Name that font!

A

Aztec

Charter Member
After searching high and low, I've hit a dead end trying to identify the font used on just about every second light a/c in the U.S. I've tried all the normal avenues (who knew there where that many sites devoted to fonts?) and got close, but there's always something not quite right. Can anyone put a name to this one?

View attachment 65344

Cheers, Az.
 
Two sites say there is no FAA specified font. Closest I've come in the past is a Eurostile derivative since it has the squarish D's and G's and the like.
 
I use several fonts, but there is a great choice over at Simmer's Paintshop in the Fonts section. From the example you posted, the closest seems to be "RAF 641ATH", used on WWII British fighters. Since there is no italic version of it, using your editor's "Transform -> Skew" function would be just about right.

There are rules regarding the typefaces used on aircraft, mainly relating to legibility, and these are set down by the ICAO. The primary issue is that the typeface must be easy to read, and cannot have any letters that can be confused, e.g. "8" must be distinct from "B" and so on.

View attachment 65384
Here is a little reference using some commonly-available fonts. Note that I messed up with the first one; it's actually "Amarillo USAF", the typeface used on US Air Force aircraft since WWII. "AeroNUMBER" is the standard type Aeroflot used in the Soviet era for aircraft registrations.
 
Thanks Rallymodeller. That RAF one is about as close as I'll get I think. I searched for the AeroNUMBER font, but couldn't seem to find it - any ideas where I might track it down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top