Aerodata was originally the brainchild of Bernie Parsons and was formed in the early nineties. His original vision was mainly to cover all the military aircraft ever produced but this extended to cover commercial and business aviation.
Bernie, together with Val, his wife, ran the business from their home near Mildenhall in Suffolk (UK). The database was written in DOS and was the foremost aviation database during the 1990s.
Recognising that the database was becoming too large for Bernie & Val to run, Paul Turnbull became involved in the business.
Paul had finished writing his own civil aircraft database and met Bernie when looking for a military orientated product.
The two products ran separately for a while but Paul's database was a Windows based product and was found to have better print and reporting facilities than the DOS product and it was decided that future databases would be rewritten to work in Windows.
From the mid nineties Aerodata took its stand "on the road" to allow the aviation fraternity to test out the product. Click here to view
Subsequent milestones in the companies history:
2000 - Perhaps the most important year in the evolution of Aerodata. Recognising the need to move the data to a Microsoft Windows environment, an existing database group was acquired, together with most of their updater's, which was to provide the basics of what was to follow. Aerodata 2000 was launched and although originally flawed because of the joining together of three independent databases, Paul has since carried out a complete re-write of the data and structure to become again the foremost and largest aviation database in the world. Customers of the original DOS product still continue as customers today.
2001 - In January 2001 Bernie was diagnosed as having Motor Neurone Disease. Read more
This though did not deter Bernie in trying to achieve his goal of the database including all military aircraft ever built. The editing team pulled out all the stops to find and achieve ways of quickly adding such data. The frames on database totals rose rapidly from just over 500,000 to one million.
2002 - The launch of our own domain Aerodata.biz. This also enabled us to take ownership and control of our existing support email groups that had previously suffered with commercial e-groups.
2002 - Aerodata and Air-Britain agreed co-operation with a number of Air-Britain's expert contributors joining the Aerodata database updating team helping to add many extra airframes and check existing data.
At this time all Air-Britain members were offered the database at reduced rates.
2003 - In March 2003 we launched QuantumLite, a cut down version of the highly successful QuantumPlus Aviation database. Read more
2003 - In April 2003 Bernie sadly passed away. The future of Aerodata had to be assured and Paul was asked by Val to take over the business.
2005 - In May 2005 we launched Quantum Maps.
2005 - In June 2005 we populated the database with over 450,000 Mode_S codes in preparation for the launch of the SBS-1 receiver.
2005 - In September 2005 we launched QuickLookUp, originally intended to be a way of querying Mode 'S' codes directly from Quantum+ without opening the actual database. This further evolved in to a display that 'plugs' in to Kinetic's SBS-1 Mode 'S' Decoder and places a small display on the BaseStation software displaying tie ups between what is "seen" and what is recorded/logged in the database.
2006 - The release of our freeware Aerodata BaseStation.sqb file designed to replace the existing file with a new one that will display the registration and type information for over 78,000 different HexCodes. Designed to be used in conjunction with the Kinetic SBS-1.
2007 - In January 2007 we launched, our new version of the Quantum databases. These were re written in a version of Microsoft Access that would facilitate operation within Windows Vista which was launched in early 2007.
Evelyn (Paul's wife) came on-board as a full time employee to assist with the increased workload created by the many new customers we gained.
It was a steep learning curve for all concerned, but emerging from this was a product that would operate fully under any Windows system.
We had customers using older versions of Windows (98 and Millenium) that would not run if we went too far ahead with technology.
Today Aerodata remains the only aviation database that will function in ANY Windows operating system, others have tried and failed to accomplish this and have lost customers because of this.
2008 - In June 2008 we launched our new Aerodata.org domain and we moved all our email lists and websites to our own private web servers.This was to ensure we provided the most reliable communication service for all our members.
At this time we took the opportunity of refurbishing our web site, we hope you enjoy what you have now arrived at.
2010 - In October 2010 we launched our re-written databases which apart from a facelift added previous operators to the historic registrations of all aicraft on the database.
2011 - In September 2011 we incorporated Aerodata as a limited company becoming Aerodata Software Limited with Paul & Evelyn becoming the two directors.
2013 - In March 2013 Andy Walker joined us as a third director
2014 - In March 2014 Paul and Ev passed over the day to day running of the business to Andy.
Paul & Ev remain as directors of the business to give on-going support to Andy.
