Aircraft Registration Database Research - An Aircraft Spotters Guide

Aircraft Registration Database Research - An Aircraft Spotters Guide

Aircraft spotting is a massive hobby across the entire Earth. It is a kind of collector's hobby where people look for aircraft at various airports and document or photograph what they find. Aircraft spotters will often visit airports whenever they travel and spend time watching aircraft movements, the information they gather is often uploaded into databases or forums where other spotters share what they find.

An aeroplane, although it is a machine, is an awe inspiring one, a great technological achievement of mankind to enable us to travel almost anywhere on Earth fast. The fascination with aviation is found from the very first flights ever conducted by the Wright Brothers and went on to become a romantic inspiring thing to do - fly a plane. Many people may not be able to fly a plane, sometimes due to physical / medical reasons, or possibly just financial constraints, aviation is a very expensive hobby. Often people turn to aircraft spotting as a way of being involved in aviation without the cost. When spotters record and share aircraft movements from all over the world, they are creating a network of information of what aircraft is going where and sometimes even why it is going, maybe even detailing the cargo. As part of telling the aircraft movement story, its life story perhaps, aircraft spotters will photograph different aircraft and post the pictures on websites along with where and when the aircraft was spotted. For a spotter to be equipped with the required information they need access to the best possible research tools, one of which is the ability to easily search for aircraft registration database information.

An aircraft registration database contains information pertaining to the registration mark of an aircraft. Often the civil aviation authorities will make the registration information available to the public, this information contains items such as the registration mark itself, the aircraft manufacturer, the year it was built, and its current owner and or operator. Other items that may be available depend on the country the aircraft comes from, items such as aircraft weight, number of engines and type of engine, range, type of aircraft are often displayed.

Each country has its own designated civil aircraft registration number format, the USA format is often referred to as the N number as the FAA registration format always starts with an N. In Australia all aircraft registrations start with VH- then 3 letters, for example VH-ABC, New Zealand starts with ZK, Canadian Aircraft registration all start with a C. Aircraft Spotters often know these codes from memory, though the number of aircraft registered is growing and changing at a rapid rate.

When spotting aircraft, look for the registration mark, it is always under the wing and on the vertical stabiliser or fin. Then you need a good registration database to use as a reference, find a good database that allows you to search for as many countries as possible in the one location, the database should also be easy to use, fast, and of course mobile capable. Record you data and post your findings online in your favourite forum, there are plenty out there, they will also guide you to the best viewing positions at airports around the world. Finally, if you photographic skills are up there, you can even sell your cool pictures, a great way to make some money from your hobby.