updated 01-Dec-2024

About rotorspot.nl


abbreviations & symbology
The Rotorspot data records include specific abbreviations and symbology, which may not be fully self-explanatory.
abbreviations

b/u

cnx

dbf

gtv

i/a

broken up

cancelled

destroyed by fire

ground test vehicle

instruct. airframe

n/b

ntu

prs

wfu

w/o

not built

not taken up

preserved

withdrawn from use

written off

symbology
row with hatch lines
Bell 47 28 N915B cnx
meaning: rotorcraft not active

N2Z Bell 47G CD-1 N2Z, N2ZB
meaning: registration/serial not active
..??..
example: ..??.., N599HF
meaning: registration/serial unknown (if any at all)
registration/serial in parentheses
example: (OY-HIP)
meaning: allocated reservation
registration/serial in single quotes
example: 'HB-XRE'
meaning: unofficial registration/serial
registration/serial followed by number in brackets
example: F-AZAC[2]
meaning: sequence number for registration/serial, including reservations
(when rotorcraft returns to its previous registration/serial and in the meantime that registration/serial has not been used on another aircraft, the sequence number remains unchanged; otherwise, the sequence number is increased accordingly)
registrations/serials separated by forward slash
examples: (PS-HUH/PS-UHH); PNP-303(OB)/N1236P
meaning: multiple registrations/serials allocated or used simultaneously
registrations/serials with the word 'and' in between
example: F-ZKCC and F-WWOP
meaning: both registrations/serials valid, but correct order unknown
registrations/serials with the words 'and/or' in between
example: TJ-ABB and/or TR-KCX
meaning: only one, or both registration(s)/serial(s) valid
registrations/serials with the word 'or' in between
example: F-WZFA or F-WXFA
meaning: only one registration/serial valid, but unclear which one
registration preceded by nationality mark in brackets
example: [F-]2BCP
meaning: country to which civil registration belongs
serial followed by nationality mark or country name in parentheses
examples: N5032(PT); 2200(Rhodesia)
meaning: country to which military serial belongs
serial followed by two nationality marks separated by vertical bar
example: 85-25430(N|PH)
meaning: owner's country and operator's country
rotorcraft type between parentheses and single quotes
example: ('H125')
meaning: marketing (= commercial) designation
owner
I graduated as aeronautical engineer from Delft University in Sep-1982. From Feb-1985 until my early retirement in Jul-2021 I was employed at the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) in Amsterdam, working on rotorcraft related topics. Activities ranged from flight performance to flying qualities, from pre-design to flight testing, from operational support to flight simulations, from flight safety to teaching drone operators, etc.
My hobby started as being an aircraft spotter. Once the decision had been made to concentrate on rotorcraft, I started building a civil rotorcraft registrations database. Eventually this evolved into the worldwide Rotorspot database, containing both civil and military rotorcraft.
rotorcraft
'Rotorcraft' to this respect means "a heavier-than-air aircraft that depends principally for its support in flight on the lift generated by one or more rotors" (EASA aircraft classification). Therefore, the Rotorspot database and website exclude all aircraft types with lifting propellers. Furthermore, unmanned rotorcraft below 150 kg are excluded (EASA's initial regulatory framework used this mass value as a lower limit for unmanned aircraft being subject to EU regulation).
database
The Rotorspot database contains worldwide registration data for civil and military rotorcraft. The database includes information on registration (civil) or serial (military), rotorcraft type (the manufacturer being listed as the company that initially designed it), construction number, registration history (oldest to latest), and final fate. There is no owner/operator information in the database. The database is continuously updated with information from various sources (see credits page).
website
The Rotorspot website publishes data extracted from the database. On this website one can find current (active) and historical (complete) civil rotorcraft registers for every country in the world, complete production lists for a growing range of rotorcraft types, and a searchable rotorcraft database (civil and military). The main purpose of this website is to provide quick and easy access to rotorcraft registration data.
Rotorcraft register and production data can be downloaded as comma-separated (CSV) text files. When loading these files into a spreadsheet, select 'Text' format for all columns.
From the best of my knowledge, this website's contents do not duplicate anything publicly available in book form or on other websites. National aircraft registers or rotorcraft production lists that are published in books and on websites, are in different formats.
The Rotorspot website uses (a limited amount of) JavaScript and has been tested for proper displaying in various browsers. All CSS, HTML and PHP coding on the website has been validated for standards compliance using appropriate tools (see colophon here below). Although this guarantees a website without coding format errors, it does not guarantee an error-free appearance in different browsers. If problems of any kind are encountered, feel free to inform me, and the issue will be corrected as soon as possible.
disclaimer
The Rotorspot database and website are private initiatives that have no link with commercial organisations. Rotorspot.nl reserves the right not to accept any liability, nor to be responsible for the content of external links. All Rotorspot registration data can be used freely (with due credit to www.rotorspot.nl), but strictly for non-commercial applications.
colophon
Database and website maintenance : Jos Stevens
Initial release of Rotorspot website : 01-Sep-1999
Official release of www.rotorspot.nl : 01-Jul-2009
technologies
CSS validated by https://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
Valid CSS
HTML validated by https://validator.w3.org/
Valid HTML 4.01 Strict
PHP validated by https://phpcodechecker.com
PHP
XML validated by https://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_validator.asp
XML
© 1999-2024 Jos Stevens / Rotorspot; all rights reserved (disclaimer)