Construction number locations (H-L)

From Scramble - The Aviation Magazine

Introduction

Construction numbers (c/n), also called Manufacturer Serial Numbers (MSN), are the prime way to identify a specific airframe. In contrast to the registration (or tail number), the c/n does not change, even when owner changes occur.

(note: all 'left' and 'right' indications are as you look from tail to nose).

Construction number locations

Manufacturers A to B

Manufacturers C to D

Manufacturers E to G

Manufacturers M

Manufacturers N to R

Manufacturers S

Manufacturers T to Z

National regulations

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Handley Page 2.1 HP-137 Jetstream 3 Harbin 3.1 Y12 4 Hawker Siddeley 4.1 Trident 5 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited 5.1 HAL Dhruv 6 Hunting Percival 6.1 Jet Provost & Strikemaster 7 Ikarus 8 Ilyushin 8.1 Il-14 8.2 Il-18 (and variants) 8.3 Il-38 8.4 Il-62 8.5 Il-76 8.6 Il-86 8.7 Il-103 8.8 Il-114 9 Kamov 9.1 Ka-15 9.2 Ka-18 9.3 Ka-26 9.4 Ka-27, Ka-28, Ka-29, Ka-31 & Ka-32 9.5 Ka-50 9.6 Ka-226 10 Let 10.1 L-410 Turbolet 11 Lockheed 11.1 C-130A to C-130H Hercules 11.2 C-130J Hercules 11.3 F-104 Starfighter 11.4 T-33 Shooting Star

Handley Page

HP-137 Jetstream

At least with the Jetstream 41, the construction number plate is located on the left-hand side of the ventral fin at the rear of the fuselage.

Harbin

Y12

The construction number plate is found on the left side of the rear fuselage, under or just in front of the horizontal stabilizer.

Sample of the c/n plate on a Sri Lanka Air Force Y12.

Hawker Siddeley

Trident

The plate is located inside the starboard engine nacelle.

Trident registered 50055, formerly operated by CAAC. This Trident was stored in the China Aviation Museum.

MSN plate in a Hawker Siddeley Trident. The plate shows the heritage of this aircraft type, as it originally was developed by De Havilland, hence the MSN: D.H.51.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

HAL Dhruv

The c/n plate is located in the footwell of the cockpit. A second plate can be found at the back-end of the tail, but as the tail is interchangeable, the data on this plate must be considered as being incorrect unless the plate in the cockpit has been checked also.

Hunting Percival

Jet Provost & Strikemaster

The construction number can be found on at least two locations. The first is in the nose-wheel bay on the rear bulkhead, the second is on the rear bulkhead inside the cockpit on the right hand side.

Ikarus

For the Comco-Ikarus C42, see Comco-Ikarus.

Ilyushin

Il-14

• With Russian build Il-14, on some aircraft the construction number plate can be found on the left hand side on the nose.
• East German (VEB) build aircraft have the construction number plate on the outside of the aircraft, on the port side of the nose.

With (Soviet) military aircraft, both Russian and Czech build, the construction number was in most cases painted on the tail.

Example of an VEB-14 MSN plate on the outside of the aircraft, on the port side of the nose.

Il-18 (and variants)

The construction number is often painted on the tail and also to be noted on the forward underside of the wing, close to the fuselage, just beneath an air intake.

Il-38

On the rear bulkhead of the nose-wheel bay.

Il-62

The construction number can be seen stencilled on the rear bulkhead of the main undercarriage housing, the manufacturer’s plate is to be found on the right main undercarriage.

Il-76

The c/n of the Il-76 is to be found in the rear cargo-hold pressure bulkhead which lifts up to the ceiling of the aircraft for loading and unloading and can easily be read off when the cargo doors are open. Some aircraft do not have it painted there, but in those cases, and all others, both doors to the cockpit from the cargo-bay carry a small plate with the last five digits.

Il-86

The construction number can be found on a plate on the rear side of both catering doors at the lower deck level.

Il-103

The construction number of this small single-engined aircraft is embossed on a small metal plate riveted to the engine firewall (on the port side).

Il-114

The construction number is embossed on a small metal plate located below the rear entry door on the left-hand side. Some aircraft have similar plates on the inside of the main gear doors at the trailing edge or on the inside of the nose gear doors.

This MSN plate is on the outside of the aircraft, near the tail.

Kamov

Ka-15

The construction number is stencilled on the outer surfaces of the fins and on the forward fuselage beneath the cabin doors.

Ka-18

The construction number is sometimes stencilled on the outer surfaces of the fins and on the forward fuselage beneath the cabin doors.

Ka-26

The construction number can normally be found painted on the door-runner on the left hand side.

Ka-27, Ka-28, Ka-29, Ka-31 & Ka-32

The construction number is in some cases painted on the side of the fuselage. The construction number plate is attached to the tail plane but hard to read as the view is blocked by the rudder in most cases. However, some export aircraft have a bi-lingual plate on the tail boom.

Ka-50

The c/n is usually painted on the lefthand side tailboom near the horizontal stabilizer, or even underneath the stabilizer surface itself!

Ka-226

The construction number plate is under the "wings" of this helicopter on the left hand side.

A nice plate on this brand new helicopter.

Let

L-410 Turbolet

In the main door, on the left side, a c/n plate sometimes can be found on the inside of the door frame. Often it is also painted on the outside of this passenger door.

C/n 2008, build in 1987, ex OM-HLD.

Lockheed

C-130A to C-130H Hercules

The construction number can be found in the cockpit. In cockpit ceiling at the rear of the flight engineer's overhead panel. It is not visible from outside.

C-130J Hercules

The construction number can be found in the cockpit. When going up the stairs to the cockpit there is a small bench at the rear of the cockpit. It is located on the right side of the bench. It is not visible from outside.

F-104 Starfighter

One plate is known to be on the bulkhead behind the radar, so is only visible when the nose-cone is removed. A second one is maybe even worse to check, as for this one the rear part of the fuselage (about halfway the engine bay) needs to be removed.

The F-104 MSN plate can only be seen when the nose cone is removed, as shown by this KLu TF-104G.

And this one is only visible when the rear part of the fuselage is removed.

T-33 Shooting Star

The USAF plate can be found in the forward cockpit on the right hand side instrument panel.It is visible from outside.
Behind each ejection seat the construction number plates can be found.

Instrument panel.

Behind the front seat.

Behind the rear seat.