This is the aircraft registration number, a unique identification number assigned to a specific aircraft. The registration number is a part of the aircraft until its ownership is changed. When an aircraft is sold it must be re-registered by the new owner, at which time it will be assigned a new registration number. This is familiar to most people, as the process is similar to that for most motor vehicles used on land and sea .

At the October 1919 Peace Conference after the end of World War I, the Convention for the Regulation of Air Navigation created the system for international aircraft identification, which is now still in use today in every country all over the world. The system sets the first letter to denote the country of origin, for example, N for United States, G for Great Britain, D for Germany. Thus, in the U.S. the aircraft registration is commonly referred to as the N number.

The increasing affluence of the Chinese population is reflected in increased air travel, within the country as well as to foreign destinations. In light of the open policies in China today, the situation is, in turn, creating a bonanza for international air travel as well as providers to the aviation industry. Even as more Chinese are setting out to see the world, the world is also anxious to discover the many wonders of China, especially since the country has become more accessible to foreign travelers.

Most major airlines already have routes from their country of origin to major cities in various parts of China; and if they don't, then they are probably in negotiation for such. It is now a common sight that foreign airliners land daily in any of the major airports in China. The number of inbound travelers to China has jumped from under 44 million in 1994 to over 109 million today, and China is seen as the fastest growing corporate travel market, a $6 billion industry growing at 25% a year.

The higher volume of commercial air traffic in China in the last few years is creating a strain on the equipment, facilities, utilities, and services supporting the industry. From ticketing to airport services to pilot training to fleet maintenance, all aspects of the commercial aviation industry are stretched to the limit and are experiencing, expecting, or in dire need of upgrades, additions, and/or expansion.

Chinese airlines are expected to spend $200 billion to triple their fleets over the next twenty years. They have 60 Boeing 787s on order, to be delivered in time for the 2008 Olympics. But more than airplanes, China needs more pilots.

China is rapidly building new airports like the showcase $2.5 billion Baiyun airport in Guangzhou — which opened last year and has greater capacity than the Los Angeles International Airport — and upgrading their fleets to accommodate expansion in domestic as well as international service. From IT (information technology) to T&E (travel and entertainment), all types of businesses are going to benefit from the growth of the aviation industry in China.

Partly as a response to the changes and as a means to contain confusion, the mostly state-run Chinese airline industry recently consolidated from 23 airlines to 3 major airline groups, with Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines as the mainstay airlines. All the other airlines have been either absorbed or allowed to continue to operate under the purview of one of the three groups.

Flight Miniatures has quite a variety of models of Chinese airlines past and present. Here are just a sampling; please look through our fleet to see the complete listing.

An avid collector of moths and butterflies, he named many of his airplanes after these delightful creatures. His DH 82 "Tiger Moth" achieved fame as a basic training aircraft during WW2.

A very large percentage of WW2 pilots and navigators received basic training in the "Tiger."

The DH 82 was much in evidence between the wars and post war, and is, today, still very popular in general aviation, as a "taildragger" instructional type. Many are still privately owned, being lovingly restored to operate in commercial operations, flying scenic flights with aerobatic options.

(Contributed by Roy Fordham from Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Thank you, Roy! Ed.)

The first solo flight around the world was made in July 1933 by a one-eyed pilot named Wiley Post, a pioneer of the pressure suit and navigating instruments like the automatic pilot. Five years later, Howard Hughes and his team in a specially modified Lockheed Super Electra, cut the time in half to 71 hours, 11 minutes, and 10 seconds.

You can learn a new language as you fly! Singapore Airlines is offering Berlitz® Word Traveler, a fully interactive language tutor, on their award-winning inflight entertainment system Krisworld. This language program will help passengers attain a practical grasp of a language through the use of key words and phrases in four main lesson categories — numbers, dates, words, and dialogue. As of today, 11 languages are being offered; by the end of the year you will have more than 20 to choose from.

The first solar-powered aircraft flight across the English Channel was made by the MacCready Solar Challenger on July 7, 1981. The 180-mile flight took over 5 hours and was powered by at least 16,128 solar cells on the upper surfaces of the wing and tailplane.

Two years earlier Paul MacCready had built the Gossamer Albatross, which became the first man-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel. Flown by bicyclist Bryan Allen, the crossing took two hours, 49 minutes.

Young Papu was also impressed with his older brother’s Indian Airlines and Air India uniforms. During visits to his brother at the airport, Papu and his siblings would try to figure out the country of origin for all the different airplanes they could see land and take off. They found Pan Am and Lufthansa the hardest to solve and Air France and BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) the easiest. Since then Papu has been, as he puts it, “hooked” on airplanes.

The first airline Papu worked for was Eastern Airlines in Miami, Florida, and he still holds Eastern very dear to his heart.

Papu has a particularly fond memory from his time at Eastern Airlines in Miami, Florida. As a Senior Project Engineer, he was responsible for various “Engine Indicating Systems” for all types of aircraft in the fleet. Sometimes, after a chronic problem in an aircraft that had been repaired, a test flight might be requested by the flight crew. In such situations, along with the test flight crew, a highly experienced maintenance or technical person, if needed, would ride the “jump seat” in the cockpit.

