| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
When the RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium "Reich Aviation Ministry") was given control of the country's aviation activities in 1933 it set out to catalogue both aircraft already in production by various manufacturers as well as new projects approved for development by the ministry.
The heart of the designation system was a (theoretically) unique number assigned by the RLM. In internal paperwork, this number was simply prefixed "8-" (or, in the case of sailplanes, subject to a separate numerical list, "108-"). Originally, these numbers were assigned sequentially, and wherever possible attempted to take into account manufacturers' own in-house design numbers for types already existing in 1933. This immediately produced some duplicates - for example, between the Dornier Do 11 and the WNF Wn 11 . More duplicates were created when the RLM allocated "8-" series numbers to captured foreign aircraft, such as Czech Zlin XII aircraft referred to as "8-12" when this same number was already being used for the Dornier Do 12. More duplication resulted from the fact that when one manufacturer abandoned a project, the same number was occasionally re-allocated to another manufacturer. Finally, the RLM occasionally deliberately took advantage of the confusion as a disinformation strategy, for example by numbering the Messerschmitt Me 163 the same as a previous, cancelled Messerschmitt aircraft, the Messerschmitt Bf 163 .
Late in the war, the numerical sequence was abandoned, and aircraft types were numbered in steps of 100 above the number of the basic model they were derived from. Thus, the Junkers Ju 88 formed the basis for the Ju 188, Ju 288, Ju 388, and Ju 488 .
The upshot of all this is that there is no single "master list" of designations that holds true throughout 1933-1945, and that the sequence is particularly muddled at the beginning and end of the list.
In common use within the military, however, the RLM number was prefixed with a standard abbreviation derived from the manufacturer's (or, occasionally, designer's) name, as set out in the table below (note the compound versions applied to some cases where more than one manufacturer contributed to a project):
| Al | AlbatrosAlbatros (also albatross is a large web-footed bird of the southern hemisphere which has long narrow wings and is noted for powerful gliding flight. Albatros is the name of a sailing vessel which sank on May 3, 1961, due to a white squall and prompted the | Fi | FieselerThe Gerhard Fieseler Werke was a German aircraft manufacturer of the 1930s and 40s. The company is remembered mostly for its military aircraft built for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. The firm was founded on April 1 1930 as Fieseler Flugzeugba | Li | Alexander LippischAlexander Martin Lippisch ( November 2, 1894 February 11, 1976) was a German pioneer of aerodynamics who made important contributions to the understanding of flying wings and ground effect craft. His most famous design was the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket- (designer at DFS and Messerschmitt) |
| Ao | AGO | FK | Flugzeugbau Kiel | Me | MesserschmittMesserschmitt is a famous German aircraft manufacturer, known primarily for their World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262. The company survived in the post-war era, undergoing a number of mergers and evolving into Messerschmitt-Bolkow |
| Ar | Arado | Fl | FlettnerFlettner was a German helicopter manufacturer during World War II, founded by Anton Flettner. Flettner aircraft included: Flettner Fl 184 reconnaissance helicopter, prototype Flettner Fl 185 reconnaissance helicopter, prototype Flettner Fl 265 reconnaissa | NR | Nagler-Rolz |
| As | Argus MotorenArgus Motoren was a German aircraft engine manufacturing firm, known for their series of small inverted-V engines and the pulsejet used on the V1 flying bomb. They were shut down at the end of World War II. The company first started in Berlin in 1906 as a | Fw | Focke-Wulf | Si | Siebel |
| Ba | Bachem | Go | Gothaer Waggonfabrik | So | Heinz Sombold |
| Bf | Bayerische Flugzeugwerke , later Messerschmitt | Ha | Hamburger Flugzeugbau and Blohm + Voss | Sk | Skoda-Kauba |
| Bü | Bücker | He | Heinkel | Ta | Kurt Tank (designer at Focke-Wulf) |
| BV | Blohm + Voss | Ho | Reimar und Walter Horten | We | Weser |
| DFS | Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug | Hs | Henschel | Wn | Wiener-Neustädter-Flugzeugwerke |
| Do | Dornier | Hü | Hütter | ZMe | Zeppelin /Messerschmitt |
| FA | Focke-Achgelis | Ju | Junkers | ZSo | Zeppelin / SNCASO |
| Fg | Flugtechnische Fertigungsgemeinschaft Prag | Ka | Albert Kalkert (designer at Gothaer Waggonfabrik) | ||
| Fh | Flugzeugbau Halle, later Siebel | Kl | Klemm Flugzeugbau |
Thus, what the RLM internally referred to as type "8-262" would be more generally known as the "Me 262". See List of RLM aircraft for a full list of designations allocated by the RLM and the aircraft they correspond to.
Each individual prototype aircraft were suffixed with "V" (for Versuchs "prototype") and a unique identification number. So, for example, the Me 262 V3 was the third prototype of the Me 262 built.
Once accepted by Lufthansa or the Luftwaffe, major variants of the aircraft were suffixed alphabetically with a capital letter. For example, the major variants of the Me 262 were numbered Me 262A, Me 262B, and Me 262C.
More minor variants were then suffixed numerically, beginning with -0 for pre-production evaluation versions. Thus, the first batch of Me 262As supplied by Messerschmitt were designated Me 262A-0, followed by production versions Me 262A-1 through to (in the case of this particular aircraft) Me 262A-5.
More minor variants still were given a lower case alphabetical suffix. When the Me 262A-1a was to be equipped with different engines, it became the Me 262A-1b.
Finally, special conversions of basic types were given the suffix /U followed by a number when carried out by the manufacturer (Umrüstbausatz "conversion kit"), or /R followed by a number (Rüstsatz "add-on kit") when carried out in the field. For example, Me 262A-1a/U3 referred to a small number of the standard Me 262A-1a fighters that were modified by Messerschmitt as reconnaissance aircraft. The suffix Trop (for "tropical") was applied to aircraft modified to operate in the hot and dusty North African and Mediterranean theatres, for example, the Bf 109F-4 Trop.
To see the RLM-GL/C list in a numerical table, got to List of RLM aircraft
To see the RLM airplanes arranged by manufacturer, got to RLM aircraft by manufacturer