So let's say you buy a Luscombe 8A with a tail number something like N6978402 or thereabouts. I've never cared much for those long numerical strings. I'm a Foxtrot Tango or a Romeo Juliet or Tango Delta (Town Drunk) kind of guy.

If your new bird has a registered number on it, can you de-register it and hang a new number on there, provided you've reserved the number of your choice??

Yes.

MTV

Thanks MTV

Be aware, however, that if you change the registration number, and it previously had the little numbers on the tail, that you will likely be required to use the foot tall characters on the fuselage instead. See FAR 45 for details.

Not if it's over 30 years old or older. Small 2" numbers are legal.

Here is the FAA Registry site where you can first inquire about N number availability, and then reserve one that isn't already taken.

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/

That site was the reason for the query. I've just reserved an N number out of my past. Somewhere in the first logbook I have rented a Cessna 150M named 714FT. Apparently it's been parted out. So now it goes on my next airplane. Controllers seemed to like it. I liked it. Makes me want to do a jig.

What's the deal with experimentals and 12" N numbers? When I built my plane i was guided by the FAA to do the legal stuff like the metal plate with the gross weight and all that info, and then some vinyl stickers with my name and the serial number and then the 12 inch letters. I never heard him say it was mandatory but he sort of guided me to do it.

Was it really mandatory or was I sort of tricked into it? I have run into lots of people who think I'm stupid for having the biguns. I know of many planes being churned out with 2" letters, so somehow it's legal for new home-builts or are they ripping them off after the blessing and avoiding ramp checks like the plague?

Is it one of those FAA/DAR differences?

Experimentals can have either 3-inch or 12-inch numbers, but not 2-inch numbers. WTF

It is your choice. If you fly it out of the country, you'll need 12-inch numbers, I believe.

Damn, 69 Fox Trot Uniform is not acceptable.

blackrock wrote:Experimentals can have either 3-inch or 12-inch numbers, but not 2-inch numbers. WTF

It is your choice. If you fly it out of the country, you'll need 12-inch numbers, I believe.

Only if you fly thru an ADIZ.

Experimentals can have either 3-inch or 12-inch numbers, but not 2-inch numbers. WTF

Cool, thanks I think.

I'm amazed I have to explain this, but... you generally don't want too much on the tail. Biguns belong up front. My O-300A actually has pretty small jugs, but it makes up for it a little by having six of them. You would think that would be a handful, but it's not. But, I digress. Any behemoth of a tail large enough to sport 12 inch letters is a drag, and it can be overcontrolling, and it's a lot of work to keep everything trimmed.

I have an N-number reserved, and it is specifically chosen for 1) shortness (4-chars) and 2) the way it rolls off the tongue. Some N-numbers are a mouthful. I stump controllers every time with the current plane I fly, which has 2 sets of repeated characters, each having 2 syllables.

Hafast wrote:

blackrock wrote:Experimentals can have either 3-inch or 12-inch numbers, but not 2-inch numbers. WTF

It is your choice. If you fly it out of the country, you'll need 12-inch numbers, I believe.

Only if you fly thru an ADIZ.

Good point. So does that mean we can fly to Alaska and through the Canadian interior with "small" numbers? I don't remember an ADIZ existing along the continental border except near coastal areas. If I remember correctly, an ADIZ exists along the Mexico border?

blackrock wrote:

Hafast wrote:

blackrock wrote:Experimentals can have either 3-inch or 12-inch numbers, but not 2-inch numbers. WTF

It is your choice. If you fly it out of the country, you'll need 12-inch numbers, I believe.

Only if you fly thru an ADIZ.

Good point. So does that mean we can fly to Alaska and through the Canadian interior with "small" numbers? I don't remember an ADIZ existing along the continental border except near coastal areas. If I remember correctly, an ADIZ exists along the Mexico border?

You are correct, Mexico 12" numbers, Canada any size numbers except along the coast.

blackrock wrote:Experimentals can have either 3-inch or 12-inch numbers, but not 2-inch numbers. WTF .....

Curious where in the FAR's this is detailed.
Vintage airplanes can have 2" numbers, but interestingly the smallest ones Spruce sells are 3".

FAR 45.29 (b) (1) (iii)

(iii) Marks at least 3 inches high may be displayed on an aircraft for which the FAA has issued an experimental certificate under §21.191 (d), §21.191 (g), or §21.191 (i) of this chapter to operate as an exhibition aircraft, an amateur-built aircraft, or a light-sport aircraft when the maximum cruising speed of the aircraft does not exceed 180 knots CAS

Don't be surprised if your desired registration number is already "reserved", as I learned when seeking mine.

Somewhat annoyingly, our FAA (or congress) has allowed at least one entity to monetize the U.S. N-registration scheme; see
http://short-n-numbers.com

I have no affiliation...

Fly safely,
pat

iPat wrote:Don't be surprised if your desired registration number is already "reserved", as I learned when seeking mine.

Somewhat annoyingly, our FAA (or congress) has allowed at least one entity to monetize the U.S. N-registration scheme; see
http://short-n-numbers.com

I have no affiliation...

Fly safely,
pat

This probably shouldn’t surprise me, but what?! Why not just reserve them all and jack the price up to Cessna replacement parts type inflation. There’s a couple on that list that have interested my wife. There’s no way I’m gonna pay them and crowd fund their bullshit scheme.