World Air Forces - Explanations

Each countries list is broken down into a:

      10                                 (1st aircraft)  [1910 first aircraft received]

      1307                             (Government Authorized establishment of Air Force)
                                           [July 1913]
F    140929-                       Fuerza Aerea [Air Force "F" established Sept.
                                           (Air Force)   29th 1914 and official name at
                                           that time with english translation underneath]

=============            [end of that services history section]

-------------------------         [a subsection of that service]
 

a. In the listing of the abbreviations for the different services "F" will stand for the main force used in the defense of the country. Most Air Forces started out as part of the Army, then as aircraft abilities increased and the need was shown for a separate entity they changed their name to just plain Air Force instead of Army Air Force. To avoid confusion with the Army aviation elements present today. The Army Air Force of the 20s and 30s is not the same organization as the current air components of the Army today. Their missions are dissimilar. Whereas the mission of the Army Air Force of the 20s/30s is very similar to today's Air Force.       b. Then in "[]" will include for reference the civil markings prefixes. Sometimes with the years in effect.

B. Aircraft List Section
 

a. Company: Most will be spelled out completely some will use abbreviations due to space constraints.  The company abbreviations can be found in the company section of this site.       b. (LM) License Manufacturer: will indicated those companies that produced the same aircraft as the original company.       c. Aircraft: Will use the most common designation for easy of finding this aircraft.  Might be the companies designation or the militaries designation. Aircraft will be listed in alphabetical or numerical order which ever is clearer in that companies case.       d. (LM aircraft designation): The License Manufacturers designation if there is another one.       e. Popular Name: The name associated with this aircraft and also the local name if any preceded by a comma. Also a "?" located after the name will question the use of this aircraft. A "?" located elsewhere or in "()" means questionable use of only that part. i.e.. Farman (?) means I found reference to use of a Farman aircraft but not what type.       f. Service use: The service that used this aircraft enclosed with a {}:

 

       The following the codes used:

       A = Army
       B = Border Guard
       C = Coast Guard
       D = [Domestic], {SPN} in other words a military aircraft
           built by that country but not used by that country.
       F = Air Force
       G = Government
       H = Presidential
       L = Airline
       M = Marine
       N = Navy
       P = Police
       R = Royal Flight
       T = National Guard
       V = Civilian
        ------------

       The following used as needed by individual countries

       E = NEI, SPN
       I = AUS, IDO
       J = JOR, LBR
       K = SWE, TUR
       O = SPN (not Zero/0)
       Q = SPN
       S = ARG, AUS, BAH, ITL, ELS
       U = CRO
       W = AUS, TUN, NET
       X = AUS, BRZ, LAO, NIG, UGA, ITL, LUX, CSR, SPN
       Y = MLW, HUN
       Z = HUN, ITL, IRN, LAT, MOZ, SPN
 

g. Domestically Produced Aircraft: A "*" so you can quickly see which aircraft in the list were produced by that country. Followed by year of first flight. *35 = first flight 1935.       h. Taken On Strength: The dates used in these lists are basically service dates not just the dates it was used on first line strength, but its use in any military flying capacity. For example lets say an aircraft was produced in 23 a picture was taken of it then in military markings for delivery. It was delivered to final customer in 24. Then finally taken on strength in 25. What date to use? If someone sees a picture dated 23 the list states 24 it will be perplexing to that person. I have tried in cases like this to use the date it was first in country. Also the date of retirement is usually never mentioned in stories about an aircraft. Allot of aircraft after fulfilling first line strength positions are then relegated to more mundane tasks out of the limelight and then are retired quietly. Many books keep listing them as on strength instead of trying to find out if they are still in use. Maybe an aircraft was used 23/45 but all the information I have is 27/38 which is what's shown in the lists. Hopefully the experts will correct those entries. Sometimes an aircraft was used then retired then used again. Such as 23/37, 39/45 this will be shown as 23,45 to indicate a break in service. A slash before or after this section will indicate that it was probably used before or after these dates. "/23/45 or 23/45/". An aircraft ordered in 1983 will be shown as "(o83)". Informational entry such as 73ca means this entry was around/circa 1973, mainly for aircraft not taken on charge.       i. Number of Aircraft Received: This number will indicate total number of airframes received. Lets say 50 aircraft were taken on charge but also 20 aircraft were received to be used as spares sources. Will show 70 aircraft as the total received. A "()" around the number will indicate modified aircraft. A "+" will indicated at least that many received maybe more. A ":" means approximate number. Sometimes in the sources I have found they state a "few or several or a number" were received. Then I would put their word in the list as "few/sev./a#"         Because I couldn't put brackets in the computer I have used letters in the case where the source said aircraft A & B received a total of 150 airframes.  So in the list I show:

 

          Aircraft A  35a150
          Aircraft B  67a
 
 

which means Aircraft A was at least 35 out of the 150 and Aircraft B was at least 67. In the lists have tried to use the letters alphabetically, not using "I" or "O".       j. The last column was my proof column.  When I started these lists I didn't put in where I had found this entry. So some remain blank to this day.       k. All the way to the right if a "|" is shown means this entry has been updated from the orig. or last version.