This happened with an Eastern L-1011 aircraft, after a chronic vibration problem in one of the engines was fixed. However, the L1011 Fleet Technical Manager was not available at that particular time. Standard procedures did not allow engineers to fly the jump seat, but Papu’s name came up because he was the engineer responsible for that system on the airplane. Åfter obtaining special authorization, Papu rode the jump seat for the test flight. It was his very first test flight, and that too on an L-1011 aircraft, one of the most advanced aircraft of its time!

“It was a great experience!” he remembers. They took off about 8:00 p.m. heading East over the ocean, turned right, and flew over Miami—it was the first time he saw Miami’s city lights from the cockpit! He could hardly believe that here he was, a little kid from India, flying on a test flight in one of the most technologically sophisticated aircraft in the world, with one of the greatest airlines in the world!

It was only after Eastern had ceased its operations that Papu acquired his first airplane model. It came about when he visited a friend who collected airplane models. Papu asked his friend to get him an Eastern Airlines B727 model if he ever saw one at an air show or aircraft model show. He was interested in this particular model because, not only was the B727 the largest fleet of Eastern’s aircraft, Eastern was also the “kick-off” customer for that aircraft (see box). To Papu’s pleasant surprise, his friend got him an Eastern B727, and Papu has been collecting ever since!

Papu intends to collect models in the Eastern Airlines colors so that one day his collection will represent the entire Eastern fleet. Eastern Airlines is not his only target, though, he’s also aiming for Air India and Indian Airlines, the airlines of his native country.

His overall goal is to have at least one model from each major commercial airline in the world. His collection currently consists of about 40 models, almost all from Flight Miniatures. Papu has several favorites from his collection:

• Singapore Airlines B747-400 (1:200 scale) — “It is a beautiful model, perfect livery, good scale for an independent display.”
• Air India B747-400 (1:200) — “It too is a beautiful model. This model turned out to be more impressive than I thought.”
• Eastern Airlines L-1011 (1:250) — “Almost perfect representation of that aircraft and Eastern colors”
• Pan Am B747-100/200 (1:250) — “Good representation of the Pan Am livery.”
• Northwest Orient B727-200 (1:200) — “Perfect scale and representation of older Northwest livery.”

“Flight Miniatures models are some of the best aircraft models one can buy,” says Papu, who has been a customer for over ten years. “The quality is good, the service is good.” However, he maintains that precision is the crucial characteristic of the models, “If your models were not precise, I’m sure I would not have bought them.”

Author’s Note:

I met Papu Bajaj through the Flight Miniatures Customer Service Department. Having just joined the company, and having no prior knowledge of commercial aircraft or models, it is a real pleasure and learning experience for me to speak with Papu. He calls to see if certain models are in stock or to comment on particular models, and he talks about a variety of aircraft models and their resemblance to the real aircraft.

I follow along as best I can using the Flight Miniatures website photographs, clicking as fast as I can to keep up with him, and all the while realizing that the person on the other end of the telephone has a great appreciation and passion for commercial aircraft and the aviation industry. He knows every detail of almost every type of airplane — the colors, the livery, when it came out, when it ceased operations — and much more about the different airlines.

Papu has a genuine love for aviation. His enthusiasm is infectious, and I can’t help but get engrossed with what he tells me. Thank you for that, Papu!

A couple of readers dropped us a few lines
to share with everyone…

Here is a photo of one of my models, a Lockheed Electra of T.E.A.L. — Tasman Empire Airways Limited.

TEAL was founded on April 26th 1940, and on April 1st 1965 TEAL became Air New Zealand.

The Electra was delivered to TEAL on November 19th 1959 and made its last flight on May 30th 1972.

Stranded in Egypt one hot day — as most days in Egypt are — I decided B.O.A.C. stood for (It would be) "Better On A Camel."

Regards,

Noel Osborne
Auckland, New Zealand

The Southwest is blessed with sunshine year-round. To harness this abundant natural resource, Genesis Worldwide Enterprises recently installed what is now Arizona’s largest private commercial solar power system. 

The new 84-kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) power system, installed on the warehouse roof at our Cottonwood facility, will generate over 150,000 kilowatt-hours of clean, renewable energy each year. This is equivalent to the amount needed to power 20 homes annually. Most days, especially the longer summer days, we will be generating more energy than we use, therefore the overage will be sold back to our electric utility company, Arizona Power Services (APS). During overcast days, or when our power usage exceeds our production, the power we need will be supplied by APS.

One unique feature of our new PV system is that all 448 solar modules are mounted using a non-penetrating attachment method, which ensures roof longevity and saves time and cost on the installation. In keeping with the other state-of-the-art systems in the facility, the PV system incorporates a computerized real-time monitoring of all aspects of the system performance, on a personal computer in the facility.

“We saw a distinct advantage in utilizing the considerable solar energy resource available to us here in Arizona," said Bob Flynn, President of Genesis Worldwide Enterprises, in describing the reasons for the installation. "Our company strives to reduce its impact on the environment wherever possible. Installing the solar panels not only helps us achieve this, but also offers long-term economic benefits with a relatively short-term payback. It’s a win-win, environmentally and economically.”

"Genesis Worldwide is setting an example for other Arizona businesses by installing this photovoltaic power system," applauded Matt Salmon, the National Chairman of Americans for Solar Power and former Arizona Congressmen. "When private businesses and utilities work together to develop more distributed solar resources, all of Arizona benefits by creating new jobs and diminishing our dependence on out-of-state energy supplies."