Director of civil aviation Mr. Herman Tucker and airworthiness surveyor Mr.

Chris Pearce believe the Bermuda Aviation Register has attained an "excellent'' reputation internationally, setting the stage for more aircraft to come under the department's wing.

Private aircraft numbers will continue to grow while an increasing number of larger commercial-type planes will also come onto the Bermuda register in future, they said.

The register is a "top five'' jurisdiction when it comes to reputation world-wide because of the policing level these aircraft are subjected to, said Mr. Tucker.

"We physically see and inspect every aircraft on our register,'' he said.

Amid a stringent regulatory environment, the costs associated with inspections are covered by aircraft owners required to register their planes in the jurisdiction of their choice.

"Aircraft belonging to Bermuda residents can be inspected here but it is impossible for all inspections to be done by the Island staff,'' said Mr.

Tucker.

"As a result, the department contracts out inspections to various UK-based flight operations inspectors,'' he said. "These inspections take place all over the world. This is how we police our fleet,'' he said.

There are five civil servants working in the department but the aircraft which they police are distributed from Australia to South Africa to Europe.

The register grows by about a dozen aircraft per year.

The register's complement currently includes 115 aircraft ranging in size from the Airbus 310, which services the commercial airline industry, down to small single engine aircraft.

Today, the lion's share of Bermuda-registered aircraft -- about 90 percent -- are private, among them the jets of various well-known wealthy Bermuda residents.

About 70 of the Bermuda-registered aircraft are located in Europe.

All but a handful of Bermuda-registered aircraft owners set up an exempt company with one of the Island law firms as the registered office.

They chose Bermuda for several reasons, said Mr. Tucker.

"They are looking for a safe jurisdiction with recognised high standards and Bermuda has an excellent reputation internationally,'' he said.

"Aircraft owners are looking for a jurisdiction they know they can work with,'' said Mr. Pearce.

"We also have a very good safety record,'' he said.

Since the early 1960s there has been no loss of life as a result of planes on the Bermuda register while in the past 15 years there has been only one aircraft lost due to an aborted takeoff, he said.

And the jurisdiction of registration can play a role in the resale value of the aircraft, said Mr. Pearce.

"We know of at least one instance where an owner was unable to sell an aircraft because of the jurisdiction of registration,'' he said.

Aircraft owners are also seeking security.

"We have a large number of aircraft on our register that operate in the Middle East. They are not seeking a high profile registry, like that of the US for example,'' said Mr. Tucker.

Mr. Tucker, crediting his predecessor, Mr. Jim Pitman, said the biggest advances for the aircraft register have been made over the past decade.

The department is currently recruiting for three new staff, an airworthiness surveyor, a flight operations inspector and a technical officer as well as a few additional administrative people, said Mr. Tucker.

"The department is also currently revising its fee schedule. We believe it is time for a revision upward,'' said Mr. Tucker.

Fees have not changed over the past five years, he added.

The increases, expected to be completed soon, could generate 10-20 percent more revenue for the department, Mr. Tucker estimated.

For fiscal 1994/95, the department grossed just under $1 million while and netted about $300,000 for Government.

"We must ensure the rates are competitive and that they generate revenue,'' said Mr. Tucker.

A decade ago, the department grossed about 275,000, Mr. Tucker estimated.

Mr. Tucker holds a Bachelors degree in Air Commerce and Transport and a Masters in Business. He also holds a commercial pilot's licence and has been a flight instructor. He entered Government in administration and began his Civil Aviation Department work as operations manager. From August 1994 to June 1995 he was the acting director of civil aviation. Mr. Pearce started his aviation career 28 years ago as an airframe fitter in the Royal Air Force.

He came to Bermuda in 1969 and worked as an aircraft mechanic and engineer and has been with Government for the past four years. The Department of Civil Aviation, which comes under the Ministry of Transport and Aviation Services portfolio of Government and complies with the Air Navigation (Overseas Territory) Order 1989, written by the British government for dependent territories, oversees the Island's aircraft register.