MikeC Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 This has never occurred to me before, but now it has, I'd be rather interested to know, if anyone can come up with an answer: why do RAF serials not use the letter "Y"? Take a look: http://www.ukserials.com/ There's no Yxxxx series; no VYxxx; no WYxxx; no ZYzzz. It lists some in the "XYxxx" range, and shows them as changed to "XZxxx". My copy of this https://www.amazon.co.uk/British-Military-Aircraft-Serials-1878-1987/dp/090459761X shows those in the "XYxxx" range as "allocated in error" and changed. It appears that the military aircraft register is deliberately avoiding the letter "Y". Does anyone happen to know why? (Sorry, a genuine question, but pun intended!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhard Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 (edited) Very good question. I'm intrigued. Maybe because it's the call sign for "Yankee"? Edited October 2, 2019 by Gerhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ossington 1 Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Possibly to avoid it being misread as an "X". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted October 3, 2019 Author Share Posted October 3, 2019 On 10/2/2019 at 6:59 AM, Gerhard said: Very good question. I'm intrigued. Maybe because it's the call sign for "Yankee"? Ah, but in the days when the "Yxxxx" range would have been used, ie pre-1940, the phonetic for Y was "Yoke" - "Yankee" came in with the NATO phonetic alphabet. 16 hours ago, Ossington 1 said: Possibly to avoid it being misread as an "X". Could be; I've also heard that it is the possibility of confusion with "V". 5 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said: Nor is there an “O” or a “Q” range Now you mention it, that is so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 I wouldn't have thought the phonetic alphabet would have anything to do with it as unlike civil aircraft (private jobs) they don't use the registration as a call sign. RAF aircraft using civil/military traffic control have their own callsigns the most common of which is "Ascot" for transport jobs mainly so the callsign would be "Ascot 123 " or such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted October 3, 2019 Author Share Posted October 3, 2019 Indeed so. I've been digging a bit further on this; it seems that despite "C" being generally unused, the combination "NCxxx" was used cor some unknown reason; and although it didn't contain any "forbidden" letters, the combination"DHxxx" was not used - for obvious reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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