David Wise's Aviation History Website
LIST OF CONTENTS
PFA Rally Lists 2005 & 2006
Nord NC830-NC860 family
Airtourer & Airtrainer Family
Fletcher FU-24, Cresco, PAC 750XL Family
New Zealand & other Pacific Islands Historic Civil Registers
Other Related Websites
This page provides a lead-in to the aircraft listings.
This website was started in December 2001.
It started with a worldwide production list of Jodels, extended to also cover Robins.
A major addition in September 2008 was a historic New Zealand civil aircraft register plus three minor Pacific nation registers. The other independent Pacific Island nation registers were added in January 2013. I have also provided production listings of aircraft types predominently built in NZ by what is now Pacific Aerospace: the Airtourer and Airtrainer family and the Fletcher, Cresco and 750XL family.
You may copy information from this web-site only for your own personal use.
Please contact me if you want to exploit this information commercially or re-publish any of it in any magazine, book, website or any other medium.
The lists have been provided as html look-up tables so that I can ensure that the information provided is the latest available. Updates are loaded every few weeks as new information comes to light.
For its first 11 years, this website was hosted as part of their internet service by BT Internet using the domain name www.dave.wise.btinternet.co.uk/ . They withdrew this service in November 2012 and all of the associated websites were deleted. It has been re-housed with a new domain name www.flydw.org.uk using the services of www.ukwebhosting.com/
A major reason for publishing these lists is to provoke feedback. I would be pleased to hear from anyone who can add any extra details or corrections, however small. Please e-mail me on: firstname.lastname@example.org
Latest Update: 1 February 2015
PFA RALLY AIRCRAFT LISTS
I have long been involved with the organisation of the PFA Rallies, starting with marshalling at Leicester in the late 1970's and going on to being responsible for managing aircraft parking and airside layout for several years at the Cranfield and Wroughton events.
I then moved to lighter jobs, initially with judging, then lately with the booking-in operation. This has included compiling a full list of aircraft present from the official booking-in, booking-out and movement records. Available here are the logs for:
PFA "Flying For Fun" Rally at Kemble in July 2005
PFA "Flying For Fun" Rally at Kemble in August 2006.
AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION LISTS
For several years now, I have been accumulating listings of various aviation topics which caught my interest, including production lists of various light aircraft types and ofregisters for New Zealand and the small Pacific Island countries. I have now made these available on this web-site.
The files are in construction number order (this may be manufacturers' serial numbers for commercially built aircraft or plans or kit suppliers' serial numbers for amateur-built aircraft. For each aircraft I have provided information on registration marks, dates of initial registration, any significant periods of cancellation from registers, changes of configuration where known, and fates. For the Jodels and Robins, I have also compiled a registration cross-index. For reasons of practicality and to avoid data protection issues, I have not listed ownership or base details.
I have been dependent on published sources, mostly old registers published by various enthusiast organisations, with the more recent updates mainly from Air Britain magazines. Also various web-sites, including those provided by several national registration authorities, and e-mail feedback from individuals. For some of these types, the start of production was several years before the earliest documentation I have available. It is inevitable that there will be a few errors or omissions. You use these lists entirely at your own risk!
There are particular problems with tracing amateur-built aircraft in several countries, because they are often officially registered with construction numbers which are homebuilt-association or personal project numbers, and do not show the plans or kit or licence-to-build serial numbers assigned by the suppliers. Another recent problem is that some countries have introduced ultralight/microlight aircraft registers which are separate from the main aircraft registers, both structurally and administratively, and information on these is very difficult to obtain. If you know the plans or kit supplier's serial number of any of the types I have listed and I don't have it, please let me know the details.
