Codes

[Panzer Vor!!!]

Hello

Can someone explain what the planes codes mean?

Are they different on civil to military aircraft ?

How do they come to say GXYX ***

D

[Ashwo99]

Do you mean registrations, if so the civil ones start with G- because G is the country prefix for aircraft on the UK registry, the next part comes from the airline, such as G-ZB** is monarch and G-CEL* is jet2s older aircraft ( when they were channel express). After this the final letter is in alphabetical order of when the aircraft were delivered with, for example G-CELA would. have been delivered before G-CELS. that's how civil registrations work. Not too sure about miliatary though. although the air cadets tutors are G- aircraft as they are not owned by the RAF.

[Panzer Vor!!!]

Yes I mean the registrations it just looks a jumble of letters if theirs a number what would that mean??

[Ashwo99]

Numbers tend to be used as miliatary serials or some countries registrations, like the US, their registrations are an N then no dash, then 3 numbers and two letters. an example of a US registration is N272AY the N Means it's on the US civil register the 272 is its assigned number and AY is the airline code, some other countries use. numbers in there registrations, each country has its own system and it can get confusing, some countries have a letter prefix and then only numbers like China, B-2219 as an example and then some countries have a number in the prefix and the none, like Singapore, 9V-SYK as an example. Trust me it's not easy, but once you learn them, and it takes a while, they seem a lot easier.

[Panzer Vor!!!]

Thank you I have a better idea now

[Ashwo99]

No problem

[XV571]

As Ashwo99 says, the first letter (or a combination of up to two letters or number(s) and letter) of a civil registration is the country code. This is allocated by ICAO (the International Civil Aviation Organisation). After the 'dash' comes the aircraft's individual registration identity; the United States usually omits the dash but officially it is meant to be there. The registration depends on how the local Airworthiness Authority; for example the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the UK, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) or Transport Canada (TC) to name a few, has set their requirement. The USA, Russia and China have so many aircraft it was easier for them to use numbers whereas most other countries use letters. The FAA permits a combination of numbers and two letters up to a maximum of 5 characters (not including the N). You can see US registrations go from N1 to N99999 with any combination of numbers and letters in between as long as a '0' (zero) comes after 1 (but always numbers then letters so N1AB is allowed but not N1A23B or N0123A4). The FAA also prohibits use of the letters I and O to prevent confusion with 1 and 0. Other Authorities prohibit other letters - the CAA won't permit Q for example.

Rules of how the registration is allocated varies hugely from country to country. The US permits their re-use once the previous aircraft has been de-registered so airlines will often hang on to 'customised' registrations and recycle them on to new aircraft. Often they relate to the Airline but not always (in Ashwoo99's example AY is actually the two letter code for Finnair ). Companies will also choose personalised registrations such as the 3M companies Gulfstream V N3M. Re-use of a registration is also common practice in Canada and Germany. However some countries such as Spain allocate their registrations strictly in order and don't permit any customisation.

In the UK a registration can only be used once but an aircraft can change registrations and can revert to its 'old' registration if the owner wishes. Normally the CAA will allocate the next available combination of four letters when an aircraft is brought onto the UK register, however for an extra charge the applicant can reserve an 'out of sequence' registration. This allows airlines to customise their fleets, hence Monarch using G-ZBA_ for their A320s, British Airways selecting different ranges for each of their sub-fleets like G-CIV_ for the 747-400, G-XLE_ for the A380 or G-ZBJ_ for their 787s. Virgin choose G-Vxxx combinations and private owners often use bespoke registrations like G-BUZZ or G-WIZZ. Sometimes a range of registrations used by an airline is interrupted by a private owner, for example some of British Midland's original DC-9s were registered G-BMAA to BMAC, G-BMAG to G-BMAI and G-BMAK plus G-BMAM. In between 'AC' and 'AG' were a Balloon, G-BMAD; a Fokker 27, G-BMAE and a Cessna 180, G-BMAF!

Former military aircraft that are brought on to the civil register are allowed to retain their original serials which is why you see types such as Spitfires or the Vulcan XH558 (G-VLCN) not carrying a visible 'civil' identity. In the USA the civil registration is carried but in very small letters.

Military aircraft serials are determined by that countries' defence departments. It can also vary between individual air arms such as in the US. The US Air Force allocates a Serial Number based on that year's budget allocation or Fiscal Year (FY) then a sequential batch of numbers. Therefore an aircraft bought in FY2012 will be serial 12-12345 and one bought in FY13 could be 13-12345. The US Navy allocates a Bureau Number (or BuNo) and is usually a sequential batch of numbers for a planned buy of that type. These are unique numbers and go all the way back to the beginning of US Naval Aviation. The US Army also uses a sequential number series. Other countries may use a unique identifier such as the construction number, a 'type number' or if a US built aircraft an adaptation of the US serial number.

The British military serial number started off as a sequential number series. During WWI as the RFC and RNAS expanded massively a five digit series was introduced starting at A1000 which has continued ever since and will go all the way to ZZ999. These are allocated in batches to a contracted buy of a type. If a batch is cancelled usually those serials are not reallocated so you will find gaps. Also, until recently the number range started at 1xxx to x999 but the 'ZK' series used 0xx for the first time. The MoD may go on to AAAxx but that's a long way off.

Sorry for the very long-winded post but it's a complicated subject to describe accurately in simple terms and I could go on in more detail . Once you get the hang of how each system works it should make sense.

HTH

Jonathan