Process Used to Assign Numbers to Luftwaffe Aircraft Types
 

Gentlemen:

While not the most significant issue from a military point of view, I have long been curious about the process used to assign numbers to Luftwaffe aircraft types i.e. the '109' in Bf 109, '111' in He 111, etc.

My assumption is that there was some bureaucratic process in the RLM, but I would welcome clarification.

Regards

Boomerang

Re: Process Used to Assign Numbers to Luftwaffe Aircraft Types
 

All powered aircraft ( and a few combat gliders) were assigned sequential numbers from on a master list, the "8 Nummer". Also assiged by the RLM were two character abreviations, the first upper case, the second lower case. There was also a similar list for engines, etc. In correspondence, at times the aircraft would be identified as 8-109 or 8-177, instead of Bf 109 or He 177. A hyphen was not used between the alpha characters. As in all things Luftwaffe, there were exceptions to the basic "rules". Blohm and Voss was BV, DFS was three upper case characters. Some numbers were used twice, zb., Bf 163 and Me 163. There is a web site dedicated to assembling a complete 8-Nummer list, I believe it is titled, German Military Aircraft Designations, although the RLM numbers were for both military and civil aircraft.

Best regards

Artie Bob

Re: Process Used to Assign Numbers to Luftwaffe Aircraft Types
 

Hello Artie Bob:

Thanks for your most informative reply. It looks like I will now have something else to chase up on the web!:)

Regards

Boomerang