The following abbreviations have been used:
AACA = Amateur Aircraft Constructors
Association of New Zealand (renamed as SAANZ in 1995)
AAE = Asociacion de Aviacion Experimental (Spanish homebuilders)
AC = Aero Club
Alpha = Alpha Aircraft of Hamilton, NZ (manufacturer of R2120/2160 aircraft from 2005)
amat = amateur-built
amdd = amended
Apex = Apex Group, parent Company of Av. Pierre Robin from 1988
APR = Avions Pierre Robin (renamed ex CEA in 1969)
APRI = Av. Pierre Robin Internationale, subsidiary at La Chute, Quebec, Canada which manufactured R2160 aircraft in 1980-1984
AUF = Australian Ultralight Federation (renamed as RAA in 2004)
b = based at
BV = Bureau Veritas - provider of information on aircraft registers (see below)
chgd = changed
c = circa (i.e. approximate date)
c/n = construction number (plans number or kit number)
CAA = Civil Aviation Authority (in several countries)
CAB = Constructions Aeronautiques de Bourgogne (renaming of APR from Jan 2002)
CASA = Civil Aviation Safety Authority (national authority in Australia)
CDNR = French airworthiness certification for aircraft with no type certificate holder (includes most models of factory-built Jodels from 2008)
CEA = Centre Est Aeronautique, Jodel manufacturer at Dijon, France (became Avions Pierre Robin in 1969)
CEV = Centre Essais du Vol (French government test establishment at Bretigny)
CNRA = French amateur-built airworthiness certification
CNRAC = French old-timer airworthiness certification ("Aeronefs de Collection")
CNSK = French kit-built aircraft airworthiness certification
CofA = Certificate of Airworthiness (to ICAO standard)
const = constructed by
conv = converted (sometimes model change to match engine change)
cr = crashed
cx = cancelled from official register
dbf = damaged/destroyed by fire
dbflood = damaged/destroyed by flood
dbg = damaged/destroyed by gale
dbhc = damaged/destroyed by hangar collapse
dbhf = damaged/destroyed in hangar fire
dbr = damaged beyond repair (i.e. insurance write-off)
dbs = damaged/destroyed by storm (including hurricanes and cyclones!)
DCA = Department of Civil Aviation (in NZ - since renamed as CAA)
DGAC = French official aircraft registration authority (see below)
dgd = damaged (probably repairable)
dest = destroyed (though several officially so listed have subsequently been rebuilt)
dism = dismantled
disp = displayed (usually in museum or as "gate guardian")
dnf = damaged/destroyed in non-flying incident
EAA = Experimental Aircraft Association (Amateur-builders in USA, Sweden etc)
EAAC = Experimental Aircraft Association of Canada (since renamed as RAA)
EAAS = Experimental Aircraft Association of Sweden
EAS = Experimental Aircraft of Switzerland (renamed ex RSA Suisse in 2002)
ex = changed from
ff = First Flight
FFPLUM = French Ultralight (ULM) Federation
LAA = Light Aircraft Association (UK amateur-builders, renamed ex PFA from Jan 2008)
lsd = leased
MAANZ = Microlight Aircraft Association of NZ (renamed as RAANZ)
mod = modified
mus = museum
nc = not completed
No. Fab. = Numero Fabrique - Robin factory line number during manufacture
No. Ser. = Numero Serie - Robin manufacturer's serial number assigned at late stage of manufacture, used as official construction number for registration purposes
ntu = (reserved registration) not taken up (see note below)
NVAV = Netherlands amateur-builders association
PFA = Popular Flying Association (UK amateur-builders, renamed LAA in Jan 2008)
PtoF = Permit to Fly (UK amateur-built certification)
pres = preserved non-flying
RAA = Recreational Aircraft Association (Canadian amateur-builders renamed ex EAAC)
RAA = Recreational Aviation of Australia (Australian Ultralights, renamed ex AUF in 2004)
RAANZ = Recreational Aircraft Association of New Zealand (NZ Microlights renamed ex MAANZ)
RSA = Reseau de Sport de l'Air (French amateur-builders)
RSA = Republic of South Africa
reb = rebuilt/repaired
reg = registered
ren = renamed
rereg = re-registered (within the same national register)
res = resident at
rest = restored to register
rts = returned to service
SA = South Australia
SAAA = Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (amateur-builders- renamed from Ultralight Aircraft Assoc of Australia mid 1970's)
SAACI = Society of Amateur Aircraft Constructors of Ireland
SAANZ = Sport Aircraft Association of New Zealand (NZ amateur-builders renamed ex AACA in 1995)
SAN = Societe Aeronautique Normande, Jodel manufacturer at Bernay, France
scr = scrapped
st = stored
to = re-registered in another country (usually exported)
ULM = Ultra Leger Motorise, French ultralight aircraft with separate registration/certification
WA = Western Australia
wfu = withdrawn from use
( ) = reserved registration not taken up (in production lists)
* = reserved registration not taken up (in cross-reference lists)
Suffices to Jodel type designations:-
A (Aerofrein) with additional Airbrake
R (Remorqueur) with glider towing hook
T (Train Tricycle) with nosewheel undercarriage.
