Tail Number font?

So..... I'm cutting vinyl for a tail number.... and the flip side is that I can use the negative as a mask for airbrushing etc..... What font does everybody use for tail numbers?
Best
Brian Wallis

Be careful when having local sign shops (and even national sources) make vinyl N numbers for you. Most of the computerized machines don't space the characters far enough apart to meet FAR Part 45 requrements. Remember that the minimum space between each character has to be one sixth (1/6) of the height of the characters.

If you bought (or are planning to buy) the EAA's Amateur-Built Certification Kit the guidebook included a handy reference to proper N number layout.

Font

Brian,
EAA's example says width is 2/3 height except for 1 which must be 1/6 height.
Stroke is 1/6 height. Spacing is 1/4 width. Roman Capital, uniform in size, color contrasting with background, no ornamentation. This week I read sans-serif font was preferred.

My brother has painted many an N-number, none of them Times New Roman... and in the end, you have to satisfy the inspector that signs off your plane Rosie

Another odd thing about letters cut with a vinyl cutter is that if you tell the software to make the letters (plural, as a group) to a certain size, say 3" tall the letters will often be LESS than 3" tall when measured individually. Your inspector could get pissy about this as I've seen letters as short as 2.8" when set to a 3" tall group.

The various fonts are "balanced," so to speak, to look good. Font designers don't care about airplane N numbers!! Ah, so many things to worry about.

On the flip side, most inspectors won't care too much, within reason, about your N-number ... at least not that I've run into. And the beauty of vinyl letters is that the "inspection set" can be peeled off as soon as the inspector drives away and then you can put on the real ones. I'm not saying that I've done it, or that anyone I know has done it, but I've heard of Somalian pilots doing it over in eastern Africa.

As for the above mentioned trick about using the vinyl to make the N-numbers AND a spraymask.... how in the heck are you gonna do that from the same piece of vinyl? I've never even tried to get TWO useful pieces out of ONE piece of vinyl. If you're talking about moving the "weeds" to a separate transfer tape and hand placing the centers of some letters... no thanks. Must be a different vinyl than I use!

software goodies

The nice thing about this new software is that... I can stretch, shrink, tilt etc.... as well as put more or less space in between the numbers etc. The really nice thing is that I can put a pen attachment in my cutter and some big paper and have it draw it out first.... Then I can measure etc....
Best
Brian

Here's what ICAO has to say. The US standards are generally less stringent, but technically for international flight, ICAO rules prevail.

4.2 Heavier-than-air aircraft

4.2.1 Wings. The height of the marks on the wings of
heavier-than-air aircraft shall be at least 50 centimetres.

4.2.2 Fuselage (or equivalent structure) and vertical tail
surfaces. The height of the marks on the fuselage (or
equivalent structure) and on the vertical tail surfaces of
heavier-than-air aircraft shall be at least 30 centimetres.

4.2.3 Special cases. If a heavier-than-air aircraft does not
possess parts corresponding to those mentioned in 4.2.1 and
4.2.2, the measurements of the marks shall be such that the
aircraft can be identified readily. (italics mine)

5. TYPE OF CHARACTERS FOR NATIONALITY,
COMMON AND REGISTRATION MARKS

5.1 The letters shall be capital letters in Roman characters
without ornamentation. Numbers shall be Arabic numbers
without ornamentation.

5.2 The width of each character (except the letter I and
the number 1) and the length of hyphens shall be two-thirds of
the height of a character.

5.3 The characters and hyphens shall be formed by solid
lines and shall be of a colour contrasting clearly with the background.
The thickness of the lines shall be one-sixth of the
height of a character.

5.4 Each character shall be separated from that which it
immediately precedes or follows, by a space of not less than
one-quarter of a character width. A hyphen shall be regarded
as a character for this purpose.

Go nuts!

Vern

OK, so you're talking about making TWO separate pieces, one of just letters and one for a spraymask. If you can get them both out of one piece, I want to see how!

When I read the first post I thought maybe I'd missed a breakthrough in vinyl technology. Doh!

I have noticed that sizes aren't always what they say on-screen. I haven't checked, but I think my machine is always off by a few percent, and always smaller. I had to re-do some 3" stars recently as they were about 1/4" small. I use LXi software and that is the only thing I don't like about it. Really cool what can be done on a pretty inexpensive machine(after building an airplane, everything else seems inexpensive!) I haven't had anyone really measure any N-numbers I have done (officially, anyway) but they always at least 3" tall. I have a set that I just type over without resetting the font size. Size on my machine would be useless to you as probably the machines differ. Font is anything that meets specs...

Bob Kelly

Dual pieces...

vfrazier said:

As for the above mentioned trick about using the vinyl to make the N-numbers AND a spraymask.... how in the heck are you gonna do that from the same piece of vinyl? I've never even tried to get TWO useful pieces out of ONE piece of vinyl. If you're talking about moving the "weeds" to a separate transfer tape and hand placing the centers of some letters... no thanks. Must be a different vinyl than I use!

Click to expand...

well... I airbrush some... Love it!!! I think I'm confused, why would I want the tail numbers and then use the negatives? The same tail number airplane would only need one or the other. I guess if I really wanted Vinyl on one side and paint on the other... I could try and use the weeding from the first but that sounds painful. I would just send the cut command again and pull the second set off the machine 30 sec later.
I can't wait to fully learn the capabiliities of the machine. I could have a 48" skull and crossbone sticker.... Arrg my maties!!! Hand over ye gold and whisky!!!

For my standard N number font I hand drew the letters in Solidworks. I don't what name you would call it though. My vinyl cutter cuts them whatever size I tell it to and they are that size. If anybody needs letters maybe I can help you out.