USMC Nose Number/Tail Flash conventions?

[Nealius]

Since I'm sitting here still troubleshooting my porked DCS installs that just won't seem to work right, I've been doing some research on the Harrier to make my dinky little training missions more immersive, starting with realistic nose numbers. Here are some things I've noticed:

 

1. There are infinitely more daytime attack variant pictures than there are of the NA variant. Searching for VMA-231, I only found a single NA, #16. Everything else is a daytime variant.

 

2. I haven't seen any nose numbers less than #14 on NA aircraft. Maybe 0-13 are reserved for the daytime variant? Most common numbers seem to be the 20 and 50 range. The 30 range is seen a lot on VMAT-203.

 

3. VMA/Tail flashes seem to change, maybe with deployment? VMA-542's tail flash is WH, yet I have seen a few pictures of the same jets with tail flash YM and the marking "HMM-365" on the fuselage. Googling the tail flash and HMM-365 gives no hits. I also saw VMA-223 using the YM tail flash. Similarly with VMA-214, whose tail flash changed from WE to YX, and VMA-214 was replaced with a different squadron code (don't recall which and can't find the picture).

 

So, this leads me to a bunch of questions:

 

1. What are the numbering conventions for the nose?

2. Why do the tail flashes/squadron codes change? Are they changed when the squadron is deployed?

3. With both day and night attack variants in the same squadron, how does that work organizationally? Are all the pilots trained to fly both? How many of each would be in a squadron?

[ChickenSim]

When a Harrier detachment is attached to the MEU, all aircraft and personnel fold into the host HMM (now VMM) squadron. The aircraft assume the squadron insignia, markings, and tail codes of the host squadron.

 

1. Nose numbers are called "Modex numbers" and are internally generated and vary from squadron to squadron. Sometimes they go in serial/BuNo order and sometimes they have alternative conventions. A MEU might have all UH-1s begin with 0X, all Cobras begin with 1X, and all Harriers begin with 5X, etc. These conventions vary.

 

2. Tail codes are assigned to individual squadrons. HMM-365 (now VMM-365) has a Tail Code of YM, as you've discovered, so AV-8Bs attached to VMM-365 would show YM on their tails.

 

3. Pilots fly both AV-8B II+ (radar) and NA variants. There aren't any day-only aircraft left. The numbers of each also vary from squadron to squadron but there are generally an equal or greater amount of II+ aircraft as compared to NA aircraft at each squadron.

[Emmy]

2. Tail Codes change to "Boat Markings" when deployed. It's a rare and cool treat for photographers to catch boat markings on jets seen stateside.

[Nealius]

So I guess the only way to make realistic Modex numbers is to go through Google/Airliners.net and write down every Modex number you see on a certain squadron's jet. Ouch.

[Home Fries]

And Modex numbers aren't permanent; they can change between deployment cycles. The only permanent number on USN/USMC aircraft is the BuNo (serial number), the 16xxxx number on the tail.

 

Note that some non-carrier aircraft use the last 3 numbers of the BuNo as the Modex since they don't have to conform to a MEU or Carrier Air Wing. For instance, a land-based aircraft with a Buno of 123456 could have a Modex of 456.

 

Bottom line: your best bet for historical accuracy is to look at the Modexes used for a specific MEU or specific squadron home cycle.

[Nealius]

That's interesting. I was hoping there would be some kind of registry or something where I could see all the airframe/modex numbers.

[Home Fries]

That's interesting. I was hoping there would be some kind of registry or something where I could see all the airframe/modex numbers.

 

Here's where I go when I want to see who deployed when and with whom You can also click on the BuNo Buttons under each deployment to see the BuNo/Modex pairings. Here's a site to match Desert Storm Harrier BuNos with Modexes. A little Google-Fu goes a long way. :D

Edited December 26, 2017 by Home Fries
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