Official registers & Bureau Veritas
The definitive aircraft registers are maintained by official national registration authorities. A parallel set of registers with some official status is maintained by an organisation called Bureau Veritas, which is headquartered in Paris and operates in a similar way to the shipping and aircraft information and quality services of Lloyds of London. Because of their ready availability, the registers published by BV have generally been used as the basis of European registers published by various enthusiast organisations.
The official registers and the BV registers are often out of step regarding cancellations. This occurs because BV delete aircraft when they have not had their certification renewed for a few years, irrespective of whether they have been cancelled by the national authority. This is not a major problem in most countries, but has led to large-scale differences in France, where the DGAC is often slow in initiating cancellations. They eventually make cancellations many years after the aircraft last flew and there have been cases of aircraft still shown as current more than 50 years after they were known to have been destroyed or exported. Also the reasons for cancellation given by DGAC are often questionable - there is confusion between "detruit = destroyed" and "reforme = withdrawn from use", also several are listed as re-registered abroad when this has not happened.
The French information available when these production lists were first compiled, had mainly been based on BV-derived sources. Recently the DGAC official registers have been made available on-line. In Jan/Feb 2012 a full reconciliation was carried out of the Jodel and Robin lists against the DGAC on-line registers. Many discrepancies have been noted, particularly among the D9's and D11's. At the same time, a reconciliation was done against the 2009 edition of the excellent Fox Papa book by Jacques Chillon which lists French amateur-built aircraft, and which gave useful extra details such as dates of changes of model and locations of accidents, and the use of F-W test registrations.
Policy on whether a registration is officially regarded as taken up varies between countries. Aircraft registrations are normally reserved some time before being used, sometimes many years before in the case of amateur-builts. In many countries (including France), an aircraft is not officially regarded as registered until it has achieved full airworthiness certification. Amateur-built aircraft are quite commonly operated on test certification and marked with their reserved registrations, particularly in Germany sometimes for several years, until eventually being fully certificated and added to the main register.
In most countries the reserved or temporary registrations are not published and some have been included based on observations reported by enthusiasts or notified by their owners. If certification is not achieved, the registration is regarded as not taken up and may be re-allocated. In some countries, this applies even if the aircraft has flown on temporary certification, e.g. for testing or ferry flights. In some countries temporary registrations may be allocated for testing or ferrying (e.g. France (F-Wxxx), UK (G-number "Class B"), Spain (EC-number), Canada, USA, Australia). In France F-W is also used when operating in a non-standard configuration such as disabled-pilot control systems or testing new major components such as propellers. In some countries, manufacturers have reserved registrations which are re-used repeatedly for short-term testing.
Also the policy on what constitutes the official registration date varies between countries. In some countries, this is the first flight date, either from new or after importation. In some (including France) it is the date of issue of full certification. In others (including the UK) the registration date quoted is customarily when the registration was reserved. Some UK amateur-builts have eventually flown more than 30 years after the registration was issued.
