Measurements of spatially resolved soot volume fraction and temperature are reported in diffusion flames fuelled by prevaporised aviation kerosene and model fuels, comprising blends of n-decane and alkyl-substituted aromatics, selected to mimic its sooting behaviour. Although standard smoke point measurements suggest that the specific aromatic does significantly influence the sooting tendency of the blend, measurements in laminar flames exhibit little such sensitivity and a mixture of 30% mesitylene (or propylbenzene)/70% n-decane satisfactorily reproduces the sooting behaviour observed with kerosene in both laminar and turbulent flames. Such comparatively simple blends lend themselves to detailed chemical representation in CFD-based numerical simulation. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.