A Quick Reference Guide to Military Information

[ollieholmes]

For Uk museums tthe Book 'Wrecks and Relics' is a great help. Look here to buy it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wrecks-Relics-K-Ellis/dp/1857802357/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/203-8368534-8783932?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190233582&sr=8-1

If the Aircraft is US and you know the serial number this site is very usefull:

http://cgibin.rcn.com/jeremy.k/serialSearch.html

[ollieholmes]

Would it be usefull for me to post links to the bigger warbird operators websites in the Uk for people? Maybe along with a list of the aircraft types they operate to make it easier.

[ollieholmes]

With Warbirds if they dont carry a noticable registration the best way to find the registration is to put the aircraft type and serial number into google. If this does still not produce a result ask here.
One great website for warbirds is http://www.warbirdregistry.org. The site can prove hard at times but it is a mine of infomation.

[AJ]

A Quick Reference Guide to Military Information
JetPhotos Specific

JetPhotos strives for accurate information within the limitations of our database and easibility of searches. In order to achieve this please use the following Quick Reference guide for uploads of Military Aircraft.

Links
All Air Forces http://www.scramble.nl/dbmil.htm
Australia http://www.adf-serials.com/
United Kingdom http://www.ukserials.com/
United States http://users.rcn.com/jeremy.k/serialSearch.html

Formats

Registrations - Serials
Listed are entries where some confusion lies.

n = Number, L = Letter

Austria - Either two numbers or Ln-LL
Australia - An-nnn or Ann-nnn
Belgium - LL-nn or LL-nnn (differs from Scramble by addition of the hyphen)
Brazil - FABnnnn (FAB added to seperate the four digit numbers from other Air Forces)
France - nn or nnn (not the nn-LL code)
Germany - nn-nn (nn+nn is not supported by JetPhotos scripts)
Italy - MMnnnn (not the n-nn code)
New Zealand - NZnnnn
Spain - L.nn-nn or LL.nn-nn (Not the nn-nn code) Beware that what appears to be an '8' may be the letter 'B', ie T.12B-25
Sweden - nnnnn
Switzerland - L-nnn or L-nnnn
Thailand - Wide and varied! Please use the 'serial' as obtained on Scramble. Ref http://www.thai-aviation.net/military-RTAF.htm
United Kingdom - LLnnn
United States - USAF/Army - nn-nnnn [i](Varies as the format is yy-nnnn(n) where y = year)
United States - USN/Marines - nnnnnn
United States - USCG - nnnn

Aircraft Types
Most are as listed in the aircraft menus. Block numbers are generally not included.

Construction Numbers
Generally as listed on Scramble. The exception is with Lockheed products where the format is as listed on Joe Baugher's site (http://users.rcn.com/jeremy.k/serialSearch.html) where P-3 start with 185- or 285- and C-130s start with 282- or 382-.

Warbirds
If a warbird carries a civilian registration it should be uploaded in the 'Civilian' genre. Often sites such as the FAA and G-INFO will list the militray serial as the registration. Taking this serial to a site such as Scramble will reveal the true construction number.

Museums
Aircraft in museums should be listed under the markings they have on display, for example a RAF aircraft on display at Hendon should be listed as United Kingdom - Royal Air Force (RAF).

Last Update: 18 February 2009
Added link for Thai serials.