Aircraft Bureau (Buro) Numbers
Information Page
|
| | Main Page | Top Tiger Photos | Mustang Photos | | Unit (History) Reports | | Stories about the 68th | Unit Helicopters | |
| BURO #s
|
Aircraft Bureau Numbers Military aircraft have been assigned identification numbers since 1911. In 1922 the system was standardized through the military. Each serial number or Bureau Number (BuNos or Buro number) consisted of a base number corresponding to the last two digits of the Fiscal (FY) year in which money was used to manufacture the aircraft, and a sequence number indicating the sequential order in which the particular aircraft was ordered within that particular year. Following the splitoff of the USAF from the US Army; beginning in FY 1967, the Army began using serials beginning with 15000 for each FY, so Army aircraft could usually be distinguished from USAF aircraft by their high serial numbers. In FY 1971, the Army went over to a new serial series, which started at 20000 and had continued consecutively since them. This change lead to a lot of confusion. In late 1940’s it was common practice to place the last 3 digits of the Buro number on the tail but in the 1960’s this was expanded to the last 4 or 5 numbers. Sometimes the numbers were changed to place the second digit of the fiscal (FY) year as the first digit of the tail number. This practice lead to a lot of confusion. Example: helicopter UH-1D 64-13526 could have the following tail numbers. 64-13526 Early 1960’s the tail # would have been 3526 Mid 1960’s the tail # would have been 13526 Late 1960’s was changed to 43526 or 4526 You say I can tell you the first numbers of my ship because of the year it was built. Not so fast, I flew an H model with the number 13546 so the first two numbers must be 67 or 68 because H models were not built until late 1967. Well there is an exception to every rule. A UH-1D huey went into rework as a D model and came out an H model but retained it's original buro number of 64-13546. Thus they model will not always help you in determining the first two numbers. |
| Main Page | Top Tiger Photos | Mustang Photos | | 391st Maint Det. | Top Tiger Tail | 282nd Signal Det. | 430th Medical Det. |
|
List of Unit Members |
Members Biographies |
In Memory "Our Fallen Heroes" |
Members Individual Awards |
|
VA Information
|
Military Quotes |
Privacy Statement |
How to Contribute to this site |
Facts about the Vietnam Conflict
|
| ||
|
|