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It's almost certain that "adverts' you're looking for are in the database (or will be soon!) - we're the first to admit though that they're not always easy to find. There are a few reasons for this, some historical and some by design. These are being addressed, but it will take time so for now here are some tips that should help you find what you want.  Remember though - if you can`t find what you're looking for please get in touch via the contact page.

 
How to Search Aviation Ancestry

The search function looks for keywords in the descriptive title field (above the image on the website) - This field isn't always helpful in some contexts.

1. Keep your keywords to a minimum. - Let's say you are looking for Jetstream adverts. (Could be Handley Page, Scottish Aviation or even British Aerospace)

Jetstream will always work, Handley Page Jetstream may not, similarly Jetstream 31 may not.

2. The search function isn`t smart. If you make a typo with your keyword or phrase it won`t recognise it as such.  For example if you were looking for Westland and (mis) typed as Wetland - you'll see the dreaded nothing found message.

3. Hyphens, apostrophes and plurals etc.. can all cause problems. For example Kings Cup is not the same as King's Cup. You may need to try both. - (Whilst not grammatically ideal we're progressively removing apostrophes and regularising hyphenated names)

Plurals; let's say you searched on Hydraulics (plural) your search would return plenty of results, but would omit the singular. So try the singular first - it will include all the plurals anyway.

4. Marks Mk ... 4 IV etc. Oh dear, oh dear oh dear. Looking for a particular mark or aircraft is almost certainly doomed to fail. Sure the advert will be there, but the manner in which mark numbers appear on adverts seems to depend on the weather on the day or something. Even the same manufacturers express marks or types in different ways. So your best bet will always be to run a simple search for the type or product and then look for the Mark numbers in the adverts themselves.

5. Search By Year Band. OK, I doubt many of you will bother to bracket the search years but it will make life easier - honestly. There are often less pages to flick through and it's easier to keep track of any items you may want to find again.

6. Our Typos & Mistakes. Difficult to believe I know, but we're correcting them on a fairly regular basis - however they could trip you up. So the "Keep It Simple" rule will help. Mostly the major keywords (eg company name or product type) are correct, but typos are to be found in the descriptive text. If you spot any do let us know please.

7. Hail The Directory! The classified directory will be work in progress for a long time to come, but it's updated regularly and should make company searches and product searches more productive. (Keeping track of British Aviation companies and brand owners post WWII can be challenging at times)