1,866,966 airframes (at Jun 2019) covering both civil & military types worldwide. 99.9% of all current mainstream types are already covered from Airliners, BizJets, BizProps to Microlights, Gliders & Balloons and from Heavy Transports, Fighters & Bombers to Light Trainers.
Privately run Email group lists membership and website gives you a simple and convenient way to keep your information up to date by downloading updates as and when you want. It also acts as a useful 'help desk' for related comments and queries and suggestions.
20 researchers / support staff We have a team adding new types and keeping the information up to data and accurate. The database also has the facility for you to add new frames to existing types for yourself.
Search routines based on construction number, registrations (current, previous, requested or reserved), aircraft name, fleet number, Selcal plus unit and aircraft code, with highlighted fields that can be clicked on to link to further information.
Information fields Type Name, Construction number, Line number, Current registration and date, Operator, Owner, Base, Operating unit, Aircraft code, Other marks, Aircraft fleet name, Fleet number, Selcal code, Requested registration & date, Reserved registration & date, Roll-out date, First Flight, Delivery date, Previous registration, Country, Date registered, Date cancelled, Airframe notes and Disposal information.
Country registers (civil or military) can be produced and a list of operators or base combinations can also be selected and printed.
Itinerary planning flexibility of the database allows you to plan your trips by compiling a list of different bases within the regions or counties etc. of a particular country and includes fields for if the airframe has already been seen or for logging up against a frame.
UK Air Map showing the airways and their frequencies, offer another way of planning your itinerary by giving an option to compile and print a list of airfield residents through clicking on a particular airfield location. Airfield Information brief details of the airfield, 3 & 4 Letter Codes, secondary names, latitude/longitude location, runway headings and a list of frequencies used by that airfield. There is also a Frequencies Search facility that brings up all users of that particular frequency.
Outstanding records file holds your logging for the rare occasion when a type or registration is not yet on the system. Once an airframe is received via the updating system your logging will automatically be transferred from this file into the database.
Photographic facility offers a totally new way to add and display your digital photos by opening them through the database. By linking directly to the pictures on your hard drive, CD, zip drive or across networks, you can instantly display any picture from your catalogue that you have pathed to the database. There is no limit to the number of photos that can be added against each record and because the pictures are accessed from media outside of the database it avoids the database becoming too big. The photographic section can also be used to catalogue your slides and prints. In the aircraft details screen a camera symbol will appear indicating that you have at least one slide/picture or print catalogued against that entry. Your digital pictures and records can be displayed directly from this screen or through the Photographic Records option on the main menu.
Auto Logging enables you to log up a single trip in one go simply by listing all the registrations seen. A new facility allows you to log more than one date and place at a time! Any aircraft not found will go into the Outstanding aircraft file.
Editable log book another facility which gives you the opportunity to keep your log book accurate and tidy by being able to make alterations to your entries.
Flight Logbook has the following fields to record details of flights you have made:-:Registration, sift type (linked to main database), flight number, departure airport, time (Zulu and local) and date plus arrival airport time (Zulu and local) and date. Your flight duration is automatically calculated for you!
Airshow Dates shows a list of this year's airshows, their venues and dates, plus brief notes. Any air shows that are taking place within the next fortnight are automatically displayed in a box on the main menu.
Country Flags displays country flags for the whole world. Clicking on the flags gives maps of the country, order of battle and some political details.
If you decide not to renew your membership after the first year you will no longer receive the updates and your membership of the group will cease. The database will, however, continue to function and you will still be able to add new airframes and continue with your logging.
The minimum system requirements are a PC sufficiently powerful to run with Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista and Windows 7/8/10 and has 3 Gb free disk space making Aerodata the only aviation database compatible with all versions of Microsoft Windows from Win98 onwards to the recently released Windows 10 (all editions).
No other software is required to run any Aerodata products, unlike other aviation database products, that require a seperate installation of Microsoft Access. Aerodata supply a runtime version of Access 2000 as part of the package so that the program can be run as an independant stand alone set-up.
Please note though, that having later versions of Microsoft Access (generally Access 2007/2010) installed on the PC you intend to run Aerodata on, can cause the runtime version we supply to function incorrectly, we therefore recommend you contact us by telephone for further information regarding this prior to ordering.
Telephone Technical support is available weekdays and occasionally at weekends 9:30 am to 4:30 pm on 0161-282-5518 also via email. For further details, or if you want to call in for a demo, contact Andy Walker (near to Manchester Airport) To Contact Andy, phone 0161-282-5518 or email him at awalk7253@virginmedia.com