RA-Aus aircraft register

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RA-Aus aircraft register

Revision 8 — page content was last changed 31 January 2012.

At 31 January 2012 there were 3414 aircraft with valid RA-Aus registration — summarised in the four tables on this page. Separate detailed listings of individual aircraft are available in registration number sequence and in date of initial registration sequence

Table 1. Number of aircraft in each registration category

The number of aircraft on the register increased by 198 aircraft (6% increase) during the 12 months since 31 January 2011, 246 were added and 48 dropped off. The swing away from home-builts (now 42% of total aircraft) towards increasingly complex (and rather expensive) factory-built aircraft seems to have stabilised during the past three years. The market value of the RA-Aus flight line is currently estimated at $125 million (see table 4).

In the factory-built category, powered 'chutes and trikes (the '32-' registration prefix aircraft) continue to maintain the same level of popularity amongst association members. One-third of the new aircraft added to the register came from the three larger Australian manufacturers; Jabiru added 29 aircraft (12%), Airborne added 38 trikes (15%) and Aerochute added 13 powered parachutes (5%). Airborne also supplies trikes to HGFA members so their total share of the Australian market is higher than indicated here.

The aircraft in the old airworthiness categories (CAO 95.25, CAO 101.28 and CAO 101.55) that are no longer being registered (the 25-, 28- and 55- registration prefixes) are still holding on. During the past four years the number of such aircraft on the register has dropped from 669 to 569. The CAO 95.10 single-place minimum aircraft are not coping so well, with a 35% drop in numbers over the past four years; perhaps the increasing attraction of younger people to motorised hang-gliders and motorised paragliders has some effect.

Category prefix	Number & % of total at 31 January 2012	Number & % of total at 31 January 2011	Number & % of total at December 2009	% of total at December 2007	% of total at June 2006
10-	226 – 7%	234 – 7%	250 – 8%	12%	13%
19-	1092 – 32%	1024 – 32%	926 – 31%	32%	35%
28-	103 – 3%	104 – 3%	104 – 3.5%	4%	5%
Home-built	1421 – 42%	1362 – 42%	1280 – 43%	48%	53%

32-	501 – 14.5%	458 – 14%	433 – 15%	14%	12%
24-	1026 – 30%	912 – 28%	741 – 25%	18%	12%
25-	263 – 7.5%	271 – 8%	290 – 10%	11%	10%
55-	203 – 6%	213 – 7%	211 – 7%	8%	10%
Factory-built	1993 – 58%	1854 – 58%	1675 – 57%	52%	47%
Total on register	3414	3216	2955	2912

When an aircraft registration lapses due to non-payment of the annual fee or other causes, the registration number is not re-assigned to another aircraft and the registration number entry retains its initial date. So, normally, if an owner allows an aircraft registration to lapse, then pays the registration fee at some later date it will not be regarded as a new registration and the initial registration date will be maintained in the record.

Table 2. Number of aircraft by year of initial registration

The following table summarises the number of aircraft on the register, listed in the year of initial registration.

Year of initial registration	Number at 31/12/11	Number at 31/12/10	Number at 21/12/09	Number at 31/12/07
1986	14	17	18	18
1987	49	48	50	58
1988 [note 1]	146	155	169	218
1989	46	45	49	67
1990	42	44	47	55
1991	50	53	57	73
1992	58	62	60	76
1993	86	92	89	102
1994	64	64	64	70
1995	51	52	52	65
1996	48	52	52	65
1997	56	59	60	73
1998 [note 2]	77	78	67	92
1999	98	95	111	127
2000	126	127	128	153
2001	118	128	131	152
2002	129	122	127	146
2003	126	129	129	160
2004	160	166	166	192
2005	185	196	198	255
2006	278	285	296	348
2007	289	292	303	346
2008 [note 3]	282	289	288	-
2009	264	267	244	-
2010	318	285	-	-
2011	246	-	-	-
Total [note 4]	3406	3202	2955	2912

Notes to table 2:
1. The RA-Aus aircraft register started in 1986 with the new factory-built CAO 95.25 training aircraft, it took two or three years for then existing ultralight owners to register their aircraft with AUF/RA-Aus, so the year of registration shown may not reflect aircraft age.

