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

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RA-Aus aircraft register

Revision 6 — page content was last changed 21 December 2009.

At 21 December 2009 there were 2955 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 is now more or less static — the number of new registrations is balanced by aircraft dropping off the register (see table 2). During the last 3.5 years there has been a 10 percentage point shift away from home-builts (now 43% 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 $102 million (see table 4). In the factory-built category, powered 'chutes and trikes are maintaining — if not expanding — their popularity amongst association members.

Category prefix	Civil Aviation Order & paragraph	Number & % of total at December 21, 2009	% of total at December 31, 2007	% of total at June, 2006
10-	CAO 95.10	250 – 8.5%	12%	13%
19-	CAO 95.55 para 1.5 & 1.9	926 – 31%	32%	35%
28-	CAO 95.55 para 1.2	104 – 3.5%	4%	5%
	Total home-built	1280 – 43%	48%	53%

32-	CAO 95.32 trikes & 'chutes	433 – 15%	14%	12%
24-	CAO 95.55 para 1.6 & 1.8	741 – 25%	18%	12%
25-	CAO 95.55 para 1.4	290 – 10%	11%	10%
55-	CAO 95.55 para 1.3	211 – 7%	8%	10%
	Total factory-built	1675 – 57%	52%	47%
	Total on register	2955

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. 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.

Year of initial registration	Number at 21/12/09	Number at 31/12/07
1986	18	18
1987	50	58
1988 [note 1]	169	218
1989	49	67
1990	47	55
1991	57	73
1992	60	76
1993	89	102
1994	64	70
1995	52	65
1996	52	65
1997	60	73
1998 [note 2]	67	92
1999	111	127
2000	128	153
2001	131	152
2002	127	146
2003	129	160
2004	166	192
2005	198	255
2006	296	348
2007	303	346
2008 [note 3]	288	-
2009	244	-
Total [note 4]	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 have now slowed new registrations; there were 350 new registrations in 2006, 342 in 2007, 315 in 2008 and 247 in 2009.

4. The number of aircraft dropping from the register is surprising; perhaps it's due to the current economic conditions. there were 118 registration cancellations in 2006, 107 in 2007, 174 in 2008 and 183 in 2009; see table 2b.

Table 2a. Registration cancellations since 1986 — year of initial registration

At 21 December 2009 a total of 986 aircraft registrations have been cancelled in the RA-Aus database. The following table apportions the number according to the year of initial registration. A listing of these aircraft is available.

Year – aircraft	Year – aircraft	Year – aircraft	Year – aircraft
1986 – 4	1992 – 35	1998 – 35	2004 – 48
1987 – 20	1993 – 33	1999 – 62	2005 – 64
1988 – 137	1994 – 22	2000 – 46	2006 – 54
1989 – 39	1995 – 26	2001 – 55	2007 – 39
1990 – 23	1996 – 35	2002 – 55	2008 – 27
1991 – 34	1997 – 31	2003 – 58	2009 – 3

Table 2b. Registration cancellations since 1986 — year cancelled

The following table apportions the 986 aircraft cancellations to the year when cancellation occurred. A listing of these aircraft is available.

Year – aircraft	Year – aircraft	Year – aircraft
1986-99 – 52	2003 – 51	2007 – 107
2000 – 28	2004 – 75	2008 – 174
2001 – 41	2005 – 102	2009 – 183
2002 – 55	2006 – 118

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: 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 is taken quarterly. Advertisements offering a syndicate share or an incomplete aircraft are excluded from the sampling, as are advertisements where no asking price appears. The results are shown in the table.

The average asking price during the past two years was $40 500 and has been generally consistent. The assumption is that the sale price finally achieved (i.e. market value) is about 85% of the asking price. That places the average aircraft market value at $34 400. This then values the 2955 aircraft with valid registration at $102 million; an enormous increase in value since the association's inception just 26 years ago. In addition, there may be another 200 or so aircraft amongst the 986 current registration cancellations where the owners, for various reasons, have allowed the registration to lapse temporarily.

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

... JB