In some countries registrations are not re-used. In France, if an aircraft is exported and re-imported or cancelled and restored after rebuild, a new registration is usually issued, unless the cancellation had been notified at the time as temporary. In the UK, a registration is regarded as not taken up (n.t.u.) and made available for reallocation only if the reservation is cancelled without ever having flown, while aircraft restored to the register are normally given back their last UK identity.
In several countries, registrations are re-used, sometimes with a minimum delay after cancellation but sometimes with none. In some countries, particularly USA and New Zealand, re-registration is rife - cancellation and reallocation can often occur on the same day and many registrations have now flown on several different airframes. So dates of changes are important.
A particular problem in several countries, including U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, U.S.A., Spain and Netherlands, has been tracing amateur-built aircraft which have been registered with personalised construction numbers or with project numbers allocated by various national amateur-building organisations, and their original plans or kit or licence-to-build serial numbers are not quoted in the official records. Sweden is uniquely helpful - the official register normally gives both the suppliers' serial numbers and the EAAS amateur-built project numbers for all such aircraft.
Ultralights (ULM) & Microlights & Light Sport Aircraft (LSA)
In several countries, including France, Italy, Denmark, Australia and several East European and Asian countries, aircraft in the ultralight/microlight/LSA categories are registered in a separate sequence, in a different format to a conventional registration, and usually without the nationality prefix. For convenience within these lists, the standard registration nationality prefix has been added, even though it is not normally displayed on the aircraft. Control of these 'registrations' are often delegated to the National Aero Clubs, or Air Sport or Microlight organisations instead of the main airworthiness authorities, and information is often difficult to obtain.
These problems are compounded by semantics in
France and Belgium. In France, the ULM aircraft marks are
officially regarded as "identifiers" and not as
"registrations". The French official website: http://www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/Obtenir-ou-renouveler-une-Licence,10440.html
says: "Les ULM nétant pas immatriculés, mais identifiés; un indicatif dappel "F-J " est attribué lors de la délivrance de la licence". This says that, in addition to their identifiers, aircraft with fixed radio installations are issued with Aircraft Station Licences (LSA) and assigned separate radio callsigns, in the format of F-Jxxx pseudo-registrations. These are occasionally painted on airframes or more often taped on the dash panel. Where known, these callsigns are included here in square brackets. This website page also covers the allocation of Mode S Transponder codes to ULMs. Where portable hand-held radios are used, primarily but not exclusively in weight-shifts, then the F-J callsign is allocated to that equipment and registered in the name of its owner, and in these cases can be used in different aircraft. Similarly in Belgium: ULM's are issued with OO-xxx alphanumeric registrations and were also given OQ-xxx alphabetic radio callsigns. The rules were changed in 2014 so that a Belgian ultralight with a fixed radio installation now uses its registration as callsign, with OQ- callsigns now only used for hand-held radios.
In France, the numeric prefixes to ULM identifiers are the Departement numbers of airfields where aircraft are based (or of the owners' home addresses for paramoteurs). These numbers have been in use since Napoleonic times for a variety of official purposes, more recently including vehicle registrations and post-codes. ULM aircraft identifiers are issued by offices in the 22 Regions which cover small groups of Departements, See: https://monespaceulm.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/ZEUS_WEB/FR/PageCorrespondant.awp
The limits defining a Microlight or Ultralight vary between countries. In much of Europe, for a two-seat land-plane it is 992 lb/450 kg max weight and 35 kt stall speed. In much of the rest of the world, it is 1200 lb/544 kg and 45 kt stall. Australia and NZ initially used these limits, but the weight limit was raised in about 2010 to 1320 lb/600 kg, in line with the USA Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) category, and re-labelled as such. In Canada, the relevant category is the AULA (Advanced Ultra-Light Aircraft) for which the limits are 1232 lb/560 kg and 39 kt stall. The FAI uses the 450 kg weight limit without a stall-speed limit to define a two-seat land-plane Microlight for international competition purposes. Similarly the weight and stall-speed limits for single seat and floatplane microlights are different and vary between countries.
