letters and numbers

[fireball45]

what are the purposes of these letters and numbers on aircraft? iirc the big letters are for positioning in a formation and the little numbers are the serial number. but why is there a letter before the serial number and why is it different on some aircraft? are the letters meant to represent batches? and what big letters correspond to which positions in a formation? I'm kind of new to the ww2 aviation scene so I unfortunately have yet to fill my mind library with stuff and any information would help me a lot

thx

 

[fubar57]

First two letters are the squadron codes. AF being 294 or 607 Squadron depending on time frame. F is the aircraft letter. The serial number under the tail, N is the production letter the aircraft was made and the number is the aircraft place in that order I believe

 

[fireball45]

First two letters are the squadron codes. AF being 294 or 607 Squadron depending on time frame. F is the aircraft letter. The serial number under the tail, N is the production letter the aircraft was made and the number is the aircraft place in that order I believe

what does an aircraft letter signify?

 

[fubar57]

I can't recall how many aircraft in a squadron but aircraft letter A was the first aircraft. If that aircraft was shot down or replaced, the replacement aircraft would be come A

 

[rednev]

what does an aircraft letter signify?

as fubar says any pilot could fly any aircraft in any position . pilots usually had a regular mount but if it was undergoing maitenence they flew whatever aircraft was avaliabel.
however squdron leaders could if they wanted to use their initals on their normal mount ie jonnie johson (james edgar johnson ) used JE J .

 

[mjfur]

Code Development_P

RAF Squadron Codes during WWII - Paul Veauvy

Squadron codes used by RAF during World War II.

p.v.free.fr

If 294 Sqdn had 12 aircraft they could/would be marked as AF*A thru AF*L. As said above the smaller serial number was specific to that aircraft only. Just like the VIN on your car.
If AF*A was shot down they would get a new aircraft with a different serial number and mark it as AF*A.

 

[MikeMeech]

what are the purposes of these letters and numbers on aircraft? iirc the big letters are for positioning in a formation and the little numbers are the serial number. but why is there a letter before the serial number and why is it different on some aircraft? are the letters meant to represent batches? and what big letters correspond to which positions in a formation? I'm kind of new to the ww2 aviation scene so I unfortunately have yet to fill my mind library with stuff and any information would help me a lot

thx

Hi
There is this book that details the subject:

I hope thatis of use.
Mike

 

[EwenS]

as fubar says any pilot could fly any aircraft in any position . pilots usually had a regular mount but if it was undergoing maitenence they flew whatever aircraft was avaliabel.
however squdron leaders could if they wanted to use their initals on their normal mount ie jonnie johson (james edgar johnson ) used JE J .

Not squadron commanding officers. They used their squadron codes.

It was commanding officers of wings (i.e. a formation containing multiple squadrons) or larger formations flying operationally that got to use personalised aircraft codes.

Johnson took command of 127 Wing after Christmas 1942 and selected Spitire Mk.IX serial EN398 in March 1943 which seems to have been the first to carry his personalised code JE-J

Douglas Bader as CO of the Tangmere Wing in 1941 used D-B on his Spitfire and again in 1945 post war but this time as DB forward of the roundel.

Ian Gleed as CO of 244 Wing in North Africa in 1942/3 used IR-G

Stanislaw Skalski, a Pole, used SS on his Mustang III in early 1944 when commanding 133 Wing. His successor later in 1944 was a chap by the name of ? Nowierski who used TN on his mount.

The whole system of squadron codes can get very complicated. For example when war broke out there was a wholesale change of squadron letters as a security measure to confuse the enemy. During WW2 changes of code by squadrons was not unknown. For example 617 squadron used AJ in 1943 but later changed to KC. Overseas many RAF squadrons carried no squadron letters, just aircraft letters. And later the same squadron letters could be used simultaneously in different theatres forcing changes if squadrons moved between theatres. And Coastal Command had its own aircraft coding system for a good part of WW2. Initially some letters (I & C for example) were not used to avoid confusion. Later as demand for letter combinations increased, particularly with the arrival of USAAF units those letters had to be used as were letter/number squadron code combinations.

In Bomber Command as aircraft numbers on an individual squadron increased beyond the letters of the alphabet, a third C flight might be formed using a different squadron code. Alternatively to allow the same aircraft letter to be used twice on a squadron, a horizontal bar would be used above / below the aircraft letter on one to differentiate it from the other.

Entire books have been written on the subject.

 

[fireball45]

thanks guys for responding!! <3 you wouldn't happen to know which letters right of the roundel corresponded to which positions in a flight, would you?

 

[mjfur]

thanks guys for responding!! <3 you wouldn't happen to know which letters right of the roundel corresponded to which positions in a flight, would you?

The individual aircraft letter (right of the roundel) had nothing to do with position in a flight. The positions in a flight are based on which pilots are flying not the aircraft letter.
e.g. The Sqdn leaders wingman typically the number #2 position could be flying aircraft "A" or "Z".

Hawker Hurricanes flying in line abreast during WW2 Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: Hawker Hurricanes flying in line abreast during WW2 - 2R5TBD5 from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

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[fireball45]

The individual aircraft letter (right of the roundel) had nothing to do with position in a flight. The positions in a flight are based on which pilots are flying not the aircraft letter.
e.g. The Sqdn leaders wingman typically the number #2 position could be flying aircraft "A" or "Z".

Hawker Hurricanes flying in line abreast during WW2 Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: Hawker Hurricanes flying in line abreast during WW2 - 2R5TBD5 from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

www.alamy.com

oh dang