Are "N" numbers reused or pnce assigned they stay with the aircraft?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Are "N" numbers reused or pnce assigned they stay with the aircraft?

Posted: 1/9/2021 4:44:19 AM EDT

I opened an old NTSB accident investigation file to a Plane my Father once owned that sustained "substantial damage" when it nosed over during a landing. I searched the number and it had last been registered in 2011...now this Plane I presumed was a total loss back in 1974

Did someone ostensibly salvage this plane and it's still registered/Flying, or was the registration reused for another like aircraft?

Posted: 1/9/2021 4:51:52 AM EDT

[#1]

I think N numbers are fluid and swapped around or reassigned on a regular basis.

Posted: 1/9/2021 4:52:37 AM EDT

[#2]

Did you do an FAA N number lookup?

hope this helps in your search

Posted: 1/9/2021 8:17:31 AM EDT

[#3]

recycled.

My Long-EZ N85PK is now a HAWKER 900XP.

Long-EZ had a hanger collapse on it.

Posted: 1/9/2021 9:44:52 AM EDT

[#4]

Recycled a lot ,

Posted: 1/9/2021 12:53:47 PM EDT

[#5]

This site offers a lot of information: http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=147034

I ran the number out of curiosity, and upon seeing it coming up as a recently active registration I thought "holy schitt! I thought Dad's Plane was destroyed when Leon wrecked it....looks like it wasn't!"

Posted: 1/20/2021 6:50:31 PM EDT

[#6]

Quote History

Quoted:
This site offers a lot of information: http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=147034

I ran the number out of curiosity, and upon seeing it coming up as a recently active registration I thought "holy schitt! I thought Dad's Plane was destroyed when Leon wrecked it....looks like it wasn't!"

View Quote

It may have been destroyed. All you need is the data plate to rebuild a plane, and continue it's existence.

Posted: 1/21/2021 4:29:45 PM EDT

[#7]

Quote History

Quoted:
Recycled a lot ,

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True, in a former life my employer paid $40k to swap tail numbers from a Baron to GV.

Posted: 1/23/2021 6:40:19 PM EDT

[#8]

The King Air I used to fly was N771PA. Before that that registration was for a Pan Am 747.

Posted: 1/23/2021 8:40:20 PM EDT

[#9]

My plane has had the same N number for 75 years.

Posted: 1/23/2021 9:14:59 PM EDT

[#10]

My old Aztec's N-number now belongs to a Diamond DA62.

The Aztec was crashed in the Bahamas; not sure if it was the guy we sold it to or someone else.

Posted: 1/23/2021 9:34:17 PM EDT

[#11]

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Quoted:
My plane has had the same N number for 75 years.

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Mine too!

Well, one of them anyway.

Posted: 2/9/2021 2:02:33 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
I opened an old NTSB accident investigation file to a Plane my Father once owned that sustained "substantial damage" when it nosed over during a landing. I searched the number and it had last been registered in 2011...now this Plane I presumed was a total loss back in 1974

Did someone ostensibly salvage this plane and it's still registered/Flying, or was the registration reused for another like aircraft?

View Quote

Likely you can simply look up what kind of plane was in the accident or at the very least its serial number. N numbers are fluid.

N Numbers can be changed by the owner. Honestly it is a pretty simple process as far as the owner/operator goes. AWC is no fun, but the rest is pretty easy.

The new number might be anything, including something that was used before as long as it is not currently in use.

I did an N number change on a Citation to a number that was previously held by a Hawker.

Posted: 2/9/2021 4:44:45 PM EDT

[#13]

When I was getting my instrument rating, I was bored one day and looked up the tail number for one of the planes I was using. It was a 172 and the tail number listed an accident on a different 172 that had crashed into a mountain back in the 70’s.

It was clearly not the same plane.

Posted: 2/28/2021 10:27:42 PM EDT

[#14]

1941 Alliance OH a brand new 1941 BF65 Taylorcraft was sold and picked up by an Ohio flying club on the Friday before Pearl Harbor. I owned it in the 60's and 70's. Recently found a picture of it flying in Wisconsin.

Still has the same N number N39111 it left the factory with in 41 but licensed as a BL-65 because of an engine change.

Posted: 2/28/2021 11:38:25 PM EDT

[#15]

Quote History

Quoted:
1941 Alliance OH a brand new 1941 BF65 Taylorcraft was sold and picked up by an Ohio flying club on the Friday before Pearl Harbor. I owned it in the 60's and 70's. Recently found a picture of it flying in Wisconsin.

Still has the same N number N39111 it left the factory with in 41 but licensed as a BL-65 because of an engine change.

View Quote

If I remember the numbers right, I'm the 26th owner of my 46 Champ. It started at a flight school in Michigan, and lived in 13 different states. It was owned by 4 different Air Force base fight schools, including Barksdale, Warner Robins, Mcconnell, and another I can't remember. N number never changed.

For about $6, you can get a CD from the FAA, with a scan of every piece of paper they have on your plane, all the way back to the day it was born. And they have it all. I found it rather interesting.

Posted: 3/5/2021 11:06:03 PM EDT

[#16]

Quote History

Quoted:

If I remember the numbers right, I'm the 26th owner of my 46 Champ. It started at a flight school in Michigan, and lived in 13 different states. It was owned by 4 different Air Force base fight schools, including Barksdale, Warner Robins, Mcconnell, and another I can't remember. N number never changed.

For about $6, you can get a CD from the FAA, with a scan of every piece of paper they have on your plane, all the way back to the day it was born. And they have it all. I found it rather interesting.

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Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
1941 Alliance OH a brand new 1941 BF65 Taylorcraft was sold and picked up by an Ohio flying club on the Friday before Pearl Harbor. I owned it in the 60's and 70's. Recently found a picture of it flying in Wisconsin.

Still has the same N number N39111 it left the factory with in 41 but licensed as a BL-65 because of an engine change.

If I remember the numbers right, I'm the 26th owner of my 46 Champ. It started at a flight school in Michigan, and lived in 13 different states. It was owned by 4 different Air Force base fight schools, including Barksdale, Warner Robins, Mcconnell, and another I can't remember. N number never changed.

For about $6, you can get a CD from the FAA, with a scan of every piece of paper they have on your plane, all the way back to the day it was born. And they have it all. I found it rather interesting.

The irony is that I can look at all or it for free.

You'll pull it up and sometimes see STC's and 337's from before you were born.