In several countries many older amateur-built small aircraft, which were originally on the main registers, have been transferred to the separate subsequently-created ultralight/microlight/LSA registers.
Having been both a regular Jodel pilot and interested in aircraft history for many years, I have been researching a production list of the Jodel family. This started out many years ago as a proposed appendix to a book by somebody else on the history of Jodels. The book was never completed, but I continued to update the listings I had started and the results are here. It includes all models in the evolution from the 1948-vintage Jodel D9 to the latest D20 and Robin DR500 and DR401, both amateur-built and commercially produced, worldwide. I have also compiled a registration cross-index.
The index to the Jodel lists, along with acknowledgements to the many sources and people who have helped, are on the Jodel Index page.
Special thanks to Joel Thomas who has provided a complete listing from company sources of CEA/Robin production data including factory line numbers.
This section was first loaded in December 2001 and has been regularly updated.
In addition to their family of Jodel-derived
models, Avions Pierre Robin produced some metal and composite
types, designed by Chris Heinz and Pierre Robin. There are five
R-200 family (Part 1),
R-200 family (Part 2),
R-3000 & misc,
They have also been added to the Registration cross-reference listings in the Jodel section.
This section was added in March 2004 and has been regularly updated.
'NORD' NC-830 to NC-860 FAMILY
I had friends who owned various Nord NC-854's and I have flown them. This led me to constructing a production list which covers about 280 aircraft. The first part is SNCAC/SNCAN NC-830/860 family while the second part covers the enlarged, mainly military NC-856 family. Production dates back to 1949 and there were many type re-designations due to engine changes.
This list was originally complied in 2001. It was updated in October 2009 to incorporate data summarised from a definitive and more detailed listing serialised in the magazine of the French aviation historical society Trait d'Union.
VICTA/A.E.S.L./P.A.C. AIRTOURER & AIRTRAINER FAMILY
I learned to fly on Airtourers at Biggin Hill in 1971-72, and I have made some visits to New Zealand. Therefore it was a natural follow-on to compile a list of the Airtourer and Airtrainer Family. This section was added in March 2004 and has been regularly updated.
P.A.C./P.A.L. FLETCHER FU-24 & CRESCO & 750XL FAMILY
Again, interest in New Zealand-built aircraft led to compilation of a production list of the Fletcher FU-24 and the Cresco and 750XL families of agricultural and utility aircraft. This section was added in March 2004 and has been regularly updated.
NEW ZEALAND & OTHER PACIFIC HISTORIC CIVIL AIRCRAFT REGISTERS
Following visits to New Zealand, I found that there was a lack of available information on the historic New Zealand Civil Aircraft Register, so I started compiling my own in the late 1980's. The NZ register is complex because of extensive reuse, while cancellation and reassignment often occurs on the same day. Some NZ registrations have now flown on seven different airframes, and some airframes have had six different NZ registrations, so dates of changes are particularly important.
The listings have also now been extended to cover the independent Pacific Island registers.
The index, along with acknowledgements and notes, are on the New Zealand & Pacific Islands Register Index Page.
This NZ register and the first few Pacific Island registers in this section were first loaded in September 2008 while the rest of the minor Pacific Island registers were added in January 2013. The NZ register is usually updated monthly, but for the others, changes are infrequent and data is difficult to obtain, so they are updated whenever any new information comes to light.
OTHER RELATED WEBSITES
As far as I am aware, the information I have published does not directly duplicate anything available in book form from enthusiast organisations and specialist publishers, or on other web-sites. There are several web-sites dealing with current national registers, airliners and executive jets, but not many covering light aircraft or historic registers. There are several basic historic aircraft registers available from Pascal Brugier's website, also a historic German register plus production lists for Socata, Reims-Cessna, and several models of helicopter on Dave Lenton's website. A comprehensive list of other register and production-list web-sites can be found on Howard Curtis's AirNet web-site.
I also maintain an extensive UK and world-wide aviation event listing on the Royal Aero Club website . To update this listing, I welcome news of aviation events of all types, anywhere in the world.