2. CAO 95.55 was expanded in 1998 to introduce the amateur-built (experimental) category which led to the increase in registrations for the following years.

3. RA-Aus membership and flight training facilities grew significantly during 2005–2008 which triggered the big increase in aircraft registrations during 2005–2008. The economic conditions of 2008/9 may have slowed new registrations a little; there were 350 new registrations in 2006, 342 in 2007, 315 in 2008, 247 in 2009, 285 in 2010 and 246 in 2011.

4. The number of aircraft dropping from the register seems to have peaked in 2008/9. There were 115 registration cancellations in 2006, 99 in 2007, 164 in 2008, 180 in 2009, 139 in 2010 and 102 in 2011; see table 2a.

Table 2a. Registration cancellations since 1986 — year cancelled

At 31 January 2012 a total of 1192 aircraft registrations have been cancelled in the RA-Aus database.The following table apportions the number according to the year when cancellation occurred. A listing of these aircraft is available.

Year – aircraft	Year – aircraft	Year – aircraft	Year – aircraft
1986-99 – 53	2003 – 52	2007 – 99	2011 – 102
2000 – 27	2004 – 73	2008 – 164
2001 – 40	2005 – 94	2009 – 180
2002 – 54	2006 – 115	2010 – 139

Each year there are a significant number of aircraft (27 in 2010) whose registration is restored after previous cancellation, consequently they will no longer appear in the cancellation figures. The time lapse between cancellation and re-registration can be quite a few years.

Table 3. Distribution of RA-Aus aircraft

Location	Full registration	Provisional registration	90-day suspension	State total and % of total register
NSW/ACT	740	19	13	772 – 27%
Qld	717	23	16	756 – 26%
Vic	655	13	12	680 – 24%
SA	263	8	5	276 – 10%
WA	232	8	1	241 – 8%
Tas	87	1	2	90 – 3%
NT	54	0	1	55 – 2%
Total	2748	72	50	2870

Note to table 3: the table is a snapshot of the distribution of RA-Aus aircraft at 14 July 2009; it has not been updated as it still generally reflects the current distribution status, i.e. 75% of the aircraft are located in the three eastern states. Provisional registration applies to completed home-builts which have not yet flown the 40 hours required for full registration. The 90-day suspension category applies to aircraft where the annual fee payment is overdue; 90 days is allowed before the registration entry is cancelled. There are usually 50–60 aircraft in this category. Home-built projects, that have been allocated a registration number but the aircraft have not yet made their initial flight, are not included in any of the registration statistics.

Table 4. Market value of the RA-Aus flight line

A sampling of the number of aircraft offered for sale in the members' market section of the RA-Aus magazine was taken from mid-2007 to mid-2009. Advertisements offering a syndicate share or an incomplete aircraft were excluded from the sampling, as were advertisements where no asking price appeared. The results are shown in the table.

Magazine issue sampled	Number of aircraft advertised for sale	Total value of asking price $ million	Average value of asking price $	Price range $'000s
Jun 2007	62	2.259	36 500	5–118
Sep 2007	63	2.656	42 000	5–125
Dec 2007	87	3.705	42 500	6–143
Mar 2008	55	2.311	42 000	8–125
Jun 2008	61	2.593	42 000	10–90
Sep 2008	61	2.205	36 000	3–100
Dec 2008	55	2.283	41 500	10–110
Mar 2009	61	2.526	41 000	8–138
Jun 2009	48	1.882	39 000	10–110
	553	$22.420M	$40 500	$3–143k

The average asking price during the two year period was $40 500 and was generally consistent. An assumption is that the sale price finally achieved (i.e. market value) is about 85% of the asking price. That places the 2007–2009 average aircraft market value at $34 400. Allowing for 6% increase to reflect current market value, the 3414 aircraft with valid registration at 31 January 2012 could be valued at $125 million; an enormous increase in flight line value since the association's inception just 29 years ago.

... John Brandon