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Originally Posted by jschreiber
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Thanks Jean
Always nice when someone manage to hit the nail and not like me keep missing it over and over again...
At least I can claim ½ a point (trainer) but just did not believe in it.
Congrats Clint. It was postwar after all!!
These early postwar SPAD types and their SFA numbers create a bit of a problem. I don't know when SFA ceased to be (or at least stopped handing out serial numbers). I don't know when Aeronautique Militaire started to use the manufacturers construction numbers as their own serial numbers.
At some point, perhaps right at the end of WW 1 (?), French manufacturers began to implement what I call "short numbers" as against their previous use of "long numbers", ie their cumulative construction numbers. We can see this clearly in the civil register and also painted on the physical aircraft. At some point a decision must have been made to discard the former SFA style of numbering. Those aircraft already numbered kept them, but new aircraft began to use the new system.
I am still pretty certain that the digits we see, both on the type XX and 34-2 (not to be confused with model 34!), are SFA numbers. They seem to fit in quite nicely in the Albert Denis range as listed on his site.
The earliest SPAD XX serial I have is S.795 (photo) and the highest is S.859 (photo) a range which covers some 65 of the 95 built for France.
Since I have only seen this one photo of a type 34-2 I cannot say how those allegedly 150 fit in.Would be nice with some hard facts regarding the type and hopefully some more photos....with SFA numbers in place...
Cheers
Stig