Portuguese military aircraft serials

Some aircraft that were acquired and offered to Portugal, even before the organization of the military aviation as an entity, never received serials, being only identified by their own names.

In 1914, with the foundation of the Escola de Aeronáutica Militar (School of Military Aeronautic) a serial sequential system by aircraft type was implemented.

In 1935, with the Administrative Regulation 172 of March 16, 1935 of the 3rd Division of the Direcção da Arma de Aeronáutica (Directorate of the Army Aviation), serials began to be assigned in blocks of numbers with three digits each.

However, this system was not well understood by some air bases which thought that a certain group of serials had been assigned to the airfield and not to the aircraft.

After the military aeronautic restructuring of 1937, a new block numbering system was implemented with the Administrative Regulation 642 of June 3, 1938.

Also it was stated that the changes should be implemented as soon as possible, and that aircraft should maintain their serial numbers even when transferred to other bases.

A special alpha-number serial system was assigned during World War II to some aircraft that were forced to land in Portugal and were ultimately interned and later incorporated in the Aeronáutica Militar.

In 1946 these aircraft were transferred and assigned to the Unidade de Instrução Aeronáutica (Aeronautical Training Unit).

With the implementation of Regulation 13602 of July 11, 1951, these aircraft also received numbers in the new system, and in May 1952 some of them were transferred to the Portuguese Air Force.

It was the case of the Miles Magister (12**), Airspeed Oxford (21**), Avro Anson (22**), and de Havilland DH-84 Dragon (23**).

This system began being implemented in 1917 with the F.B.A hydroplanes, which consisted in the assignment of the natural numbering sequence (1,2,3, ...) to each aircraft type.

In some cases, a second number was assigned to each aircraft to represent its position within the naval fleet, thus allowing an easier identification.

A F-16A OCU fighter, with the serial number 15112, of the Portuguese Air Force at the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford, Gloucestershire, England.
Portuguese De Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth using the block numbering system
A Portuguese Navy Lynx Mk-95 helicopter, 19204, in accordance with the integrated system for the serial number.
Cessna T-37 Tweet, serial number 2424, of the PoAF with the painting scheme of the Asas de Portugal .
A PoAF' F-84G Thunderjet , with the serial number 5177, refueling in Angola. The whole number is painted on the tail, with the last three digits painted on the front fuselage in large numbers.
A PoAF's UH-19 helicopter, with serial number 8101, at the Air Museum.
An F-16 Fighting Falcon , with the serial number 15101, of the Portuguese Air Force prepares to refuel from a KC-10. March 19, 1999