor the Air section of the Ministry of Defence (MoD Air), is used for aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), and Army Air Corps (AAC). Military aircraft operated by government agencies and civilian contractors (for example QinetiQ, AirTanker Services, Babcock International) are also assigned registration numbers from this system.
When the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was formed in 1912, its aircraft were identified by a letter/number system related to the manufacturer. The prefix 'A' was allocated to balloons of No.1 Company, Air Battalion, Royal Engineers, the prefix 'B' to fixed-wing aeroplanes of No.2 Company, and the prefix 'F' to aeroplanes of the Central Flying School (CFS).[1] The Naval Wing used the prefix 'H' for seaplanes ('Hydroaeroplanes' as they were then known), 'M' for monoplanes, and 'T' for aeroplanes with engines mounted in tractor configuration.[1] Before the end of the first year, a unified aircraft registration number system was introduced for both Army and Naval (Royal Naval Air Service) aircraft.
The registration numbers are allocated at the time the contract for supply is placed with the aircraft manufacturer or supplier.
In an RAF or FAA pilot's personal service log book, the registration number of any aircraft flown, along with any other particulars, such as aircraft type, flight duration, purpose of flight, etc., is entered by the pilot after every flight, thus giving a complete record of the pilot's flying activities and which individual aircraft have been flown.
The first military aircraft registrations were a series from 1 to 10000, with blocks allocated to each service. The first actual registration number was allocated to a Short S.34 for the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), with the number 10000 going to a Blackburn-built Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c aircraft in 1916.[2]
A1 to Z9999
By 1916, the first sequence had reached 10000, and it was decided to start an alpha-numeric system, from A1 (allocated to a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2d) to A9999, then starting again at B1. The letters A, B, C, D, E, F, H, and J were allocated to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and N1 to N9999 and S1 to S9999 to the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). When the sequence reached the prefix K, it was decided to start at K1000 for all subsequent letters instead of K1.
Although the N and S series had earlier been used by RNAS aircraft, the sequence N1000 to N9999 was again used by the Air Ministry for both RAF and RN aircraft. The 'Naval' S sequence had reached only S1865, a Fairey IIIF, but when R9999 was reached in 1939, the next serial allocations did not run on from that point, but instead commenced at T1000.
From 1937, not all aircraft registration numbers were allocated, in order to hide the true number of aircraft in production and service. Gaps in the serial number sequence were sometimes referred to as 'blackout blocks'.[3] The first example of this practice was an early 1937 order for two-hundred Avro Manchester bombers; which were allotted the registration numbers L7276-7325, L7373-7402, L7415-7434, L7453-7497, L7515-7549, and L7565-7584, covering a range of 309 possible serial registration numbers, and thus making it difficult for an enemy to estimate true British military aircraft strength.
By 1940, the registration number Z9978 had been allocated to a Bristol Blenheim, and it was decided to restart the sequence with a two-letter prefix, starting at AA100. This sequence is still in use today. Until the 1990s, this two-letter, three-numeral registration number sequence, had numbers in the range 100 to 999. An exception to this rule was a Douglas Skyraider AEW1 which received the UK serial WT097, which incorporated the last three digits of its US NavyBureau Number 124097. Recently, past unassigned registration numbers, including those having numerals 001-099, have been assigned.
Some letters have not been used to avoid confusion: C could be confused with G, I confused with 1, O and Q confused with 0, U confused with V, and Y confused with X.
During the Second World War, RAF aircraft carrying secret equipment, or that were in themselves secret, such as certain military prototypes, had a '/G' suffix added to the end of the registration number, the 'G' signifying 'Guard', denoting that the aircraft was to have an armed guard at all times while on the ground, examples include: W4041/G, the prototype Gloster E.28/39 jet powered by the Whittle jet engine; LZ548/G, the prototype de Havilland Vampire jet fighter; or ML926/G, a de Havilland Mosquito XVI experimentally fitted with H2S radar.
As of 2009, registration number allocations have reached the ZKnnn range. However since about the year 2000, registration numbers have increasingly been allocated out-of-sequence. For example, the first Royal Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III was given the registration number ZZ171 in 2001,[why?] and a batch of Britten-Norman Defenders for the Army Air Corps (AAC) were given registration numbers in the ZGnnn range in 2003 (the last ZG serial being allocated more than 14 years previously).[why?] Also, some recent registration number allocations have had a numeric part in the previously-unused 001 to 099 range. Some aircraft are given registrations as an acknowledgement to their civilian type; specifically, the first Airbus Voyager multi-role tanker transport is registered ZZ330 as a nod to the Airbus A330 from which it is derived (with the remainder of the Voyager fleet in series to ZZ343).
'Maintenance' registration numbers
Distinct registration numbering systems are used to identify non-flying airframes, typically used for ground training. The RAF have used a numeric sequence with an 'M' suffix, sometimes referred to as the 'Maintenance' series.[3] Known allocations, made between 1921 and 2000, ranged from 540M to 9344M, when this sequence was terminated. The main series of single letter registration numbers did not use 'M' to avoid confusion with the suffix 'M'. The Fleet Air Arm use an 'A'-prefixed sequence (e.g. A2606), and the Army Air Corps issue 'TAD' numbers to their instructional airframes (e.g. TAD015).
