“Does the gilder number 319885 on a tail really mean = 43-19885?”

The answer is yes. On any aircraft the first number on the left is the last digit of a two digit year. In the case of a glider the year would be (4)X-xxxx or (4)X-xxxxx. In the case of the XCG-4 and CG-4A the numbers would be 1xxxxx, 2xxxxx, 3xxxxx, 5xxxx or 5xxxxx. To be exact you have to use the year digit with the other 4 or 5 digits as there could be duplicates. This may not be true if only gliders are considered but is absolutely necessary if looking at all aircraft serial numbers.

If you see a CG-4A with 4xxxxx it is a fake. There were no 1944 CG-4A tail numbers. 43s were generally delivered up to August or maybe September 1944. Then the 45 contracts were released for production in the last months of 1944. That the 45s were built in last half of 1944 is why so many Varsity glider tail numbers are 45. The year number is the fiscal year of the contract, NOT the year of production or delivery.

In photos I have seen two exceptions to the tail number, both WACO built. One photo is of a CG-4A flying right to left with a 3 year number. In the photo the 3 year digit is heavier than the other digits. The glider number is a 42 contract number but is painted as a 43. The other is of a badly wrecked CG-4A (showing a BC-721 radio installed) cockpit which may have been at Lubbock. The photo has Army photo ID date and glider serial number across the bottom as a 43-79005 when the serial number was a 42 contract number. Attached is my photo of part of a glider crate at SWM with the nomenclature two contract numbers different but the serial number on the crate is 42-79007. These would have been the 83rd and 85th production CG-4A by WACO. In the case of most mfg except the rush Cessna contract, 42 contract articles were built and delivered in 1943. Thus, it appears that WACO was stenciling year of delivery on the tail and year of contract on the shipping crates. They would have to use the contract numbers on paperwork and shipping crate in order to get paid. This nomenclature also was stenciled on the port side forward fuselage of all gliders. Here the serial was complete such as 43-12345 as opposed to the tail 312345. No one ever took a picture of this nomenclature that I have seen. Even most pictures from CCAAF (other than one of the XCG-4 and the REAL Griswold nose glider) that shows this nomenclature in the background are not sharp enough depth of field focus to read all of the numbers.

Source: email from Charlie Day on 28 Feb 2016 to Patricia Overman when creating the glider number search application.