It is often not obvious how a type is named in the database – for example:
- Aircraft are entered against the original designer/manufacturer. Replicas, look-alikes, developments (legitimate or otherwise) produced by other companies or individuals are entered against the original e.g. all Super Cub replicas, look- alikes such as Carbon Cubs, are entered under ‘Piper PA-18’. However, some inconsistencies exist – the American Legend (Super Cub) is separately recorded.
- For many smaller, less well-known, aircraft types, references to the type may not mention the original designer/manufacturer
- Where the punctuation is unexpected e.g. I.C.P. – not ICP
The routine below provides an easy way to check if a potentially new aircraft type is already in the database.
- Select ‘Data Admin’
- Select ‘Show Data Stats’
- Click anywhere in the blank 6th column
- ‘ctrl’ + ‘A’ (selects all data)
- ‘ctrl’ + ‘C’ (copies all the data to the clipboard)
- Open a new blank Excel spreadsheet
- Click in the first cell (A1)
- ‘ctrl’ + ‘V’ (inserts the data from the clipboard)
(You may have to change the text colour in Excel to something other than white to be able to see anything)
- Select Excel’s search icon (binoculars)
- ‘Find…’
- In ‘Find what:’, Insert part of the type’s name that you are interested in e.g. MXP (or mxp) [choose an obvious part of the name to yield a range of results to choose from]
- Select ‘Find All’
- Results are listed at the bottom of the dialogue box
- Check the results to see how the type is named in the database
- If not listed, then request a new type on the Pacforum website At 10-2-16, 4191 aircraft types were listed.
You can request new types and/or locations (e.g. airfields, museums) to be added by going to the Pacific Database website at https://gfiapac.org
- For a new type, first check if the type has already been requested: select ‘Members Only Section’, ‘Data Requests’, ‘Types’, ‘Current Request List – PacEditors’ If it has not, then select ‘Members Only Section’, ‘Data Requests’, ‘Types’, ‘New Types – Add Request’ and fill out the request form.