The registration numbers are normally carried in up to four places on each aircraft; on either side of the aircraft (typically its fuselage) on a vertical surface, and on the underside of each wing. The under-wing registration numbers, originally specified so that in case of unauthorised low flying, affected personnel could report the offending aircraft to the local police force, have not been displayed since the 1960s, as by then jet aircraft speeds at low level had made the likelihood of a person on the ground being able to read, and thus report them, increasingly remote. The registration number on each side is usually on the rear fuselage, but this can vary depending on the aircraft type, for instance the delta winged Gloster Javelin had the registration number on the forward engine nacelle, and the Avro Vulcan had the registration number on its tail fin. Helicopters have only carried registration numbers on each side, either on the tail-boom or rear fuselage.
A serial number is a unique identifier used to uniquely identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially.
British military aircraft designations are used to refer to aircraft types and variants operated by the armed forces of the United Kingdom.
The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC supported the British Army by artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance. This work gradually led RFC pilots into aerial battles with German pilots and later in the war included the strafing of enemy infantry and emplacements, the bombing of German military airfields and later the strategic bombing of German industrial and transport facilities.
The Vickers Vimy was a British heavy bomber aircraft developed and manufactured by Vickers Limited. Developed during the latter stages of the First World War to equip the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), the Vimy was designed by Rex Pierson, Vickers' chief designer.
The Handley Page Type O was a biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was the largest aircraft that had been built in the UK and one of the largest in the world. There were two main variants, the Handley Page O/100 (H.P.11) and the Handley Page O/400 (H.P.12).
The Miles M.9 Master was a British two-seat monoplane advanced trainer designed and built by aviation company Miles Aircraft Ltd. It was inducted in large numbers into both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) during the Second World War.
The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 is a British single-engine tractor two-seat biplane, designed and developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Most of the roughly 3,500 built were constructed under contract by private companies, including established aircraft manufacturers and firms new to aircraft construction.
The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind that served in any military capacity during the First World War. More than 10,000 were built from 1913 until production ended in 1932.
The Sopwith Triplane is a British single seat fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War. It has the distinction of being the first military triplane to see operational service.
The Sopwith 1+1⁄2 Strutter is a British single- or two-seat multi-role biplane aircraft of the First World War. It was the first British two-seat tractor fighter and the first British aircraft to enter service with a synchronised machine gun. It was given the name 1+1⁄2 Strutter because of the long and short cabane struts that supported the top wing. The type was operated by both British air services and was in widespread but lacklustre service with the French Aéronautique Militaire.
An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and functions much like an automobile license plate or a ship registration. This code must also appear in its Certificate of Registration, issued by the relevant civil aviation authority (CAA). An aircraft can only have one registration, in one jurisdiction, though it is changeable over the life of the aircraft.
The Boxkite was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company. A pusher biplane based on the successful Farman III, it was one of the first aircraft types to be built in quantity. As the type was used by Bristol for instruction purposes at their flying schools at Larkhill and Brooklands many early British aviators learned to fly in a Boxkite. Four were purchased in 1911 by the War Office and examples were sold to Russia and Australia. It continued to be used for training purposes until after the outbreak of the First World War.
The air forces of the United Kingdom – the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, the Army's Army Air Corps and the Royal Air Force use a roundel, a circular identification mark, painted on aircraft to identify them to other aircraft and ground forces. In one form or another, it has been used on British military aircraft from 1915 to the present.
The Bristol M.1 Monoplane Scout was a British monoplane fighter of the First World War. It holds the distinction of being the only British monoplane fighter to reach production during the conflict.
In the United States, all military aircraft display a serial number to identify individual aircraft. These numbers are located on the aircraft tail, so they are sometimes referred to unofficially as "tail numbers". On the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit bomber, lacking a tail, the number appears on the nose gear door. Individual agencies have each evolved their own system of serial number identification. Aircraft serials are part of the Aircraft Visual Identification System, which also includes the aircraft's tail code and Modex.
The Heston T.1/37 was a 1930s British single-engined monoplane military trainer aircraft with two open cockpits, designed and developed by Heston Aircraft Company Ltd. It was not accepted for service.
United Kingdom aircraft test serials are used to externally identify aircraft flown within the United Kingdom without a full Certificate of Airworthiness. They can be used for testing experimental and prototype aircraft or modifications, pre-delivery flights for foreign customers and are sometimes referred to as "B" class markings.
Belgian owned and operated aircraft are identified by either registration letters or serial numbers for military aircraft.
United Kingdom aircraft registration is a register and means of identification for British owned and operated commercial and private aircraft, they are identified by registration letters starting with the prefix G-.
The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.3 was a single-engined rotary engined biplane developed by the British Royal Aircraft Factory prior to the First World War. The B.E.4 and B.E.7 were virtually identical aircraft that differed only in the engine fitted.
Halley, James J. (1993). Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-N9999. Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN0-85130-208-4., and other similar volumes covering all serial allocations from J1000 to XZ999.
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