B-17 Flying Fortress "Buzzing" during World War II |
A Buzz Number was a large letter and number combination applied to U. S. Air Force planes after World War II and into the early 1960s.
They were applied for general aerial identification of aircraft, but particularly for the identification of aircraft guilty of "buzzing" (very-low-altitude high-speed passes) over populated areas.
The system was designed to be a deterrent to 8th Air Force pilots performing unauthorized low-level flying over post-war Europe.
This practice created the need for ground observers to be able to identify and report an offending aircraft.
In response to this need, a system of letters and numbers was developed to uniquely identify each aircraft in inventory.
North American F-86H S/N 31525, Buzz Number FU-525 |
The number was painted as large as possible on each side of the fuselage, and on the underside of the left wing (see photo of B-25J below).
The Buzz Number system continued in use through the 1950s, but was ended during the 1960s.
One of the last Air Force fighters to carry was the F-4 Phantom II, which used a Buzz Number of FJ (see photo below on this page).
The Buzz Number consisted of 6-characters:
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F-84C Thunderjet S/N 47-1433, Buzz Number FS-433-A |
Air Force fighters used Buzz Numbers starting with the letter F (or P, when fighters were designated as "pursuit" aircraft before June 1948), while bombers started with the letter B. Cargo aircraft were identified as C series, while trainers were coded beginning with a T.
For example, an F-86 Sabre with serial number 31525 would have a Buzz Number of FU-525.
In situations where the type of aircraft and the last three digits of the serial number were identical, "-A" was added to the end of the Buzz Number, e.g., FS-433-A (see photo to the right).
Some aircraft types changed prefixes during their service life, while other prefixes were re-used after an earlier aircraft type was retired.
The following table lists some frequently seen Buzz Numbers used by the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s and 1960s:
Buzz Number Prefixes |
Aircraft |
BA |
B-17 and B-57 |
BD |
B-25 |
BF |
B-29 |
BM |
B-36 |
BE |
B-45 |
BK |
B-50 |
CZ |
C-123 |
FF |
P-51 |
FJ |
F-4 |
FT |
F-80 |
FS |
F-84 |
FU |
F-86 |
FV |
F-89 |
FA |
F-94 |
FW |
F-100 |
FB |
F-101 |
FC |
F-102 |
FG |
F-104 |
FH |
F-105 |
FE |
F-106 |
PN |
P-80 |
TA |
T-6 |
TR |
T-33 |
Aircraft in the Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB B-45C Tornado, S/N 48-0010, Buzz Number BE-010 (top) F-94A Starfire, S/N 49-2498, Buzz Number FA-498 (bottom) |
Close-up of the tail section of the North American F-86H S/N 31525, Buzz Number FU-525, Tucson |
F-84F Thunderstreak tail section, S/N 52-7080, Buzz Number FS-080, England AFB, Louisiana |
Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, S/N 51-1386, Buzz Number FS-386, at Barksdale AFB |
Boeing B-29 Superfortress S/N 487627, Buzz Number BF-627, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana |
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter Buzz Number FG-733 in Tyler, Texas |
F-89 Scorpion, Buzz Number FV-322 in Ogden, UT |
F-106 Delta Dart, S/N 80-774, Buzz Number FE-774 |
Lockheed F-80A Shooting Star, S/N 44-84999, Buzz Number FT-999 |
North American Aviation's T-6 Texan, S/N 51-14429, N729AM, Buzz Number TA-429 |
North American F-100A Super Sabre S/N 55-3537, Buzz Number FW-537 |
More Photos of Military Aircraft with Buzz Numbers
B-25J Mitchell, S/N 44-31418, showing Buzz Number BD-418
on front fuselage and under left wing |
B-25J Mitchell, S/N 44-29028, Buzz Number BD-028 |
F-80B Shooting Star, S/N 45-8490, Buzz Number FT-490, Castle Air Museum in California (photo by Michael Hoschouer) |
T-33A Shooting Star, S/N 53-5199, Buzz Number TR-199,
Robins Air Force Base, Georgia |
F-86D "Dennis the Menace", S/N 23863, Buzz Number FU-863, on display at the Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio |
USAF P-51 Mustang with "FF" Series Buzz Number |
U.S. Air Force B-36B Peacemaker, S/N 44-92033, Buzz Number BM-033, in flight |