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Section 3. AIRCRAFT-TYPE DESIGNATORS

1-3-1. MILITARY AIRCRAFT-TYPE DESIGNATORS

 a. For air traffic control purposes, only the principal elements of each military aircraft designation, Basic Mission/Type Symbol and Design Number, shall be used. The combination of these elements is limited to four (4) characters.

 b. The Basic Mission/Type Symbol is an alphabetical letter denoting the primary function or capability of an aircraft. The symbols used are as follows:

A

Attack

B

Bomber

C

Cargo/Transport

E

Special Electronic Installation

F

Fighter

H¹

Helicopter

K

Tanker

O

Observation

P

Patrol

R

Reconnaissance

S

Antisubmarine

T

Trainer

U

Utility

V¹

VTOL and STOL

W

Weather Reconnaissance

X

Research

Z

Airship

NOTE-
The letters H and V are also used as special mission symbols (H-Rescue aircraft; V-VIP aircraft) in which case they precede the basic type symbol, e.g. HC-130, VC-137, HH-52A.

 c. A Design Number is assigned to each basic airplane. Design Numbers may be 1 through 999.

NOTE-
A new Design Number will be assigned when an existing airplane is redesigned or modified, either in appearance or operation, to such extent that the new design no longer reflects the design configuration or capability.

1-3-2. CIVIL AIRCRAFT-TYPE DESIGNATORS

New designators will only be assigned to new type aircraft and to those modifications, or different models of a type, when the weight category or stopping distance group change.

1-3-3. REQUESTS FOR AIRCRAFT-TYPE DESIGNATORS

Requests for aircraft-type designators are to be submitted to FAA Headquarters, System Operations Services/System Operations Airspace and AIM Office, 800 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20591. All requests must include enough data to substantiate the need for establishing a new aircraft-type designator. Requests concerning foreign manufactured aircraft should be submitted to the state of manufacture.