I just came across this profile with a comment I made in 2007. The aircraft manufacturer says "McDonnell" but it should be "McDonnell-Douglas". I noticed that there are others where I did the same thing.

74-0124

75-0045

I have fixed these but in each case there was an identical entry containing Avro Vulcan images.

XL445 in the case of 75-0045 and XM279 in the case of 74-0124.

I have safely hangared the Vulcans but we either have a gremlin in the database or ...... !

Thanks Glenn.

Malcolm.

Wow! When I just looked at them there wasn't any Vulcans with them!

In each case, I entered the McDD rename and the entry was refused because of the existence of such a data selection already in the database and an airframe reference was given.

But Glenn, as you are well aware, there have been and probably still are some bizarre entries in the db so I was not surprised - although this one did sound like a computer error of some kind.

We will get there but I have no doubt we have much yet to do.

Malcolm.

I am impressed with how much the admin team gets accomplished. This site has grown exponentially in the 4 1/2 years I've been watching it. It seems to be an almost 24/7 job to keep it accurate!

That was about the time I uploaded a Nieuport replica biplane spotted at Duxford, only to find it described as a Spring Jack Celebrity in the FAA register - lets not go there again!

Yes, we now have a two pronged attack, with corrections from members such as yourself and the direct attack on the db from admin.

At the moment I'm concentrating on UK military, more than enough for now!

Incidentally, can one take for granted that the first two USAF numerals indicate the year of manufacture, i.e. 52-XXXX = 1952 or can there be a gap between manufacture and register dates?

Malcolm.

The dates on USAF/US Army serials are the Fiscal Year the funds were appropriated. In some years where there is heavy aircraft production, such as WWII, FY and manufacturing year will usually be the same. However, often funds are appropriated quite a few years before the actual first flight of a type, so that the first model can be not even close to the same year. Then others can be authorized once a type is selected, and the production starts. All the planes paid for in that FY may take a while to leave the production line.

For the most part, that FY becomes a "circa" year, but it's the best we have without having the actual data plate or other information from the plane. I think having it there for a "circa" date is good.

Now, if only there was a way to know the years for the Navy/USMC/USCG numbers!

Oh dear, nothing's simple Glenn but thanks for the explanation.

I am in the process of sorting out Spitfires and Hurricanes and it isn't a question of what is correct or not as in many cases the info appears not to exist, particularly cn's!

Nihil carborundum!

Malcolm.