New L-17Bs at the Ryan factory.                                Photo courtesy Mark Cyrier

The L-17 Registry is intended ultimately to track the final disposition of every L-17 manufactured and to build a community for current L-17 owners, operators and enthusiasts.  Entries are sorted by North American Aviation or Ryan Serial Numbers, followed by the military Serial Number or Bureau Number ("BuNo") in USAF/U.S. Army Air Forces format. Below is a short digression on military serial numbers, or you can go right to the Registry.

Also, see Joe Baugher's excellent web site on Serial Numbers at http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/usafserials.html

In the Korean War era military serial numbers are based on the  e in the format 48-1007 where 48 represents the year the order was placed for the aircraft and 1007 represents the USAF/Army Air Forces Serial Number.

The tail number consisted of the last year of the year from the Serial Number, followed by at least 3 digits of the Serial Number.  Example as above is 81007. Note that Serial Numbers less than 100 would be padded with leading zeros, as the Army Air Force used the last 4 digits as the aircraft's radio call sign.

"Buzz codes" in the Koran Era reflected the aircraft type and model and not the base code as it does now.  Buzz codes used a two-letter identifier, followed by the last 3 digits of the Serial Number.  L-17A/C aircraft used the code LJ, L-17B aircraft used LD.  So, for the example we've been using the buzz code would be LD-007.  The buzz code was painted as large as possible on the fuselage and under the left wing.  For L-17s after the Korean War era, we've often seen the buzz code for Army aircraft shortened to an A- followed by the last three digits, example: A-007.  See 48-1047 in the L-17B Gallery for an example of this.

Registry
The registry consists of all existing L-17 aircraft in any state. Information taken from FAA database; if you would like to update or delete your information please email the webmaster.

• Entries in BOLD indicate status is known.
• Entries in ITALIC have verified Korean War service.
• Military ser. no. followed by an * indicate a photo in the Galleries.

Quick Jump: L-17A L-17B L-17C QL-17

L-17A    48 Total, 5 Located
L-17A aircraft military serial numbers are well-documented.  NAA Serial numbers were only recently documented via an NAA memo dated 23 September 1947.
Does not include aircraft converted to L-17C or QL-17.
L-17A aircraft were redesignated U-18A in 1962.
A complete list of North American and Military Serial numbers can be found in the L-17 Registry Database

L-17B    163 Total, 53 Located
L-17B aircraft are well-documented via USAF data cards provided by the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
L-17B aircraft were redesignated U-18B in 1962.
A complete list of Ryan and Military Serial numbers can be found in the L-17 Registry Database

L-17C    35 Total, 7 Located
L-17C aircraft were converted from L-17A aircraft by the Schweitzer Aircraft Company
Does not include L-17A aircraft or aircraft converted to QL-17
L-17C aircraft were redesignated U-18C in 1962.
A complete list of North American and Military Serial numbers can be found in the L-17 Registry Database

QL-17   3 Total, 2 Located
QL-17 aircraft were converted from L-17A aircraft.
Does not include L-17A or L-17C aircraft
A complete list of North American and Military Serial numbers can be found in the L-17 Registry Database