RA-Aus aircraft register (xhtml w3c 12/09)

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RA-Aus aircraft register

Revision 7a — page content was last changed 31 January 2011.

At 31 January 2011 there were 3216 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 261 aircraft (9% increase) during the 13 months since 31 December 2009. During the last four years there has been a 11 percentage point shift away from home-builts (now 42% of total aircraft) towards increasingly complex factory-built aircraft. This has resulted in a substantial increase in the market value of the RA-Aus flight line — currently estimated at $115 million (see table 4).

In the factory-built category, powered 'chutes and trikes continue to maintain their popularity amongst association members. Fifty per cent of the new aircraft added to the register came from the three larger Australian manufacturers; Jabiru added 84 aircraft (28%) — 13 of which were kit-built, Airborne added 44 trikes (15%) and Aerochute added 20 powered parachutes (7%). Airborne also supplies trikes to HGFA members so their total share of the Australian market is higher than indicated here.

Category prefix	Civil Aviation Order & paragraph	Number & % of total at 31 January 2011	Number & % of total at December 2009	% of total at December 2007	% of total at June 2006
10-	CAO 95.10	234 – 7%	250 – 8%	12%	13%
19-	CAO 95.55 para 1.5 & 1.9	1024 – 32%	926 – 31%	32%	35%
28-	CAO 95.55 para 1.2	104 – 3%	104 – 3.5%	4%	5%
	Total home-built	1362 – 42%	1280 – 43%	48%	53%

32-	CAO 95.32 trikes & 'chutes	458 – 14%	433 – 15%	14%	12%
24-	CAO 95.55 para 1.6 & 1.8	912 – 28%	741 – 25%	18%	12%
25-	CAO 95.55 para 1.4	271 – 8%	290 – 10%	11%	10%
55-	CAO 95.55 para 1.3	213 – 7%	211 – 7%	8%	10%
	Total factory-built	1854 – 58%	1675 – 57%	52%	47%
	Total on register	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 31/12/10	Number at 21/12/09	Number at 31/12/07
1986	17	18	18
1987	48	50	58
1988 [note 1]	155	169	218
1989	45	49	67
1990	44	47	55
1991	53	57	73
1992	62	60	76
1993	92	89	102
1994	64	64	70
1995	52	52	65
1996	52	52	65
1997	59	60	73
1998 [note 2]	78	67	92
1999	95	111	127
2000	127	128	153
2001	128	131	152
2002	122	127	146
2003	129	129	160
2004	166	166	192
2005	196	198	255
2006	285	296	348
2007	292	303	346
2008 [note 3]	289	288	-
2009	267	244	-
2010	285	-	-
Total [note 4]	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 and 285 in 2010.

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 and 139 in 2010; see table 2a.

Table 2a. Registration cancellations since 1986 — year cancelled

At 31 January 2011 a total of 1090 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. There is also a listing of these aircraft according to the date of initial registration.

Year – aircraft	Year – aircraft	Year – aircraft
1986-99 – 53	2003 – 52	2007 – 99
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. Number of aircraft by location and registration status; at 14 July 2009

Location	Full registration	Provisional registration	90-day suspension	Total aircraft
Qld	717	23	16	756
NSW + ACT	740	19	13	772
Vic	655	13	12	680
Tas	87	1	2	90
SA	263	8	5	276
WA	232	8	1	241
NT	54	0	1	55
Total	2748	72	50	2870

Note to table 3: the table has not been updated as it still generally reflects the current status. 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 sample of the number of aircraft offered for sale in the members' market section of the RA-Aus magazine was taken two years ago. 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 4% increase to reflect current market value, the 3216 aircraft with valid registration at 31 January 2011 could be valued at $115 million; an enormous increase in value since the association's inception just 28 years ago.

... JB