       "." = means I know where I found this information
        "*" = I have some sort of positive proof (Picture or Serial Number)
        "x" = have some sort of identifying number a c/n or s/n or previous identity or new identity.
        "S" = means I have identifying number for all the aircraft
        "P" = I have a picture of the aircraft in my library
        "d" = means I have a black & white side drawing of this aircraft
        "D" = means I have a color side view drawing of this aircraft
        "|"  = means this entry has been updated

      AIRCRAFT INCLUDED IN THESE LISTS
 
 

1. Aircraft officially taken on strength by the F,N,A, or others defined in the Service History Section.       2. Aircraft built in country but not accepted by their originating country. i.e. a Bomber built in prototype form but not used by originating country. Will use [D] to indicate Domestic not service use.       3. Aircraft ordered but not yet received. (o98) = ordered 1998. In the Service Years column will show 99?/ to indicate estimated entry of service year. Aircraft ordered in markings but never delivered. i.e. ISR Dassault Mystere IIC they were ordered, they were in ISR markings but never delivered.  So if you see a picture of it you will know from the list what happened. In the service year column it will be shown as 65ca = 1965 circa.       4. Aircraft captured and marked in that countries colors "[cim]" = captured in markings.       5. Aircraft used by the Government {G}, Police {P}, etc. where sometimes the line between Military and Civil is very thin.       6. Aircraft of the Heads of State.       7. Aircraft that are not connected to the ground (Observation Balloons, tethered to the ground) and controlled by a man. i.e.. Airships (Balloons, Dirigibles, Blimps), Gliders/Sailplanes, Ultralights. The only exception is the early years of aviation use of ground based training planes. Either under powered or short wings so they couldn't leave the ground.       8. Aircraft in a country owned and operated by another country but marked in that countries markings. i.e.. Russian aircraft used in Egypt. They were owned an operated by Russia but in Egyptian markings.       9. I will include a "Never Used List" for all those aircraft that over the years have been published and republished as fact. So hopefully this will be a place to put your favorite fairy tales to rest.

C. Source Section

      a. Books: A listing of the major works I have that I have referenced.

      b. Articles: I use a short hand of:

       AC         =    Air Classics
       APic       =    Air Pictorial
       AI          =    Air International
       AFMo    =    Air Forces Monthly
       AEQ      =    Air Enthusiast Quarterly
       APW     =    Air Power/Wings
       C&C     =    Cross & Cockade
       FI          =    Flight International
       FRI       =    Flying Review International
       WAPJ   =    World Air Power Journal
       WoF      =     Wings of Fame
 
 

generally I use the short hand of the Vol. in front of the magazine and the date after.  23AI98MR113 {F} = Vol. 23 Air International 1998 March page 113 article on the Air Force.

       JA = January
       FE = February
       MR = March
       AP = April
       MY = May
       JN = June
       JL = July
       AU = August
       SE = September
       OC = October
       NO = November
       DE = December

D. Maps with airfield locations:

      [currently unable to put on the web till I get a scanner]
 

a. Basic map locating the military airfields of that country. I use a dot to show its location with a number, cross-referenced to an alphabetical listing of the airbases. A "x" means I'm not sure of its exact location. I hope for you to use your atlas to find its location easily by the use of this map. So hope to use the current city's name with the name of the Air Base next in the alphabetical listing of airbases.       b. I have read many a history book on aviation and they say the aircraft took off from a and bombed the airfield at b. Then they never have a map that shows all the locations mentioned in the text. Sometimes they have a map but as a general rule when I go looking for a place mentioned in the text its not on the map.       c. These maps are to be used for all airfields used in the course of their aviation history to base military aircraft on. This doesn't mean just current airfields but all the disused airfields for historical reference.       d. These maps will indicate all border changes through the years of military aviation history. i.e. Poland its shape has changed drastically from the start of military aviation in Poland too today's shape.

 

E. Company History Section:
 
 

a. I have made up a block/geneology diagram of all aircraft manufacturing companies. So if you are looking for an aircraft with a certain company name. It might be in the lists with a different name which you can find on these diagrams.

       i.e.. Vought will be the name in the lists for the aircraft of:

       Lewis & Vought
       Chance Vought
       Vought-Sikorsky
       Ling-Temco-Vought
       LTV Aerospace Corp.

       Percival                      145 Jet Provost [built]
       Hunting Percival        145 Jet Provost [First Flight]
       Hunting                      145 Jet Provost
       BAC                           145 Jet Provost
       BAe                            145 Jet Provost [Current]
 
 

So in the lists I have made some arbitrary choices. Which I have found useful to make sense out of finding one particular aircraft. The block diagram will help to find other company names in reference to an aircraft. In the case of the Tu-4 I list it as        Boeing(Tupolev) B-29 Superfortress(Tu-4), Bull to be read        Boeing B-29 Superfortress        Tupolev Tu-4, Bull        In this particular case the Tu-4 was not a license manufactured aircraft although almost an exact duplicate down to the rivets. I have made a few exceptions. i.e. deH(Airco) D.H.4 and SNIAS for Aerospatiale, Sud Alouette.

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